Training bases cut, aircraft cut... (The word is 'Lean')
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Training bases cut, aircraft cut... (The word is 'Lean')
From Flight International:- by Craig Doyle
Training & recruitment: The UK £10bn Military Flying Training System
competition set to be announced soon
The UK is poised to announce the winner of its Military Flying Training
System competition. We look at the prospects for the three contenders
The UK Ministry of Defence could be within days of naming the winning team
in a pivotal contest to deliver its entire air crew training for the 25
years from next April. Worth a potential £10 billion ($18.9 billion), the
MoD's Military Flying Training System (MFTS) requirement has prompted a
battle between three consortia vying to become its so-called training system
partner (TSP) for the delivery of services across up to 20 aviation
disciplines.
Respectively named Ascent, Sterling and Vector, the consortia are nervously
waiting on the imminent announcement of a preferred bidder, following the
project's approval for Main Gate funding during a 9 November meeting of the
MoD's Investment Approvals Board (IAB). Representing the successful
negotiation of the last hurdle before the receipt of ministerial approval
for the deal, the move followed the receipt in early August of revised final
submissions for the MFTS framework. A selection could possibly be confirmed
by the end of this month, say industry sources.
To be provided under a series of private finance initiative (PFI) contracts
to be let before full service provision is achieved in April 2012, MFTS
seeks to streamline a military training system that currently spans from
fast jet, helicopter and multi-engine transport pilots to rear crew members
such as observers and weapon system operators. In addition to seeking to
reduce the MoD's complex inventory of training aircraft from 11 types to
perhaps six or seven, and possibly also reducing the number of dedicated
training bases from a current total of six, the initiative also seeks to
remedy the UK's dysfunctional training system - also referred to as the
training pipeline - to get more out of its emerging aircrew.
"Training is now a hotchpotch of systems," says Sterling programme director
Vince Smith, adding: "There's no overarching IT system to manage it in its
entirety." Accordingly, there are major inefficiencies throughout the legacy
set-up, and breaks - or so-called hold time - during the instruction of
students are commonplace. Training times for pilots can currently exceed
four years before fast-jet students reach the operational conversion unit
(OCU) level that will prepare them to use frontline equipment a situation
that prompts some to opt for less advanced, but more readily available
platform types or breeds disillusionment and cuts short careers with the
armed forces.
Industry sources from within the bidding consortia believe it is "entirely
feasible" that the time required to train a UK fast-jet pilot could in some
cases be more than halved to as little as two years to reach the OCU stage
under the new training infrastructure. This, they say, would make it
possible for the armed services to get an extra operational tour out of its
new personnel, driving down overall training demands.
Scoring the bids
Unusually, the UK's selection of a TSP will not shed immediate light on the
future composition of the MoD's training fleet. The Defence Procurement
Agency has scored the offers provided by each bidder on the strength of its
experience in partnering, the competence of its outline proposal and the
technical merits of its solution, with each of these criteria having
received marks worth up to one-third of the overall evaluation.
A major consideration during the assessment process has been in studying the
draft syllabi provided by the consortia, and in considering the merits of
the training management information system (TMIS) proposed by each.
Described by Ascent project director Jim Keeler as "the glue that holds the
whole project together", the TMIS will be required to perform scheduling
work and manage flight line operations at multiple sites, and to show key
personnel within the training system whether performance requirements are
being met throughout the pipeline.
Initial bids submitted to the MoD in August 2005 outlined industry responses
to a set of so-called exam questions to come up with a framework for the
MFTS project, and despite a delay of several months this year the project
remains on track to meet its original timeline. Indeed, bidders say the
delay - caused partly by the MoD's later-than-anticipated award of a
production contract for the system's previously selected advanced jet
trainer (AJT) - allowed them to conduct additional risk-reduction work that
will enable the successful team to swiftly conclude contract negotiations
and complete system design activities.
The MoD last month signed a £450 million deal with BAE Systems to acquire
another 26 Hawk 128s to meet its future AJT needs, with this building on an
earlier award worth around £160 million for an initial two demonstrator
aircraft. Pressure from the company - which had initially also been pursuing
the TSP contract - led to the Hawk 128 being selected, and the manufacturer
is pursuing a lucrative support deal for the aircraft, deliveries of which
will start in the third quarter of 2008. The recent production deal has also
removed earlier unease among the remaining MFTS bidders over having to
commit to a partnership while uncertainty remained over its ability to
define the configuration of synthetic training equipment for the new AJT
fleet.
BAE's win with the new-generation Hawk is to date the only aircraft element
of MFTS to have been defined, with the wider bidding process so far having
been designed to discuss only generic platform types. A key goal of this
policy has been to encourage the consortia to challenge the training
aircraft sector to offer systems capable of meeting a requirement to move
costly flight hours on types like the Eurofighter Typhoon on to aircraft
that are cheaper to acquire, operate and support. "We need to make the best
use of that training hour in the air," says Smith.
This so-called concept of downloading training from the OCU level is an
essential element of the MFTS project, and will significantly reduce the
number of flight hours required. For example, while new Typhoon pilots will
need to pass through the Royal Air Force's conversion unit for the type,
some skills could be learnt using the glass-cockpit Hawk 128, such as
through its ability to emulate advanced features such as radar and
electronic warfare systems at a fraction of the operating cost. The aircraft
will be a class apart from the legacy Hawk T1/1As that entered use from the
1970s.
Detailed design
Following its selection as the TSP, the winning bidder will immediately move
from previous concept work to the detailed design phase. This will include
providing input for the key student selection and screening processes,
although the military will remain responsible for defining input and output
standards. The MoD will meanwhile sign its contract for MFTS before the
delivery of first services - which will likely see the selected team assume
control of some current training elements - next April. The bidders note
that UK minister for defence procurement Lord Drayson has identified MFTS as
one of the MoD's change programmes, and say his proven reputation for
meeting deadlines should --ensure the project's advancement before year-end.
Keeler notes: "MFTS, whether by coincidence or not, fits right with the
spirit of the [UK] Defence Industrial Strategy - it's all about partnering."
New training school
Work on the synthetic training system for the Hawk 128 is also required to
start immediately after the TSP selection, with a new hangar, training
school and student accommodation block to be constructed at RAF Valley
airbase in north Wales. The availability of the training devices and other
ground systems should coincide with the trainer's entry into service.
The use of synthetic training devices and computer-based training is to take
on increased importance in the MFTS project, especially as the UK prepares
to operate large numbers of single-seat Typhoons and Lockheed Martin F-35
Joint Strike Fighters over the coming decades, cutting its reliance on
two-seat types like the Panavia Tornado F3 and GR4. In addition to
simulators and new school facilities including IT-rich classrooms and
debrief facilities, bidders also intend to provide further support to
students, for example through the provision of personal training devices
such as laptop computers, which will enable them to fly practice sorties
ahead of formal training. This method of providing additional training
capacity has already helped to reduce failure rates within the RAF, cutting
the cost of removing students from the pipeline at a potentially advanced
stage.
However, while simulation will form an important part of a student's early
phase training activities, one consortium official notes: "You still need to
know how to fly, and that the ground is very hard if you hit it."
While not contained in the MFTS scheme at the moment, the instruction of
personnel set to operate unmanned air vehicles is bound to grow in
importance over the life of the project, with the RAF increasingly looking
to experiment with unmanned systems.
Another vital aspect of the MFTS programme will be in maintaining the
military ethos so valued by the UK armed forces, while placing increasing
reliance on industry for the support of its aircraft and infrastructure.
This process is currently supported by the many former military instructors
who now work at the private sector-managed training schools across the UK,
where they can provide a mentor or "uncle" role to students during their
instruction. The use of ex-military personnel should also ensure a steady
throughput of instructors for the training system.
Although additional new platforms have not been at the forefront during the
competition to date, the potential TSPs issued requests for information to
airframe suppliers as much as two years ago. The bidding companies also
point out that while the fast-jet training requirements of the RAF and Royal
Navy represent the highest profile aspect of the MFTS deal, only around 70
students pass through this element of the system each year from an overall
total of about 1,500 aircrew.
Following selection of the Hawk 128 simulator, which could be supplied by
firms including BAE, CAE or Thales, a new observer trainer platform is
required to replace the RN's remaining BAe Jetstream T2s. The service has
warned of a potential gap in its future ability to prepare rear crewmembers
for its AgustaWestland EH101 Merlin HM1 anti-submarine warfare and Sea King
ASaC7 airborne early warning helicopters unless swift action is taken, as
the Jetstream is to be retired from April 2009.
Tucano replacement
The TSP's next task will be to select a new platform to serve below the new
Hawks and to replace the RAF's current Shorts Tucano fleet. This replacement
activity will take on vital importance beneath the smaller than expected
Hawk 128 fleet - up to 44 had initially been set for purchase. VT's current
five-year total support deal for the Tucano is due to conclude next year,
although the MoD holds three one-year options to extend the contract until
2010. The aircraft would require extensive modification to remain in service
for several more years, and the UK Disposal Services Agency is already
promoting 15 surplus Tucanos on the secondhand market.
Next will be the choice of a multi-engine rear crew trainer for the RAF -
potentially an extension to its current lease of Beechcraft King Air 200s,
with the last piece of the MFTS puzzle to be addressed early next decade,
when a decision will be required on continuation of the tri-service training
services currently provided by the Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS)
at RAF Shawbury. To expire in April 2012, the centralised training system is
uncertain to continue in its current form, with the RAF the only service to
currently conduct multi-engine training and the British Army questioning the
suitability of combined training ahead of operations of its Westland/Boeing
Apache AH1 attack helicopters. "In terms of rotary wing, the army has a
single-service requirement," says one consortium official. The school's
current inventory lacks the glass cockpits typical of types like the Apache,
Merlin and AgustaWestland's Future Lynx, suggesting upgrades or new
acquisitions to meet long-term requirements.
Only once the full training system has been established will the TSP be
required to seek third-party customer's for its assets, and to enhance the
system's cost effectiveness, perhaps by replacing legacy or interim platform
types.
The MoD has a strong recent pedigree in providing training services to
allied nations, with for example the Royal Netherlands Air Force sending its
Boeing CH-47 pilots to the CAE-run Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew
Training Facility at RAF Benson and Indian air force pilots now receiving
instruction on the Hawk T1/1A fleet at RAF Valley (Flight International,
18-24 July).
Industry sources suggest Saudi Arabia could also send some of its trainee
pilots to the UK from next year to prepare them for future operations of the
Typhoon, following an agreement to purchase 72 of the aircraft.
Smith notes that the TSP will be responsible for implementing the new
training system under multiple PFIs and public-private partnership deals,
which he claims will deliver commercial efficiency. Rather than following
the big-bang approach of the MoD's delayed Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft
procurement, it will also offer greater transparency and enable the UK to
acquire the most up-to-date equipment. "The MoD knows we will go back to the
IAB again and again," says Smith. "The good news is there are multiple
options to all aspects of the project - that guarantees value for money,"
says Keeler.
Change mechanisms
The spirit of partnership will be vital to the long-term success of the MFTS
project. "We must be able to have change mechanisms without having to reach
for the cost change book every time," says one team official. However, good
industrial relations cannot be taken for granted, whatever the past
experience of the TSP in partnering with the MoD. Within the last couple of
years, operations at the DHFS were briefly disrupted by strike action, and a
similar event at RAF Valley was only narrowly averted earlier this year
following a dispute with Babcock employees.
With something as important as training on the line, the MoD must hope that
such events can become even more of a rarity in the decades to come, as
availability-based partnering agreements become ever more the norm.
---------end--------
By 2012 we will only have a few stations left... all within Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire and Scotland.
Training & recruitment: The UK £10bn Military Flying Training System
competition set to be announced soon
The UK is poised to announce the winner of its Military Flying Training
System competition. We look at the prospects for the three contenders
The UK Ministry of Defence could be within days of naming the winning team
in a pivotal contest to deliver its entire air crew training for the 25
years from next April. Worth a potential £10 billion ($18.9 billion), the
MoD's Military Flying Training System (MFTS) requirement has prompted a
battle between three consortia vying to become its so-called training system
partner (TSP) for the delivery of services across up to 20 aviation
disciplines.
Respectively named Ascent, Sterling and Vector, the consortia are nervously
waiting on the imminent announcement of a preferred bidder, following the
project's approval for Main Gate funding during a 9 November meeting of the
MoD's Investment Approvals Board (IAB). Representing the successful
negotiation of the last hurdle before the receipt of ministerial approval
for the deal, the move followed the receipt in early August of revised final
submissions for the MFTS framework. A selection could possibly be confirmed
by the end of this month, say industry sources.
To be provided under a series of private finance initiative (PFI) contracts
to be let before full service provision is achieved in April 2012, MFTS
seeks to streamline a military training system that currently spans from
fast jet, helicopter and multi-engine transport pilots to rear crew members
such as observers and weapon system operators. In addition to seeking to
reduce the MoD's complex inventory of training aircraft from 11 types to
perhaps six or seven, and possibly also reducing the number of dedicated
training bases from a current total of six, the initiative also seeks to
remedy the UK's dysfunctional training system - also referred to as the
training pipeline - to get more out of its emerging aircrew.
"Training is now a hotchpotch of systems," says Sterling programme director
Vince Smith, adding: "There's no overarching IT system to manage it in its
entirety." Accordingly, there are major inefficiencies throughout the legacy
set-up, and breaks - or so-called hold time - during the instruction of
students are commonplace. Training times for pilots can currently exceed
four years before fast-jet students reach the operational conversion unit
(OCU) level that will prepare them to use frontline equipment a situation
that prompts some to opt for less advanced, but more readily available
platform types or breeds disillusionment and cuts short careers with the
armed forces.
Industry sources from within the bidding consortia believe it is "entirely
feasible" that the time required to train a UK fast-jet pilot could in some
cases be more than halved to as little as two years to reach the OCU stage
under the new training infrastructure. This, they say, would make it
possible for the armed services to get an extra operational tour out of its
new personnel, driving down overall training demands.
Scoring the bids
Unusually, the UK's selection of a TSP will not shed immediate light on the
future composition of the MoD's training fleet. The Defence Procurement
Agency has scored the offers provided by each bidder on the strength of its
experience in partnering, the competence of its outline proposal and the
technical merits of its solution, with each of these criteria having
received marks worth up to one-third of the overall evaluation.
A major consideration during the assessment process has been in studying the
draft syllabi provided by the consortia, and in considering the merits of
the training management information system (TMIS) proposed by each.
Described by Ascent project director Jim Keeler as "the glue that holds the
whole project together", the TMIS will be required to perform scheduling
work and manage flight line operations at multiple sites, and to show key
personnel within the training system whether performance requirements are
being met throughout the pipeline.
Initial bids submitted to the MoD in August 2005 outlined industry responses
to a set of so-called exam questions to come up with a framework for the
MFTS project, and despite a delay of several months this year the project
remains on track to meet its original timeline. Indeed, bidders say the
delay - caused partly by the MoD's later-than-anticipated award of a
production contract for the system's previously selected advanced jet
trainer (AJT) - allowed them to conduct additional risk-reduction work that
will enable the successful team to swiftly conclude contract negotiations
and complete system design activities.
The MoD last month signed a £450 million deal with BAE Systems to acquire
another 26 Hawk 128s to meet its future AJT needs, with this building on an
earlier award worth around £160 million for an initial two demonstrator
aircraft. Pressure from the company - which had initially also been pursuing
the TSP contract - led to the Hawk 128 being selected, and the manufacturer
is pursuing a lucrative support deal for the aircraft, deliveries of which
will start in the third quarter of 2008. The recent production deal has also
removed earlier unease among the remaining MFTS bidders over having to
commit to a partnership while uncertainty remained over its ability to
define the configuration of synthetic training equipment for the new AJT
fleet.
BAE's win with the new-generation Hawk is to date the only aircraft element
of MFTS to have been defined, with the wider bidding process so far having
been designed to discuss only generic platform types. A key goal of this
policy has been to encourage the consortia to challenge the training
aircraft sector to offer systems capable of meeting a requirement to move
costly flight hours on types like the Eurofighter Typhoon on to aircraft
that are cheaper to acquire, operate and support. "We need to make the best
use of that training hour in the air," says Smith.
This so-called concept of downloading training from the OCU level is an
essential element of the MFTS project, and will significantly reduce the
number of flight hours required. For example, while new Typhoon pilots will
need to pass through the Royal Air Force's conversion unit for the type,
some skills could be learnt using the glass-cockpit Hawk 128, such as
through its ability to emulate advanced features such as radar and
electronic warfare systems at a fraction of the operating cost. The aircraft
will be a class apart from the legacy Hawk T1/1As that entered use from the
1970s.
Detailed design
Following its selection as the TSP, the winning bidder will immediately move
from previous concept work to the detailed design phase. This will include
providing input for the key student selection and screening processes,
although the military will remain responsible for defining input and output
standards. The MoD will meanwhile sign its contract for MFTS before the
delivery of first services - which will likely see the selected team assume
control of some current training elements - next April. The bidders note
that UK minister for defence procurement Lord Drayson has identified MFTS as
one of the MoD's change programmes, and say his proven reputation for
meeting deadlines should --ensure the project's advancement before year-end.
Keeler notes: "MFTS, whether by coincidence or not, fits right with the
spirit of the [UK] Defence Industrial Strategy - it's all about partnering."
New training school
Work on the synthetic training system for the Hawk 128 is also required to
start immediately after the TSP selection, with a new hangar, training
school and student accommodation block to be constructed at RAF Valley
airbase in north Wales. The availability of the training devices and other
ground systems should coincide with the trainer's entry into service.
The use of synthetic training devices and computer-based training is to take
on increased importance in the MFTS project, especially as the UK prepares
to operate large numbers of single-seat Typhoons and Lockheed Martin F-35
Joint Strike Fighters over the coming decades, cutting its reliance on
two-seat types like the Panavia Tornado F3 and GR4. In addition to
simulators and new school facilities including IT-rich classrooms and
debrief facilities, bidders also intend to provide further support to
students, for example through the provision of personal training devices
such as laptop computers, which will enable them to fly practice sorties
ahead of formal training. This method of providing additional training
capacity has already helped to reduce failure rates within the RAF, cutting
the cost of removing students from the pipeline at a potentially advanced
stage.
However, while simulation will form an important part of a student's early
phase training activities, one consortium official notes: "You still need to
know how to fly, and that the ground is very hard if you hit it."
While not contained in the MFTS scheme at the moment, the instruction of
personnel set to operate unmanned air vehicles is bound to grow in
importance over the life of the project, with the RAF increasingly looking
to experiment with unmanned systems.
Another vital aspect of the MFTS programme will be in maintaining the
military ethos so valued by the UK armed forces, while placing increasing
reliance on industry for the support of its aircraft and infrastructure.
This process is currently supported by the many former military instructors
who now work at the private sector-managed training schools across the UK,
where they can provide a mentor or "uncle" role to students during their
instruction. The use of ex-military personnel should also ensure a steady
throughput of instructors for the training system.
Although additional new platforms have not been at the forefront during the
competition to date, the potential TSPs issued requests for information to
airframe suppliers as much as two years ago. The bidding companies also
point out that while the fast-jet training requirements of the RAF and Royal
Navy represent the highest profile aspect of the MFTS deal, only around 70
students pass through this element of the system each year from an overall
total of about 1,500 aircrew.
Following selection of the Hawk 128 simulator, which could be supplied by
firms including BAE, CAE or Thales, a new observer trainer platform is
required to replace the RN's remaining BAe Jetstream T2s. The service has
warned of a potential gap in its future ability to prepare rear crewmembers
for its AgustaWestland EH101 Merlin HM1 anti-submarine warfare and Sea King
ASaC7 airborne early warning helicopters unless swift action is taken, as
the Jetstream is to be retired from April 2009.
Tucano replacement
The TSP's next task will be to select a new platform to serve below the new
Hawks and to replace the RAF's current Shorts Tucano fleet. This replacement
activity will take on vital importance beneath the smaller than expected
Hawk 128 fleet - up to 44 had initially been set for purchase. VT's current
five-year total support deal for the Tucano is due to conclude next year,
although the MoD holds three one-year options to extend the contract until
2010. The aircraft would require extensive modification to remain in service
for several more years, and the UK Disposal Services Agency is already
promoting 15 surplus Tucanos on the secondhand market.
Next will be the choice of a multi-engine rear crew trainer for the RAF -
potentially an extension to its current lease of Beechcraft King Air 200s,
with the last piece of the MFTS puzzle to be addressed early next decade,
when a decision will be required on continuation of the tri-service training
services currently provided by the Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS)
at RAF Shawbury. To expire in April 2012, the centralised training system is
uncertain to continue in its current form, with the RAF the only service to
currently conduct multi-engine training and the British Army questioning the
suitability of combined training ahead of operations of its Westland/Boeing
Apache AH1 attack helicopters. "In terms of rotary wing, the army has a
single-service requirement," says one consortium official. The school's
current inventory lacks the glass cockpits typical of types like the Apache,
Merlin and AgustaWestland's Future Lynx, suggesting upgrades or new
acquisitions to meet long-term requirements.
Only once the full training system has been established will the TSP be
required to seek third-party customer's for its assets, and to enhance the
system's cost effectiveness, perhaps by replacing legacy or interim platform
types.
The MoD has a strong recent pedigree in providing training services to
allied nations, with for example the Royal Netherlands Air Force sending its
Boeing CH-47 pilots to the CAE-run Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew
Training Facility at RAF Benson and Indian air force pilots now receiving
instruction on the Hawk T1/1A fleet at RAF Valley (Flight International,
18-24 July).
Industry sources suggest Saudi Arabia could also send some of its trainee
pilots to the UK from next year to prepare them for future operations of the
Typhoon, following an agreement to purchase 72 of the aircraft.
Smith notes that the TSP will be responsible for implementing the new
training system under multiple PFIs and public-private partnership deals,
which he claims will deliver commercial efficiency. Rather than following
the big-bang approach of the MoD's delayed Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft
procurement, it will also offer greater transparency and enable the UK to
acquire the most up-to-date equipment. "The MoD knows we will go back to the
IAB again and again," says Smith. "The good news is there are multiple
options to all aspects of the project - that guarantees value for money,"
says Keeler.
Change mechanisms
The spirit of partnership will be vital to the long-term success of the MFTS
project. "We must be able to have change mechanisms without having to reach
for the cost change book every time," says one team official. However, good
industrial relations cannot be taken for granted, whatever the past
experience of the TSP in partnering with the MoD. Within the last couple of
years, operations at the DHFS were briefly disrupted by strike action, and a
similar event at RAF Valley was only narrowly averted earlier this year
following a dispute with Babcock employees.
With something as important as training on the line, the MoD must hope that
such events can become even more of a rarity in the decades to come, as
availability-based partnering agreements become ever more the norm.
---------end--------
By 2012 we will only have a few stations left... all within Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire and Scotland.
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By 2012 we will only have a few stations left... all within Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire and Scotland
........You make it sound as though LEAN is a bad thing. My unit has been leaned and things have definately improved. More A/C on the line...more flying....more time off...more sport...bring on the Ski champs...Group Servicing is def the way ahead.
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Craig Hoyles's article is, as usual, biased toward the FJ wallah. The overwhelming output of MFTS will be ME, Rotary and RN Rear Crew. unfortunately the whole scheme has been denuded of funds by the direction to buy the 128. As regards foreign training there should be no capacity within MFTS to do this - if there is then the MOD is paying too much for the contract.
By the by what will the Dead Sparrows be flying in 10 yrs time, presumably some of the 100-odd spare Typhoons.
By the by what will the Dead Sparrows be flying in 10 yrs time, presumably some of the 100-odd spare Typhoons.
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Lean...er
Lean is all very well and good in manufacturing industry, however we don't make anything. Our people (RN) are the resource we are most short of, so perhaps more effort should be expended getting some more in the door?
You've been Skua'd
You've been Skua'd
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And Somerset and Cornwall....
........You make it sound as though LEAN is a bad thing. My unit has been leaned and things have definately improved. More A/C on the line...more flying....more time off...more sport...bring on the Ski champs...Group Servicing is def the way ahead.
........You make it sound as though LEAN is a bad thing. My unit has been leaned and things have definately improved. More A/C on the line...more flying....more time off...more sport...bring on the Ski champs...Group Servicing is def the way ahead.
It has done wonders for morale. It has done wonders to the SNCO PVR rate. It has done wonders for aircraft husbandry. No pressure boys – this is “Depth” maintenance; the Jet will leave this hangar when it is ready!!!!!!
And the benefits are that a few more people (who have probably not been directly leaned themselves) can play more sport, have more time off and go skiing.
Let’s not look at the long term; let’s just look at the short term benefits. Save money today and somebody else can pick up the pieces in the future.
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Exactly - Glad you agree. Now if only we could persuade other units to follow the group servicing principle maybe we could all enjoy kmore aircraft on the line....etc, etc
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razor 61, wow
matey i got fed up before i read it allhowever, i went back and finished it and some valid points
here is another for people to look into
the RAF seem to be spending alot of time and energy training other nations military personnel.
In fact front line aircrew and engineers are being posted(mainly on promotion) from front line duties to training units (cranwel, cosford, coningsby, valley ect.) inorder to train up other nations aircrew and ground crews.
In this time of lean and cutbacks can we spare the manpower for this?
after all you dont have to look far to see that the service is in manpower melt down.
What possible reason can the MoD have for pulling guys off the front line to fill training posts for other nations forces.
I shall tell you my view "MONEY"
I should think they get a tidy little sum for the services of our boys/girls in blue in the training world.who cares if the front line units go short manned to the gulf as long as the bucks keep rolling in for the MoD
Is there the same manning problems at training units as there is at the sharp end?
I think not!
Maybe I dont see the BIG PICTURE but I know where I would put my men, and it aint in places like cosford to train up SAUDI and UAE Airforces when we are fighting for our collective lives on at least two fronts with moral and manning at an all time low.
I dont claim that I have all the facts, so anyone out there care to add to the topic and fill in the blanks.
And where will the next generation of QFIs come from.....??
Are the Mercenary Flying Training Scammers required to demonstrate a sustainable product? Or is it, as usual, just a short term money-saving farce which will cause the Rental Air Farce to fall on its ar$e even sooner than it appears to be doing already?
Are the Mercenary Flying Training Scammers required to demonstrate a sustainable product? Or is it, as usual, just a short term money-saving farce which will cause the Rental Air Farce to fall on its ar$e even sooner than it appears to be doing already?
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Beags, good point about QFIs, but surely the training machine, whoever is chosen, will be staffed by them.
So we then move on to the front line, and are there any QFIs there? Sorry, you said they were back at St Athan, so who gives me my currency ride, IRT, etc, etc
Load of Bolleaux! WTF is happening to the RAF let alone the country?
jf
So we then move on to the front line, and are there any QFIs there? Sorry, you said they were back at St Athan, so who gives me my currency ride, IRT, etc, etc
Load of Bolleaux! WTF is happening to the RAF let alone the country?
jf
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one consortium official notes: "You still need to
know how to fly, and that the ground is very hard if you hit it."
know how to fly, and that the ground is very hard if you hit it."
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Lean-ing
I can only comment from another air force, but this lean thing is out of control.
It is simply a way of senior officers making changes to save money on paper so that those at the cold face can do even more with less.
Oh well, as long as they get promoted...
It is simply a way of senior officers making changes to save money on paper so that those at the cold face can do even more with less.
Oh well, as long as they get promoted...
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Loss of core values and ethos
I can understand the financial and performance reasons for outsourcing the military flying training but this is the process which shapes the future leaders of the organisation. I understand the assurances that RAF values will be instilled into the students by a core of serving and recently retired personnel but what will be the lasting impact and how will it be measured and accounted for. I fear it will have a long and far reaching impact on the culture of the RAF that is hard to predict and mitigate against. I think the continual focus on efficiency and new assets is misguided. We should be all discussing the lasting impact on our core values and military ethos.
"Training is now a hotchpotch of systems," says Sterling programme director
Vince Smith, adding: "There's no overarching IT system to manage it in its
entirety."
That'll be what we need. A major Government IT infrastructure programme. They're always good value for money, and there's never any trouble.....
Vince Smith, adding: "There's no overarching IT system to manage it in its
entirety."
That'll be what we need. A major Government IT infrastructure programme. They're always good value for money, and there's never any trouble.....
Join Date: Jun 2001
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this is the process which shapes the future leaders of the organisation. I understand the assurances that RAF values will be instilled into the students by a core of serving and recently retired personnel but what will be the lasting impact and how will it be measured and accounted for. I fear it will have a long and far reaching impact on the culture of the RAF that is hard to predict and mitigate against. I think the continual focus on efficiency and new assets is misguided. We should be all discussing the lasting impact on our core values and military ethos.
*Mk 7 helmet and Osprey on awaiting incoming*