Blighter
Immediate withdrawal of Harrier GR9 with the associated closure of RAF Wittering - saving money on the Cottesmore transfer.
GR4 fleet reduced further to allow transition to Typhoon GA and JCA.
Not convinced - I think it might GR9 remains & GR4 goes offset/sweetened by an increased Typhoon buy further down the line...
Last Typhoon trance cancelled/mothballed and JCA order drastically reduced.
JCF ordered halved I reckon although I suspect there might be a sneaky offer of half of the buy to the FAA...if covered from the RN budget.
FSTA PFI re-examined and contract amended/reduced.
Reckon this is tied up tighter than a tight thing. Be interesting to see if it could be amended however to get an earlier in service date for the non-centreline jets without the wing pods. i.e. get them in as military airliners and then fit wing pods as and when whilst in service. Would enable early binning of the TriStar
A400M cancelled.
This is the interesting one (if you're a dull truckie obviously) and impossible to call. Was interesting to see the figures Fox was quoting re numbers of Hercules when discussing fleet sizes. He's either being fed by an idiot, a liar or an agenda.
VC10 withdrawn immediately.
We need to maintain an AAR capability. Suspect VC10 will be drawn down to AAR only and a minimum fleet to support critical tasking.
E3D withdrawn immediatley.
We need to maintain an independent AWACS capability however a fleet of 7 aircraft is about 50% bigger than we need for core business. Fleet reduction required
RJ order re-examined.
If this platform will genuinely replace the R1 in toto then it's a capability we need. If however it's a half arsed attempt at avoiding having to properly replace the R1 then bin it and rethink.
Extra buy of C130J and C17.
An area of personal interest If the A400 goes then an eventual fleet of 10 C17 has to be a sensible target to aim for. An extra buy of C130J would only be necessary I think (biased) if the UK Armed Forces actually became serious about FW support to UKSF. In an ideal world you'd have a small fleet (5/6) frames operated and owned outwith 2 Gp and working within a USAF AFSOC style set up alongside similar "minded" assets. Would reap huge capabilities for a relatively small outlay. Sadly not pointy or jet powered thus never happen..
Increased UAV/ISR procurement.
It's the future! Get in now kids while the water's still warm!
Expansion of RAF Regt Field Sqns to support future FP requirements.
Yup but they'd have to sell it well to avoid being consumed by the army.
Cancellation of Puma upgrade.
Bye!
Withdrawal of Sentinel.
Don't see that happening any time given how Network ISTAR Centric Enabled Buzzword Buzzword Capabilities we've apparently become
Sea King SAR extended.
Got to be cheaper than a civvy contract but is there scope for the yellow hatters to also have a standby green hat and develop a core CSAR capability akin to the USAF's HH-60s?