Solving Chronic Problems With Flying Training Has Been The Raf Chief S Sole Priority And Could Take Years To Resolve Uk News

That was two and a half years ago. On Friday, Sky News revealed that RAF flying training remains in crisis, including an “emerging” issue with the Hawk aircraft used by fast jet trainees and concerns about a “damaging drain” of qualified pilots leaving the service for better paying jobs. in the industry rather than staying to fly into business and mentor new hires. The impact of the various challenges means dozens of recruits are stuck waiting months – sometimes years – for training positions to open up in fast jet courses as well as those earmarked for military transport, spy planes and helicopters. The ongoing “disasters” raise difficult questions for Air Chief Sir Mike Wigston, the chief of the air staff and other senior RAF leaders as threats from Russia and China grow, defense sources said. Royal Navy and army trainee airmen are also affected by the situation. Leaked documents seen by Sky News offer a sense of how increasing demand on front-line fighter squadrons is reducing the RAF’s ability to train new recruits because there is not an adequate pool of qualified pilots. A filing said there was a 65% drop in demand for trainees to learn how to fly the fast Typhoon jet this year, due “mainly to the operational tempo”. This was largely prompted by the UK’s decision to send more fast jets to help defend NATO allies in the alliance’s east following Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February. Another factor affecting the training was the seven-month maiden deployment of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier, to Asia and back last year, a defense source said. The flagship took with it eight of the UK’s next-generation F-35 jets – one of the most expensive defense programs in history, worth billions of pounds. It also required qualified RAF and Royal Navy pilots to fly them, affecting the availability of trainers in the UK. “Carrier task forces have been delayed by many months of training,” the defense source said. Calling on flight instructors to help operations temporarily when demand from the front lines increases – such as during the first and second Iraq wars – is nothing new. Cost-saving cuts mean the size of the RAF has been cut However, the problem the RAF now faces is that because the size of the air force has been reduced so deeply after decades of cost-saving cuts, the need for instructors to take time out of training occurs for relatively small deployments. Also, because the RAF and its pool of recruits are smaller in numbers, the effect of any delay in training is more detrimental than it would be in a larger, more shock-absorbing force. The Air Force had about 30 front-line squadrons in 1990. Now it has seven. Back then, each warplane in a squadron had two pilots to ensure maximum utility of the jet. That is not the case now, according to a former senior RAF source. In a sign that problems with training will persist, commanders warned that resolving delays in the jet-fast training pipeline will be “incredibly challenging” for the next four to five years, according to one of the leaked files. Commanders have yet to fully understand the impact of a problem with the compressor vanes inside the Rolls Royce-made engines in the Hawk trainer jets, which appear to be more than half the engines’ service life. The memo said the RAF was considering “every option, some radical”, to deal with the crisis. Hawk training for new recruits takes place at RAF Valley, an air base in Anglesey. The new pilots then move on to the final stage of their training – learning to fly a Typhoon or F-35. In a further complication, falling demand for recruits to convert to the Typhoon or F-35 means they will need to take refresher courses in the Hawk – adding further pressure to already limited capacity. “Solution Management for OCU Retention [Operational Conversion Unit] Performance this year and over the next four to five years is incredibly challenging given the many variables we face,” the leaked note said. An RAF spokesman, responding to questions about the general problems facing flying training, said on Friday: “Our people are our greatest asset and we are committed to ensuring we attract and retain the best and brightest talent to meet current and future threats. The spokesman, in an additional comment on Sunday, said: There is no operational impact and all frontline forces are fully manned or still growing, such as the F35. “While we recognize there are challenges with the training pipeline, we are working across Defence, with industry and our international partners to improve the training experience and outcomes for our personnel, including recruiting more trainers and proactively managing timetables for training. We continue to have sufficient aircrew to meet our operational commitments.”

title: “Solving Chronic Problems With Flying Training Has Been The Raf Chief S Sole Priority And Could Take Years To Resolve Uk News " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-15” author: “Lawrence Senay”

That was two and a half years ago. On Friday, Sky News revealed that RAF flying training remains in crisis, including an “emerging” issue with the Hawk aircraft used by fast jet trainees and concerns about a “damaging drain” of qualified pilots leaving the service for better paying jobs. in the industry rather than staying to fly into business and mentor new hires. The impact of the various challenges means dozens of recruits are stuck waiting months – sometimes years – for training positions to open up in fast jet courses as well as those earmarked for military transport, spy planes and helicopters. The ongoing “disasters” raise difficult questions for Air Chief Sir Mike Wigston, the chief of the air staff and other senior RAF leaders as threats from Russia and China grow, defense sources said. Royal Navy and army trainee airmen are also affected by the situation. Leaked documents seen by Sky News offer a sense of how increasing demand on front-line fighter squadrons is reducing the RAF’s ability to train new recruits because there is not an adequate pool of qualified pilots. A filing said there was a 65% drop in demand for trainees to learn how to fly the fast Typhoon jet this year, due “mainly to the operational tempo”. This was largely prompted by the UK’s decision to send more fast jets to help defend NATO allies in the alliance’s east following Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February. Another factor affecting the training was the seven-month maiden deployment of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier, to Asia and back last year, a defense source said. The flagship took with it eight of the UK’s next-generation F-35 jets – one of the most expensive defense programs in history, worth billions of pounds. It also required qualified RAF and Royal Navy pilots to fly them, affecting the availability of trainers in the UK. “Carrier task forces have been delayed by many months of training,” the defense source said. Calling on flight instructors to help operations temporarily when demand from the front lines increases – such as during the first and second Iraq wars – is nothing new. Cost-saving cuts mean the size of the RAF has been cut However, the problem the RAF now faces is that because the size of the air force has been reduced so deeply after decades of cost-saving cuts, the need for instructors to take time out of training occurs for relatively small deployments. Also, because the RAF and its pool of recruits are smaller in numbers, the effect of any delay in training is more detrimental than it would be in a larger, more shock-absorbing force. The Air Force had about 30 front-line squadrons in 1990. Now it has seven. Back then, each warplane in a squadron had two pilots to ensure maximum utility of the jet. That is not the case now, according to a former senior RAF source. In a sign that problems with training will persist, commanders warned that resolving delays in the jet-fast training pipeline will be “incredibly challenging” for the next four to five years, according to one of the leaked files. Commanders have yet to fully understand the impact of a problem with the compressor vanes inside the Rolls Royce-made engines in the Hawk trainer jets, which appear to be more than half the engines’ service life. The memo said the RAF was considering “every option, some radical”, to deal with the crisis. Hawk training for new recruits takes place at RAF Valley, an air base in Anglesey. The new pilots then move on to the final stage of their training – learning to fly a Typhoon or F-35. In a further complication, falling demand for recruits to convert to the Typhoon or F-35 means they will need to take refresher courses in the Hawk – adding further pressure to already limited capacity. “Solution Management for OCU Retention [Operational Conversion Unit] Performance this year and over the next four to five years is incredibly challenging given the many variables we face,” the leaked note said. An RAF spokesman, responding to questions about the general problems facing flying training, said on Friday: “Our people are our greatest asset and we are committed to ensuring we attract and retain the best and brightest talent to meet current and future threats. The spokesman, in an additional comment on Sunday, said: There is no operational impact and all frontline forces are fully manned or still growing, such as the F35. “While we recognize there are challenges with the training pipeline, we are working across Defence, with industry and our international partners to improve the training experience and outcomes for our personnel, including recruiting more trainers and proactively managing timetables for training. We continue to have sufficient aircrew to meet our operational commitments.”