The Ministry of Defence still holds 42 SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft almost two decades after the type retired from Royal Air Force service, with nine more having been transferred to the Indian Air Force, the department has said.
The figures came in a written parliamentary answer from Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard on 3 July, responding to a question from Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative MP for Huntingdon, who asked how many GR1 and T2 variant Jaguars the department still holds.
“A total of nine Jaguar aircraft have been transferred to the Indian Air Force. Of these, five were the GR1 variant, and four the T2 variant,” the minister said. “Of the 42 Jaguar aircraft the Ministry of Defence still holds, 13 are the GR1 variant and none are the T2 variant.” The answer does not specify the variants of the remaining 29 airframes, which the question’s scope did not cover, though the balance of the surviving fleet would be expected to comprise later marks including the upgraded GR3 series and T4 two-seaters.
The Jaguar was developed jointly by Britain and France under the SEPECAT consortium as a low-level strike and reconnaissance aircraft, entering RAF service in 1974 and flying combat operations in the 1991 Gulf War and over Iraq and the Balkans through the 1990s before its retirement in 2007, when the fleet was withdrawn earlier than planned as a savings measure. A substantial number of airframes were retained after withdrawal, most prominently at RAF Cosford, where the School of Technical Training has used Jaguars for decades as ground instructional airframes on which RAF engineering technicians learn their trade, keeping many of the jets in remarkably complete condition.
India is the last nation still flying the Jaguar, operating a fleet built largely under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics and known locally as the Shamsher. With the type long out of production and spares increasingly scarce, the Indian Air Force has turned to retired operators for support, and the transfer of British airframes provides a source of components to sustain the fleet through its final years of service, with India planning to phase the aircraft out over the coming decade.
The answer does not state the condition of the 42 retained aircraft, but we understand them to be purely used as ground instructional airframes; they’re not flight-capable.
Stripped, bent, screwed and screwed a bit more, that’s the sum total of their work! They went far too soon but that’s how the MOD functions.
Cut in Labour’s 2004 New Chapter cuts, which also claimed Tornado GR4 and F3 Squadrons, and a big chunk of the Royal Navy.
Damned Tories!
“Stripped, bent, screwed and screwed a bit more” – For a minute I thought you were talking about our Armed Forces! Silly me.
And they still have an important job there too.
I bet there are quite a few Tornado and other types there.
The RN SOFDO had taxiable Sea Harriers too, unsure of their status.
All have a part to play and none will be resurrected, before anyone gets too excited!
The Tornado weapon pylons likely from this inventory found there way onto Ukrainian Su-24s and MiG-29s. A small part of them has lived on through this bizarre franken system and doing exactly what it was intended for.
Hi M8, If you ever want a nice day out on the Train go up to Cosford ! The RAF Museum is just amazing as a lot of the reserve collection and restore work goes on there and if you walk round the back of it the RAF bit is pretty viewable, but I have never seen a Tornado. It’s a cracking day out !
Re the Tornado I’m not sure it would be an airframe that would be suitable for instruction purposes as it’s swing wing and that’s not used anymore.
We should also ask if there are any Tornado’s still retained and what happened to the 14 Sea Harriers that were kept for deck handling trials prior to the two carriers entering service..
After being used for deck parking training they were sold off to private collectors and given to museums around 2019/20 with a few sent to be RAF engineering trainers.
I always loved the Jaguar. Not because it was the absolute best aircraft in the sky, but simply because it looked incredible, especially when it was sitting with the landing gear down. That rugged trailing link undercarriage was a masterpiece.
However, its flaws were undeniable. It was notoriously underpowered early on, and the high wing loading was designed strictly for low level Cold War operations. Because it was optimized to punch through turbulent air at tree top level, it was never going to cut it when the tactical reality forced operations up to higher altitudes.
By the end of its life, upgrades made it a decent machine. But timing is everything. When the decisions were being made to cut RAF numbers, we were heavily committed in Afghanistan. The Jaguar’s hot and high performance was deeply lacking for that environment, which ultimately sealed its fate.
It is a shame, because otherwise, the Jaguar was a very cost effective close air support platform that gave excellent bang for the buck.
Note I don’t respond to replies. Life’s too short…😀
Still has 42 jaguars in storage for twenty years but apparently all Typhoon 30 tranche 1 airframes turned to paper clips the day they were withdrawn.
The United Kingdom used to be a military power; now it’s a joke.