Well done the RAF
and the RN
and the AAC.
One thing puzzles me.
Originally Posted by BBC News 10 Jul 2011
...The government will not provide a full breakdown, but splits the figure into £120m operational costs and £140m to replace the munitions fired over six months, if the Nato-led mission lasts that long...
The figure of £120m for operational costs over a six month (180 day) period equates to £667k per day.
Let us ignore for the moment that Nick Harvey has reported that accommodation for the 900 RAF personnel deployed for Op ELLAMY costs more than £52k per day (£1.57m per month).
A Typhoon costs £70k per flying hour or £210k for each 1,500 mile three hour round trip from Gioia del Colle to the Libyan coast and back without taking into account any loitering or time over target.
Aircraft Financial Year 2010-11 Cost Per Hour
Tornado GR4 £35,000
Typhoon £70,000
Harrier GR7/GR9 £37,000
Tornado F3 £43,000
So the £667k per day only covers around three Typhoon transits with nothing left for Tornados, Sentinels, AWACS, tankers, C-130s or any other type of RAF aircraft in the air. I would also expect some costs for dedicated infrastructure including C3I, transport (local and UK<>Italy), logs, contractual support, victualling, etc.
How can this be?