The Ministry of Defence has disclosed that the RAF’s Financial Retention Incentive for engineers supporting the UK’s F-35 Lightning programme is worth approximately £113.5 million.
The figure was confirmed in a written parliamentary answer by defence minister Louise Sandher-Jones, who said: “The total remuneration package for the RAF Engineers Financial Retention Incentive is approximately £113.5 million.”
The incentive scheme was introduced as part of wider efforts to address a long-running shortage of suitably qualified and experienced engineers within the F-35 enterprise, an issue repeatedly highlighted by the Public Accounts Committee.
Previous ministerial answers have acknowledged that the Lightning programme “suffers from a shortage of engineers” and that the problem has operational implications. The Ministry of Defence has said it has increased recruitment, expanded technical training capacity and introduced joining bonuses alongside the retention incentive.
However, ministers have also cautioned that workforce recovery will take time. Earlier responses to Parliament stated that “training time required for engineers means that it is expected to take three or four years before the programme has the required numbers.”
The £113.5 million figure represents the first time the full cost of the RAF engineers’ retention package has been set out in a standalone parliamentary answer, providing a clearer indication of the scale of investment being directed at sustaining the F-35 force.
Over how many years?
It wouldn’t suprise me if MoD were spinning that as it was over the full life of F35!
Hang on, who gets what and for how long ?
I have a garden with mud that’s clearer.
Type qualified maintenance engineering has always had a retention issue in the air force. But it is mostly a question of scale. The small fleet size is the most probable problem factor for the F-35 force. If you’ve only trained a handful don’t expect them to hang around if a better offer comes along. The air force lost a lot of trained manpower to the Saudi Tornado deal back when that happened. But we had a lot of trained engineers for the fairly large Tornado force. It is likely to repeat itself due to the large customer base of the F-35. You need to over-train in the hope that what is left with can meet your resourcing needs. Another thing to remember is that people are people, not just resources on a spreadsheet. They have human related problems too.
As an ex A Eng Tech A/P would I get double the money?
The Lightening Force seems to be in a bad way at the moment. Operation Highmast strained it to the limit, and there was apparently a lot of grumbling from RAF personnel who didn’t sign up to spend seven months on a warship, living in a cramped “cabin” with 5 or 7 other personnel. It’s going to take most of 2026 to rebuild its operational capacity. Having all your F-35’s lined up on the flight deck may look good, but months of tropical sun and salt laden winds have taken a serious toll on scarce and expensive aircraft – e.g. three F-35’s have had to be sent to the USN’s Fleet Readiness Centre Southeast (FRCSE) in Jacksonville, Florida to have corrosion repaired. And remember that some aircraft used by 617 and 809 are already over 10 years old! I think it’s safe to say that F-35Bs will be a rare sight on POW for the next year, nothing more than is essential for training and pilot carrier qualification.
Pay the educated and highly qualified people the money they deserve, treat them right and they will stay! But alas, they mostly don’t vote Labour and therefore they are expendable in the grand scheme of socialist thinking and the money is better spent on hand outs to people who do sweet FA, and are therefore bought and paid for Labour voters!
Interesting, but on a different note, I always wondered how much the MOD made during the PVR(£250) release scheme,in the 70’s? A lot of, I mean a lot matelots left the RN. All trades. Can’t speak for Army/ RAF. A lot of experience (and pals) just disappeared overnight. It seemed then 1man was doing 3 Jobs,and took a long time to recover professional levels. Additionally 6months later, said 1pal (pvr) met sweeping roads.(Ex a/c radio tif ships company). Fly Navy 🇬🇧👌809👍.