Originally Posted by
flighthappens
Red air is only a waste of a time if people are not thinking correctly. At present the threat has very similar capabilities to the 4th Gen Blue - mimicking red is certainly not “invalid”. There are plenty of core skills that can be practiced.
The point that you don’t get “ticks” merely serves to highlight some of the problems within a system that is that it driven by quantitative stats rather than qualitative assessment.
Flying Red also gives the opportunity for people to try things they wouldn’t normally do as blue which if flown correctly can increase their individual ability.
regardless if I have a choice up between a squadron that I have a role in having to fly a modest percentage of red air or getting an extra Cobham or some contractor job radar non EW ex trainer I know what I want. Guess what - It’s not the 0.8M hawk with no SA or 0.6M 20kft falcon.
lastly what percentage of people leaving want to step to Cobham over Middle East training / an airline job / somewhere like inzpire / city consultancy? I wouldn’t be relying on that to solve the brain drain.
I would guess that you’ve not flown Red Air recently and/or correctly. You don’t ‘try something’ you normally wouldn’t as Blue because your are either cuffed for training purposes or you’re mimicking what the actual threat does. There are not plenty of core skills to practice because your shot doc is completely different, your shot ranges are different and manoeuvres are different.
I absolutely agree about your assessment of a quantitative vs qualitative system. Unfortunately, in my view, the hierarchy are seduced by number of hours flown vice quality of hours flown.
The ASDOT contract would have unlocked the door to more representative Red Air threats and not the Falcon or Hawk that you speak of.
Finally, neither you nor I are able to tell with certainty what percentage of pilots would switch to a contract Red Air company to fly fast jets rather than the options you listed. Anecdotally though, it’s a high percentage.