PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - US General says British Army less than Par?!?!?!?
Old 13th Feb 2023, 16:27
  #76 (permalink)  
BEagle
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Quite near 'An aerodrome somewhere in England'
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How on earth extra resources could be made available to the RAF for pilot training is frankly beyond me. Some 57 UK aerodromes where the RAF once flew have closed since I joined in 1968, for one thing. Where would you station additional training aeroplanes, let alone find enough instructors. Once upon a time there were quite a few pilots lurking in staff appointments or as UAS instructors, but not these days!

Just as an aside, in 1957 there were 11 RAF aerodromes in RAFG, with 32 squadrons of 464 jet fighters / bombers. By the time the wall came down, there were 4 RAFG aerodromes and 12 squadrons of 156 jet fighters / bombers. OK, the F-35B and Typhoon are hugely more capable than Venom FB4 or Meteor NF11, Harrier, Tornado or Phantom and we have nothing left in RAFG - but are a mere 9 UK squadrons really sufficient now?
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