A parliamentary report published by the Daily Mail newspaper stated that the British Royal Air Force’s fleet of combat aircraft is so small that it could be eliminated if Britain enters a war against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The report said there were too few Typhoons and F-35s, making the British fleet unable to withstand the “levels of attrition” that might occur.
He added: “The UK has only 169 front-line aircraft compared to Russia’s 3,500, and after repeated post-Cold War reductions, our fleet is also smaller than that of our European allies.”
According to the analysis, France has 231 combat aircraft, Germany 214, Italy 199, and in 1990, the United Kingdom had 463 aircraft.
The RAF says the sophistication of its aircraft makes up for having fewer of them, but the report says the UK is “dangerously exposed”, adding: “The fighter fleet offers very high capability but lacks numerical depth and has insufficient reserve.”
He added: “The Ministry of Defense and the RAF must look as a matter of urgency at how to increase combat air mass.”
Despite the shortage, the RAF intends to retire 30 Typhoon aircraft five years ahead of schedule in 2025, rather than modernizing them.
“The RAF’s failure to calculate the number of maintenance workers required to properly service the aircraft is inexcusable,” the report said.
The report concluded that the RAF had been “hollowed out” and was “too small to meet the demands of the increasing challenges it faced”.
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2023-09-10 06:24:59
