British aircraft manufacturer AERALIS has chosen Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire, Scotland as the site for its UK final assembly line, a decision that could mark the return of full-scale aircraft manufacturing to the region.

The company announced the move on 4 July, confirming that a strategic agreement with Prestwick Airport is currently under discussion. The site will serve as the hub for assembling and testing AERALIS’s modular light jet aircraft, which has been proposed as a replacement for the Royal Air Force’s current training fleet.

Tristan Crawford, CEO of AERALIS, said the airport’s “strong aviation legacy particularly in whole aircraft manufacture, as well as excellent local aerospace manufacturing and MRO resources” made it “the perfect choice.” He added that Prestwick’s operating model is “well suited to supporting new aerospace programmes.”

Prestwick Airport CEO Ian Forgie welcomed the announcement, calling it “an opportunity to generate jobs, apprenticeships, investment and innovation in the Prestwick area.”

The decision could see part of the Red Arrows’ future aircraft built and flown from Scotland, with AERALIS positioning itself as a contender for supplying the RAF’s next-generation trainer jets. The aircraft, designed for modular adaptability and cost-efficiency, would be built in collaboration with the company’s AERTEAM consortium of defence and aerospace suppliers.

The programme is expected to support more than 4,000 jobs across the UK, with a share of those now planned for Central Ayrshire.

The move follows renewed urgency from the Ministry of Defence to modernise the RAF’s fast-jet training capability. The 2025 Strategic Defence Review highlighted the need for a new light jet within tight timelines.

AERALIS believes it is ready to deliver. “With AERTEAM having demonstrated the industrial capability to deliver the programme within these timescales,” the company said, “AERALIS awaits UK Government commitment to the aircraft in order to move forward with these plans.”

Alan Gemmell, MP for Central Ayrshire, called the decision a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring jet manufacturing back to Prestwick,” adding, “I couldn’t be happier if [the Red Arrows] become Scottish as well as British.”

I was there for the announcement, stay tuned for more on this shortly.

George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison

79 COMMENTS

  1. I do wish this blessed aircraft would take to the skies, if it doesn’t soon it will just be binned by shortsighted politicians in favour some foreign thing.

  2. Another defence project going to Scotland. Shouldn’t we be diversifying a bit in case Scotland decides to go independent in the next decade or two?

      • You’re right. Being concerned that vital military equipment is being made in countries that could very likely leave sure is idiotic. It’s not like the Royal Navy is almost entirely dependent on Scotland for shipbuilding or anything.

          • In the next 5 years sure but what about the 2030s-2050s. Who knows what the political landscape will be like then. Nobody expected Brexit yet here we are.

          • What with childish or simplistic comments like ‘idiot’ and ‘highly unlikely to leave’ the standard of debate is on this thread is hardly reaching new heights of insight is it. Sounds like a Trump Cabinet meeting.

        • “could very likely leave ”

          On what basis?
          A desire for independence needs a lot more % than is showing. The SNP have sunk. They cannot hold a referendum without HMG approval and that is not happening unless a majority call for it.
          The vote in Scotland is biased as unionist parties have a split vote, Vs SNP and tiny Greens.
          I’d say the opposite is true and if we rejoin the EU one day it would disappear.

          • Unless of course mate the SNP policy of dishing out camper vans is increased from not just its leaders but to all voters who choose SNP!!!!! 😂😂😂! Seriously mate there will be no split, most reasonable people like a bit of Eng/Jock banter (very much like RAF Reg/rest of the Army) but know it’s better together! Certainly since it’s being shown a high percentage of online SNP support is from the Tehran troll farms. 👍

          • …this is getting surreal like it or not the likelihood of Britain rejoining the EU in the foreseeable future is certainly no greater than Scotland leaving the Union which you claim to be pretty much a distant threat. Even for a Govt that wants to rejoin (like this one) and with a likely majority of voters now wanting it, doing so is going to be extremely difficult to manoeuvre through the extensive hurdles for as far as I, indeed any reasonable observer can see ahead. Closer and closer cooperation is the only likely change. Scotland and Independence is a far more erratic question that only a fool would claim to have answers beyond this decade. Labour is quickly failing north of the border as a rejuvenated Great White Hope and its support could plummet again, while the Tories are hardly likely to make any real impact so as the SNP scandals fade from memory their support could easily rise quickly. Political parties are so dire presently there is hardly any high ground left and unless the UK can somehow weave a present obstacle strewn route through US clear intent to feed off of everyone to fuel its oligarchs riches while allowing enough trickle down to fool the MAGArettes and try to generate some UK growth and wellbeing then it’s hardly naive to think the Scots might in despair (if delusion infested) believe independence can’t be worse. It would be difficult beyond 2030 when no one can claim we need yet more time to see if Brexit is working, to keep refusing another referendum. So very reasonable, indeed sensible to consider the implications of feeding so much of our future defence investment north of the border. After all everyone claims this Country is too short sighted in planning our future needs.

        • It’s idiots like you that keep that shit coming, if you stayed in Scotland you would know there’s no chance of it happening the only reason the snp are where they are was keeping the cons out of as much as possible and now labour aren’t doing much better to be honest but just because snp always wins up here doesn’t mean we’re looking to break up the uk, a just can’t be arsed with people stirring between British countries all the time you should be happy it’s getting builtin Britain whatever country it is , YA BAWBAG 😗

          • You have no idea how things are going to play out in the future. If the vast majority of Scots hated the Tories then how are they going to feel about a potential reform government? If Scottish support for independence was around 30% or less then I wouldn’t have a problem but as you know it’s far higher than that. It’s not just politics, the UK’s economic outlook is pretty poor and who knows if we can turn that around or not, we could be looking at decades of slow decline and it’s entirely possible that Scotland and N.Ireland may want to jump ship at some point. If that happens then it’s only natural that I would hope that the government has a plan in place to try and minimise the damage to rUK’s defence production but the more likely answer is that rUK’s has no plans and would be caught out like a deer in headlights.

          • What’s a US country, or French country or German country then. I am so confused by British countries.

          • Agree with that. The snp have been the party more people voted for due to policies that affect them not because of independence. Sure a few might but not the majority

        • The UK is not some sort of eu empire or mini UN. The UK is a Country ffs! I am sure when companies locate to certain states in USA, the central government worry about those states leaving and there are states that have interests within that state who want that. Having businesses locate is good for the unity of our Country.

          • That is to say I am sure companies locating from one stage to another for manufacture, the federal government of USA do not worry about that state leaving, so businesses locating to another UK state, (or old kingdom of you will), principality or province should not be an issue.

      • Why is he an idiot? I think given the current political climate, the swell of pro-independence opinions given on social media with associated polls, combined with the continued political push ‘North of the border’ for a second independence vote, its a perfectly reasonable question. Indeed I would offer its a concern that the UK government must consider for any new procurement, -including ship building – in the interests of UK security .Surely it would be remiss of them not to. Alternatively they could of course just quote your trite response.

          • Have you been in a coma for the last 25 years? We have a President across the pond who only got that position because of his exposure on a damn ‘business’ game show that as has happened (if thankfully on a far reduced scale) even with the 15 minutes of fame 40 years ago Alan Sugar here. Media and now social media is the most influential instrument in the World to manipulate opinion, it’s why Russia and even Iran spend millions on the trolls and bots, it’s why Musk took such a financial hit to buy Twitter and why Trump first wanted to kill TicTock then embraced it when he realised it got him elected. If you think the Scots are immune then sadly that is the exact delusion that makes people so vulnerable to it. The advertising industry earns billions despite the endless refrain from the public that adverts don’t influence them. Yeah right, so again who are the idiots.

    • Defence in the UK is biased towards Scotland. This is. in my view, a mistake regardless of Scotland’s future role in ot out of the UK.

      • If you actually read anything the MoD publishes you will note that defence spending defence spending in Scotland is about 9% which is almost exactly the same % of Scotlands share of the UK population.

        • Jim I am thinking more in terms of the investment going on. The Clyde now has two frigate factories. Now I know that submarines will be built elsewhere however bearing in mind we could well see defence spending somewhere in the region of 5-8% of GDP in time I think some of that submarine building should go elsewhere as well. The Clyde should thrive in the years to come however the whole point of this article is aircraft production which perhaps should go to say Sheffield, Nattingham or somewhere like that. To grow industries again in the heart of cities might be an idea. The same goes for the new industries like drones which can virtually be built in people’s sheds but needs a little investment capital. Basically I think I am saying that the investment should be spread around and not be politically motivated to keep the Scots or any other group happy.

          • Point of geography Mark. BAE has a shipyard on The Clyde which is on the west coast of Scotland. Babcock’s “frigate factory” is 50 miles away on the east coast at Rosyth on The Forth Estuary.

      • You have to look and see which country gets most work obviously england will have more it’s a bigger population which gives more working areas and I’m happy with that but there seems to be a problem with Scotland getting anything and I don’t understand why seem a little selfish towards the other countries in the uk

        • Problem typically stems from English nationalist (typically Union Jack clad) who all ill informed, UKDJ continuously publishes region MoD spending data and Scotland only ever gets around 9% of MoD spending and about 9% of MoD personnel are based in Scotland.

          • I don’t think most of it comes from English Nationalism at all and certainly even less in the arguments on this forum. The fact is this Country is struggling to finance anything like all it needs in wealth and services and is highly unlikely to turn that around, so the threat of eventual Scottish Independence despite the naysayers here or elsewhere is a substantial threat beyond 2030 (don’t people remember how close it was a decade back). Now giving Scotland its fair share of investment generally is right, even giving them a bit extra over competing and neglecting Ted regions like Wales and the South West, I can see as politically (less so morally) understandable to try to sustain the Union. What worries me (though far less so in this possibility in all honesty) is investing on a scale that is going to be incredibly difficult to reverse at a later date should worst case Scotland leaves the union. I remember the old Govt meme that (rump) British warships would not be built in an independent Scotland. That might have had some substance at the time of the last referendum but now? How could naval shipbuilding be moved to England? It’s fanciful to think it would be financially feasible should the worst happen, the Govt would have to pay for it and in what World could it afford that not to mention the disruption it would cause. At best it would take decades and what would the companies involved think about the prospect, could the workforce be transferred, how long to train a largely new workforce if required, what added costs in bringing any new facility up to efficiency? What crippling measures could a Scottish Govt consider, real or as blackmail as we try to manage this change of events? All these factors really don’t bear thinking about (but right that we hope someone in Bovt is) so best that we hope we are never have to be faced with prospect. However I think to put these deeply concerning prospects down to mere English Nationalism is not helpful a break could have devastating consequences, even if this move is only a small part of it and far easier to handle in that worst case scenario. At least I guess unlike a decade ago, the navy should be a pretty new fleet before that prospect might hit us so timing is everything.

        • Who gets the most work now is not the issue I am effectively saying spread the work / investment around. We need skills / investment / Infrastructure building around the UK.

        • Agreed, I’m happy for Scotland to get more on defence investment, it’s not always about equal measures for everything, it’s about centres of iexcellence and UK regional investment. Scotland is the UK and as long as UK ‘plc’ benefits, it helps to show the strength of the union by having the trust also. Yorkshire with the same population as Scotland needs more investment also, but I don’t begrudge the Scots taking this one.

  3. How do the numbers stack up now that we have so few Fast Jets ? Surely this must target foreign markets which are pretty well catered for ATM. We aren’t talking the numbers of trainee pilots that Hawk was so successfull at training ?

    (see, I can be serious)

    • I think part of the intention with Aeralis is that with the modularity, the fleet can be re-roled so that a small fleet of jets can take on all parts of the training cycle of a ‘cohort’ of pilots and the manufacturing numbers make more sense with airframe lives etc.
      And there are tentative plans to widen the set of roles that can be chosen, I think. They already offer an unmanned tactical tanker/ISTAR, but an armed version to take the strain off Typhoon and Tempest for the low-intensity QRA work could be possible as well and you could also arm the unmanned-cockpit type as an adjunct to Protector.

      • Oh, thanks for that, hopefully It’ll progress, It’s a glorious history this country has in the way of aircraft design, would be great to see something come of this.

      • I have been called many names in my long messy life but “Jesus” isn’t one of them.
        Oh and I’m tee total, no seriously I am, I’d get into all sorts of trouble If I drank dirty water.

        “It’s the voices what makes me do it your honor”.

    • As TorpedoJ said, you make your trainer also do every other miscellaneous role you have. Red Arrows, aggressor, make it unmanned, etc. That’s the main sales point for Aeralis in fact, that their offer is much easier to modify than the competition.

    • I suspect this is the reason they are still searching for an initial buyer. If I was cynical I might see the choice of Scotland among a sea of marginal labour seats as a political move to attract funding.

      The ability to build simple jet trainers is hardly a national priority.

      I can’t imagine anyone in the RAF wants the cost, risk and complexity of building an off the sheet design for this.

  4. I guess Prestwick and Broughton are the only places that really offer a multitude of supporting businesses nearby. The difference is that Broughton is owned by Airbus, which wouldn’t want a competitor trainer aircraft on their site, and Prestwick is owned by the Scottish Government, which can provide tax incentives and negotiate deals. Oh, and politics. I’m not sure where else sites like these exist that have the multitude of manufacturing businesses that could support them locally. Just a thought. I guess a quick shout out would be to St Athan, Welsh government-owned, but it looks like it doesn’t have the same levels of manufacturing support as the others.

    If the intention is to provide a link to Tempest and the F-35, maybe some sort of partnership with BAE Systems could help provide a suitable location, taking the space of the Hawk production facility. Just a shame that Brough was left to be demolished.

  5. Unless there are export orders or partnership economies, we build a trainer jet for small front line airforce is this really viable.

  6. What does that mean? Your one of the idiots that like infighting between our countries or your going to see me, am in central Scotland by the way gies a shout when your here

  7. In my view a cheap modern jet would be beneficial to the UK provided they could be built in sufficient numbers.

    • Exactly, and as the company is also offering an option to replace the back seat with an additional fuel tank the airframe could also contribute to fighting power.
      ASRAAM, Spear 3 and Paveway make a good enough combination for routine QRA, limited maritime strike and also the counter-terror work.

  8. BAe missed a trick not offering an upgraded Hawk. The basic Hawk platform still does the basic job of fast jet training. Already a proven design, an upgraded Hawk might be cheaper – no need for an extensive flight test programme to establish the aircraft performance and handling characteristics etc. Less need for a fatigue test airframe

    • Or maybe offer a partnership that could see the Hawk design merged with Aerialis. This could result in using the BAE Systems Hawk manufacturing facility. It won’t just be an idea. Although, if that happened, there would then be a nice premium price slapped on it, defeating the point. I think at this point it’s more Folland Gnat design.

  9. Prestwick appears to be rapidly turning in to the only financial bailout the SNP made that is actually working out. Even a broken watch is right twice a day.

  10. It does look like both the UK and French governments are behind this idea.

    Quotes. from challenges.fr website.

    “La start-up britannique Aeralis, qui développe un avion léger modulaire, vient de créer une filiale en France. Objectif : développer un remplaçant franco-britannique de l’AlphaJet de la Patrouille de France et de l’armée de l’air pour les missions d’entraînement et Red Air (simulation d’agression aérienne)”
    “ Le jet d’Aeralis pourrait avoir également vocation à remplacer l’avion d’entraînement Hawk T2 de la Royal Air Force britannique.”

    • For those that don’t speak French
      Will the AlphaJet’s replacement be Franco-British? This is the ambitious goal set by the English company Aeralis. Based in Bristol, England, the group, founded in 2020 by former Airbus employee Tristan Crawford, announced on Wednesday, February 12, the creation of a subsidiary in France, located in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine). The objective: to develop, by 2030, a light jet that could succeed the venerable AlphaJet. The Franco-German aircraft, which entered service 45 years ago, still equips the Patrouille de France (21 aircraft), as well as the 3/8 Côte d’Or training squadron of the French Air and Space Force, based in Cazaux (Gironde), which has around fifty of them. The Aeralis jet could also be used to replace the British Royal Air Force’s Hawk T2 trainer aircraft

      • Thx.
        Both the French and the British need a new trainer. The politically preferred options for the UK are Hawk T3 or Aeralis. The politically preferred options for France is Aeralis with Aermachi 345 and / or 346 some way behind.
        Hawk T3 would have little export potential in a crowded market. The Aeralis modular multi role concept looks good and has commercial potential. I would guess 2 manufacturing plants: Europhile Scotland + France; teaming up agaist the ‘auld enemy ‘ in Westminster. Surefire vote winner for Labour.😉

        • Apparently, Aeralis has already set up a subsidiary in France. I also read that they are looking to work with Babcock France, and have an MOU with a French company called ‘SDTS’ that provides air service missions for operational training of the armed forces. As much as I would like to be optimistic, it would be nice to have a prototype to show off, not just a mock-up to show that things have moved along.

          • I read they were planning a test flight in 2024 but it didn’t happen. Aeralis founder Tristan Crawford is a very experienced and well qualified aeronautical engineer and has built an extensive network to develop and test the design; Airbus, RR, Atkins, ITEC, Siemens. But yes, of there is a prototype sitting somewhere under a canvas cover it would be good to see it.

  11. I think we should go for an aircraft already fully developed & flying. Too much cost & will probably take years to develop the Aeralis.
    It has to be M-346 in my humble opinion.

  12. Along with presumably every other defence contract.

    Tell me – how will Scottish independence play out, if every egg we have is in the Scottish basket in an attempt to leverage their vote, only for it to fail in favour of populism.

  13. So a Middle Eastern majority-owned company with an arguably larger French footprint than British could build an aircraft in Scotland if it just had MOD money for everything past the power point stage.

    Got loves a trier, the serious fraud squad are usually less enthused when all is said an done.

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