PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - UK Maritime Patrol Aircraft - An Urgent Requirement
Old 23rd Oct 2014, 19:14
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The Old Fat One
 
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Unless anybody thinks the other fleets will be happy with a major reduction in manpower to spring the 115 (who probably don't all wish to move anyway)
This

The RAF did away with it's effective aircrew reserve when it replaced many of the aircrew in ground appointments with the introduction of the ops support branch.

No way will all the 40 odd seedcorn become operational on a future MPA in 2017. You'll be lucky to get half that number.

And, outwith seedcorn, I don't think there are many wetties floating about (no pun intended).

When I mentioned ASW skills, I meant it "relatively". No one anywhere has the ASW skills we had in the cold war, because no one has the in contact time. Technology will make up for some of this gap however.

In sum, 90 odd percent of any of a new MPA force will have to be recruited and trained from scratch.

And I don't think anybody in the know is under any illusions about that.
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