Originally Posted by
snapper41
How about not replacing them? Use the money on the front line instead. I doubt very much that the ‘good for recruiting’ and ‘promotes British industry’ excuses/reasons hold true any more. I’m certain that if a straw poll of currently-serving personnel was held, hardly any would say they joined because of watching the Red Arrows at an airshow. As for British industry, buying something non-British kind of blows that out of the water.
They do have a
PR value - for many they are the public face of the Air Force It was noticeable how many news reports said along the lines of '..a flypast by the RAF, including the Red Arrows'. In fact, they are probably the most visible individual unit in the Armed Forces.
Having said that, I think their goose was cooked when the decision was made to continue with the T1 and not order any T2 Hawks as replacement. It will just take a brave politician to actually scrap them.