Front page of today’s Times....
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/t...vamp-pjrmx7pw9
The army’s air force is to shrink by almost a quarter in a cost-cutting measure that will change the shape of military aviation.
The Army Air Corps (AAC), which provides surveillance and combat support and once included Prince Harry in its ranks, is set to lose five squadrons and 400 posts. Senior sources questioned whether the reduction in staffing and aircraft would take the unit below “critical mass”, opening up the possibility of the AAC being split between the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, 60 years after it was formed. “It’s goodbye, goodbye,” said a senior former officer, adding that the AAC traditionally felt that it had a raw deal: “The Army Air Corps has always felt on the hind tit and being kicked by the rest of the army.”
The plans, which have yet to be finalised, are part of a revamp of the army to cut costs and improve efficiency. They will also be influenced by the mini review of defence that will conclude in December. “It is a proposal that looks likely to be implemented,” a military source said.
Under the Army 2020 Refine plan, 400 jobs out of the 1,700 staff roles in the AAC will go. In addition about 200 of 2,000 attached support posts provided by the Royal Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, Royal Logistic Corps and Adjutant General’s Corps will be erased. A source said that affected personnel would be moved into other areas of the army so that the move would not result in redundancies.
Planned structural alterations mean that any plans to rebuild two additional squadrons to fly the Wildcat attack helicopter will be scrapped. Instead only 661 and 659 squadrons will continue to operate the aircraft, which is also flown by the Royal Navy. A third squadron will be a training and conversion unit. Plans to purchase additional Wildcat helicopters to equip 657 squadron, which supports Britain’s special forces, have also been ditched. The Times reported last month that the unit would lose its Lynx Mk9A helicopters next year, but at the time a Ministry of Defence source insisted that the aircraft would be replaced. This is no longer the case.
In other changes, an entire fleet of 34 Gazelle observation helicopters, operated by 655 squadron from Northern Ireland, has had its out-of-service date brought forward to next year, Tim Ripley, who wrote about the AAC shake up in Jane’s Defence Weekly, said. A contingent of fixed-wing Islander and Defender aircraft also operated by 651 squadron, will be handed over to the RAF. These moves will result in an entire regiment, 5 Regiment Army Air Corps, which comprises 651 and 655 squadrons, being disbanded, Jane’s reported.......
An army spokesman said: “The examination of aviation structures as part of the army structural change work to implement SDSR15 is ongoing. Final decisions on structures, locations and personnel numbers are not expected until the end of the year.”