The Ministry of Defence has confirmed there is no date set for resuming work to equip the Royal Air Force’s Envoy IV ministerial jets to operate in non-benign airspace, with the programme remaining paused indefinitely while other priorities take precedence, the department stated in a written answer to a parliamentary question.
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty had asked the Secretary of State for Defence, by reference to an earlier answer of 8 June, until what date the work had been paused. Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard replied: “The work to enable Envoy IV aircraft operations in non-benign airspace has been paused, and there is currently no definitive date for when this activity will recommence. The Department’s programme priorities are kept under regular review to ensure alignment with operational requirements and available resources.”
The answer offers no firmer indication of a restart point for what is intended to be the second phase of the Command Support Air Transport recapitalisation programme, the contractual line under which the RAF’s two Dassault Falcon 900LX jets were to be transferred onto the Military Aircraft Register and fitted with the defensive systems required to fly into theatres where the threat picture is more demanding.
The Envoy IV designation covers two Falcon 900LX business jets bought by the Ministry of Defence under the 2021 Integrated Review to replace the ageing fleet of four BAE Systems 146 jets that had carried prime ministers, senior officials and military commanders into theatres including Iraq and Afghanistan over many years. The Falcons entered service in June 2022, owned by the military but registered with the civilian regulator and crewed by a mix of military and civilian pilots alongside RAF cabin staff, with the understanding that they would eventually transition to a fully military footing.
That transition, the second phase of the Command Support Air Transport programme, was always supposed to bring the new fleet up to the same hard-edged standard the BAe 146s had carried. The fit-out includes a defensive aid suite designed to confuse incoming missiles and seekers, a secure communications package, and the certification needed to fly into airspace where the operating environment can change quickly. The same phase was also intended to bring the aircraft under sole RAF crew operation, with long-term maintenance support running through to 2037.
Pollard’s earlier answer of 8 June, which prompted the follow-up question, told Parliament that the aircraft were continuing to provide command support across a range of air mobility tasks and that several options were being considered to expand the fleet’s future capability, including the military modifications. He said at the time that the work was “currently paused whilst other activity has been prioritised.”
The latest answer makes clear that the pause is open-ended.
The position leaves the United Kingdom in a noticeably different posture from a number of allied air forces, which retain dedicated, militarised executive jets capable of carrying their political and military leadership into contested theatres. The defensive aid suites typically fitted to such aircraft cover the threat from man-portable air defence systems, which have become more widely distributed in recent years, and from infrared-guided weapons more generally.
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Meh, don’t fly them in trouble zones. I know, it’s cheap, not a VIP jet that has missile defence, but if that’s flying in, then we’ve probably chosen the wrong kind of transportation.
The thing is, these small low profile biz jets often did fly into war zones, such as the 125s and 146s the RAF had. They carry more than just ministers, but might need to deliver key niche personnel or cargo, as well as senior commanders.
So Defaids was very much desirable.
That situation has been made worse as some plonker decided to do away with Hercules, so we have nothing smaller now than a flipping Atlas for the low profile tasks the SF or S&D Flight might need to do.