Typhoondriver
Sounds like fake news, or half-truth, to me within a variety of your questions. For instance I know there are changes to the T2 syllabus upcoming that the FL asked for...
Look, I’m not saying MFTS is sweetness and light, but it is what it is and it is unlikely to change - so we can either all carp about “the good old days” (which in my experience had some big plus points but some significant negatives as well), or we can just move along and get it working. Don’t forget that MFTS was designed around 2006ish and then there was SDSR2010 that axed a load of capability and aircrew trg requirement (MRA4, Harrier, some Tornados, early draw downs of other types as well), then, for the first time in my lengthy time in the service a growth under SDSR2015 plus also Typhoon/Hawk sales with training requirements thrown into the mix. Here is SDSR2015 in brief:
Typhoon. We will create two additional front-line squadrons from our existing fleet and extend Typhoon in service to 2040.
F-35 Lightning. We will buy 138 F-35 Lightning aircraft over the life of the programme. We will buy some of these aircraft more quickly than previously planned, creating an additional front-line squadron by 2023.
ISTAR. More than doubling the number of armed remotely piloted air systems and increasing the number of crews under the Protector programme to replace Reaper. Investing in a fleet of nine Boeing P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft with an overland surveillance capability. Extending Sentinel in service until 2021. Upgrading E-3D Sentry, extending it in service until 2035, and increasing the number of crews. Expanding the Shadow fleet, with a corresponding uplift in the number of crews, and extending it in service until at least 2030. Extending Rivet Joint in service until 2035 and increasing the number of crews.
Air Mobility. Completing the introduction to service of 22 A400M Atlas tactical and heavy lift aircraft and 14 Voyager air-to-air refuelling and transport aircraft. Upgrading 14 C-130J Hercules aircraft and extending them in service. Upgrading the Chinook battlefield helicopter.
Military Flying Training. We will expand the capacity of the Military Flying Training System to meet the demands of the increased training demand.
Now the last bit of SDSR2015 is the interesting bit for this thread. There has been
no enhancement so far to the UKMFTS fleet and what is currently being rolled out is still the same numbers for the requirement set for SDSR2010 - ie. 23x Prefect, 10x Texan, 5x Phenom, 28x EC135 Juno, 3x EC145 Jupiter and the previous 28x T2s. I am unaware of any addition so far to the fleet, but I understand the SDSR2015 increase is under starters orders (a bit late in my humble opinion) that will see additional numbers of airframes added to the extant ones. There is also the CPL/IR outsource activity that is helping increase capacity plus now we have 100 Sqn T1s and ENJJPT T-38Cs helping with that capacity. All this extra activity is broadening the output and feeding the demands of the OCUs and the FL for the SDSR2015 growth; as I said before, were the activity not going on then I would agree that something should be done, but it is, and a lot more than what people are bemoaning about on here.
As ever, everything needs to be looked at with a little less myopia and “Daily Mail” outrage then the challenges, issues and ways-ahead make a bit more sense!