Interesting to observe, once again, the reactions here to a SDSR announcement which is so strong on equipment and so weak on personnel issues. Like the MPA/P-8 thread, folk seem to be more concerned which sqn number plates will be painted on the hardware and whether they will be light or dark blue than the huge operational and manning debate that will follow.
One thing that is correctly stated here is that number plates result from VSOs' personal wishes and has nothing to do in any rules of sqn seniority.
To my mind, the hardware will arrive over time and there are going to be some very busy people in Air Command getting the sites ready with all the ground equipment, supplies/spares, expendibles, vehicles, airframe allocations, servicing scheduling, electronic and software support, accommodation, working and briefing facilities, test and calibration equipment.... And on and on. Big work ahead, which I think will be both challenging and interesting.
Then the job I wouldn't want - getting the manning right within the limitations of current numbers, Ts & Cs and a massively dismantled training system. Pre-SDSR I could kind of see where the numbers were going to come from as, for example, Tranche 1 Typhoons are replaced by later ones and as Tornado phases out and F-35 starts to build. I think that would probably have been tight. Now add the extra aircraft (Typhoon, F-35, P-8, C-130 extension, F-35 roll-out) and 300 extra people with an acceptance that folk won't stay as long and I can't see how this is going to work. The only hope is that this plan is one that will take a very long time to play out.
Admittedly, I haven't really sat down and worked out what the airframe numbers will be year by year, but it all looks like a bit of a steep climb from where we are.
But I'm still delighted for the UK's military aviation community to read the SDSR document (apart from some of the meaningless political aspiration sections).
Sorry I've rambled on a bit.