The Royal Air Force currently has 485 fixed-wing aircraft in service, with 86 undergoing long-term maintenance and 27 held in storage, according to a written parliamentary answer.
Responding to a question from Baroness Goldie, Defence Minister Lord Coaker said that 86 of the RAF’s fixed-wing aircraft are in maintenance for longer than three months, while a further 27 are in what is described as “fleet management storage”.
The RAF also operates 86 rotary-wing aircraft, of which 17 are in long-term maintenance. None of the rotary fleet are currently in storage.
The Ministry of Defence said extended maintenance periods are a routine part of fleet management, noting that “detailed depth maintenance inspections… often take a period greater than three months to complete.”
Aircraft scheduled for retirement are not included in the figures, as they are no longer considered to be in service, the minister added. The figures offer a snapshot with a significant portion of aircraft across both fleets undergoing maintenance cycles.
In Museums ?
Starmer’s magnificent government, so concerned about defense, is probably already assessing how many of those aircraft can be retired or sold. At least another 10 A400s and about 100 additional fighter jets are needed. Of course, with this government, that’s impossible; we already know that.
No, because they are not on a war footing. There are two violent conflicts, one in Europe and one in the Middle East, and there is no sign of urgency from the treasury. Trump is correct to question Starmer’s backbone. However, the rest of our European neighbours are in the same situation and require NATO to call an urgent ‘War Council’ and get matters in hand. A reserve call-up (exceptional) should be the first measure to get them up to fighting standard en masse to ensure readiness if and when required. Advanced preparation for conscription should at least be addressed both in parliament and media to prepare those eligible to attune to the prospect in a timely manner. I doubt any of what I suggest will see the light of day.
Calm down. There is zero reason to be calling up reservists.
Drones and training aircraft should be reported seperately, but this is standard Gov BS fiddling numbers to make nice sound bite for media.
Drones aren’t “fixed-wing aircraft” 🤦🏻♂️
Fixed-wing drones are.
That drones and other things, bluffing the numbers with semi honest story, That included 3 AWAC’s in bits in hanger and how many of deep maintance aircraft will fly again ?. A press release evey day from the MOD statiing something thats nearly true and fiddling the books, every day while no orders, low ammo, and a delayed DIP that will fall well short as most expect.
Do tell how a Wedgetail “in bits in a hanger” is able to fly?
My old service is heading towards the same fate as the RN and without new orders very soon the 100 FGR4s we have are going to be fragged given op commitments and tempo.
Even under Harold Wilson, the RAF had over 2000 aircraft…
Sounds impressive.
That figure will include Grob Tutor, Grob Prefects, all of which are either COMO or COCO, and probably the glider fleet as well!
The same phenomenon is evident in the RAF Squadrons pages on the official website.
Once, including in books when Internet didn’t exist, only flying Squadrons were included, and things like TSW. Now, with the widespread renaming of supporting ground elements with Squadron numberplates long lost from the flying roster, all are included, which inflates the figures nicely to the uninformed perusing those pages.
It’s all spin. Subtle, and in the best tradition, technically true, they are Squadrons and the Gliders have a fixed wing.
But come on…..
And breaking news? The BBMF Lancaster is being adapted to carry Storm Shadow. Honest, including gliders and trainers in overall numbers is a sick joke. I left regular service in 1980, we had 670 active combat aircraft then. All in service. Like all UK assets now, a shadow and distant memory.
Remember who caused this, politicians.
1980 – height of Cold War that’s why…
Wow impressive. That still leaves us with less than the French and Italian air force and not much more than the German compliment of fixed wing aircraft
Very SAD days for our once most highly respected services in the World. Reduced to minimum levels by foolish so called leaders from both outside and within. Defend the UK? Not a chance. You must have strength of numbers as well as high tech of the right kind to ensure peace and our safety. So where does all the monies go? Certainly we don’t get value for money like all the other State departments…………..
I can see roughly how the MOD gets the RAF to 86 helicopters.
In service:
51 Chinooks
1 Jupiter 2
1 AW-109E
Rotary flying training:
7 Jupiter
29 Juno
Total 89, so 3 more than the MOD says?
Of that total, 14 Chinooks have been effectively withdrawn from service, pending future replacement by 14 new extended-range Chinooks. ‘Withdrawn from service’ seems to be interchangeable with ‘in long-term maintenance’. I imagine these 14 are going to be stripped for parts.
So basically the RAF has 20-30 frontline helicopters, which is not a lot. In fact, it’s wretchedly few. This is a legacy of primarily 14 years of serious underspending by the last lot. The total fleet will increase in numbers as we get the 5 Juno2 helis ordered, the 14 new Chinook ERs and the 23 AW-149s. That will take the fleet up to 81 helicopters, with another 36 in flying training.
It’s still a very small total. I think it will be symptomatic of the DIP when it comes, with such new money as there is being used to play catch-up. Better than nothing, but can’t see much increase in overall strength and equipment numbers up to 2027/8.
For ‘the 5 Juno2 helis ordered’, read ‘5 Jupiter 2’.