UK army, navy and RAF all to be cut back, defence review confirms

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Britain’s army, navy and air force will all be cut back over this parliament, despite promises made by Boris Johnson during the election campaign “not to be cutting the armed services in any form”.

A five-year defence review, published on Monday afternoon, confirms that the army target size will be cut by 9,500 to 72,500 by 2025, its lowest level since 1714, and the number of navy frigates and destroyers will drop from 19 to 17 in the next 18 months.

The plan is to concentrate investment in replacing Trident and other high-tech rearmament – which Johnson said earlier on Monday would give the military the kit to make them “all the more useful, all the more, I’m afraid, lethal, and effective around the world”.

A string of ageing RAF planes will be retired in the next couple of years, including 24 first-generation Typhoon bombers, as well as nine Chinook helicopters, 14 Hercules transporter aircraft and 20 Puma support helicopters.

Defence sources acknowledged that the air force cuts would reduce logistics and supply capacity at a time when ministers want British forces to be more “forward deployed” in both Africa and the Indo-Pacific.

A third of the army’s Challenger tanks will be scrapped, while 148 will be upgraded, at a cost of £1.3bn.

Cash for investment has come at the cost of day-to-day spending cuts. Last November, the government announced a £16.5bn increase in the defence budget over the next four years, largely earmarked for future projects and to plug a black hole of up to £17bn in the Ministry of Defence’s budgets.

Although many of the cuts spelled out in the defence command paper were anticipated, their breadth overall led to pointed exchanges in the Commons as the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, unveiled the five-year plan.

Labour’s John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, said: “What does the defence secretary say to each and every voter who heard the prime minister say at the launch of the Conservatives’ 2019 election campaign, I quote, ‘We will not be cutting our armed forces in any form. We will be maintaining the size of our armed forces.’”

Wallace accused Healey of “a desperate attempt” to make the additional capital investment “look like some form of a cut” – and the previous Labour government of having “delivered lots of regiments” and “delivered our soldiers into Snatch Land Rovers” which proved vulnerable to improvised explosives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Day-to-day budgets remain flat at £31.5bn from 2021-2 for the rest of the parliament – which Labour calculated on Sunday amounted to a cut of 2.4% in real terms between 2019-20 and the year ending in March 2025.

The current army size is 76,000, well below the formal target of 82,000 set at the 2015 defence review, because of continuing problems with recruitment and retention. No redundancies will be required to meet the new target of 72,500, with military chiefs confident they can complete the cuts through natural wastage.

New programmes to be funded include replacing the UK’s Trident nuclear warheads, the cap on which was increased to 260 last week. No price tag was mentioned in the review for the work, which will take two decades and still needs to be authorised by parliament. Analysts estimate it will cost £10bn.

A total of £2bn over the next four years was earmarked for the Tempest future combat aircraft, which will launch towards the end of the next decade, with a mixture of crewed, uncrewed and computer-controlled “loyal wingman” drones.

Last week, Sir Mike Wigston, the head of the RAF, predicted that by 2040, 80% of “planes flying on operations” in combat zones such as Syria and Iraq would “not have a human in them”. Air chiefs also want to develop “high energy” weapons – a form of laser – to counter “swarming drones” from enemy countries.

An emphasis on countering the rise of China in the Indo-Pacific region – described as posing a “complex, systemic challenge” – will be achieved by basing two small patrol vessels in the region from 2021 and a maritime unit from 2023.

Navy warship numbers are not expected to reach 20 until the end of the decade.

 

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@Costin84

So ;


-The British army will lose 9.500 troops

-600 warriors IFV won't be upgraded

-Challenger 2 fleet to be reduced from 227 to 148

-AS90 to be cut

-9 CH-47 ; 24 Puma helicopters and 14 C-130J to be retired out of service

-Sentinels and Tranche 1 Typhoons (24 to 53 aircrafts ) retired out of service without replacement

-The E-3D Sentrys will be retired out of service in 2021 before the E-7 Wedgetail enter service in 2023. The E-7 order is reduced from 5 to 3

-2 Type 23 frigates to be retired out of service earlier

-More F-35s will be bought beyond the 48 target,probably around 60-70 but below the 138 previously planned target
 

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Who are the winners and losers in Britain’s new defense review?​

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has delivered on his promise: A new defense, security and foreign policy review released March 22 calls for cuts to the Army’s end strength and aging hardware as well as the creation of new military structures and the acquisition of high-tech capabilities.

By the time Defence Secretary Ben Wallace stood up in Parliament to announce the outcome of the review, the fate of several key capabilities had already been leaked by the government over several weeks as it promoted the virtues that a data- and intelligence-driven military could bring to competing with potential adversaries like Russia, particularly in gray zone warfare.

In the government’s review, the Ministry of Defence committed to buying more than the 48 F-35B fighter jets it has already ordered, but the timeline for securing more of the aircraft is vague.
The government also unveiled a major naval shipbuilding program that calls for a multi-role ocean surveillance ship designed to protect underwater communications cables from possible Russian interference.

But older, conventional hardware in the MoD’s inventory took a hit as the military cut programs to better afford a pivot toward high-tech acquisitions in the fields of space, cyber, unmanned vehicles and artificial intelligence, among other advanced capabilities.

The Warrior infantry fighting vehicle and the Hercules C-130J military transport aircraft fleets are both being axed, while Typhoon combat jets and Challenger 2 tanks are being reduced in numbers.
Some of the takeaways:
  • The Lockheed Martin UK program to update several hundred Warrior infantry fighting vehicles has been axed, before it even entered the manufacturing stage and a decade after development work began.
  • The government will speed up work on the Boxer eight-wheel drive armored vehicle to introduce it into service sooner than planned, with the platform to replace the Warrior.
  • Army personnel numbers are being cut by 10,000 to 72,500 by 2025 — the smallest it has been for about 200.
  • Space investments will include the £5 billion (U.S. $7 billion) Skynet 6 program to recapitalize satellite communication capabilities. And the government wants to spend an additional £1.4 billion in the space domain over the next decade, including developing a U.K.-built intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellite constellation.
  • Transformation of amphibious forces will include more than £50 million to convert a Bay-class support ship to deliver a more lethal littoral strike capability. Force structure changes include the creation of self-sufficient brigade combat teams, boosting support of special forces with a rangers regiment, and the global deployment of security force assistance units to help stabilize nations and fight extremism.
  • The concept and assessment phase for a new Type 83 destroyer will get underway to begin replacing Type 45 destroyers in the late 2030s.
  • Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130J military transport aircraft, mainly used for special forces deployments, are to be taken out of service by 2023, ending an association between the British military and the tactical airlifter going back to 1967. The Airbus A400M will fill the gap.
  • Twenty-four early build Typhoon combats jets, known as Tranche 1, will be retired from service.
  • Nine older Chinook helicopters are to be withdrawn from service and replaced with an extended-range version.
  • More than £250 million is to be spent over 10 years on the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System. In addition, the Army is spending more than £800 million over the next decade on a new 155mm howitzer platform.
  • The Army is upgrading the Challenger 2 tank fleet at a cost of £1.3 billion, but only 148 vehicles will be improved.
  • The Royal Navy is to retire early two aging Type 23 frigates. Mine countermeasures are also in line for the cutting block.
Concerns across the pond
But it’s the cut in end strength that has caused controversy. The Army will see a new round of personnel reductions by around 10,000 to 72,500 by 2025. Retired Adm. Mike Mullians, who served as chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told listeners on the BBC radio Monday morning that the cut in manpower will likely cause “huge concern “in Washington, particularly over Britain’s ability to sustain deployments.

That’s a concern other senior U.S. officials have voiced for years amid a shrink it British Army numbers.
Howard Wheeldon, an analyst at Wheeldon Strategic Advisory, said the cut would be seen as a big mistake in terms of U.S.-British defense relations.

“The Pentagon has continually warned the U.K. government that if you expect to retain your current level of credibility, do not allow troop numbers to get any smaller. But that is just what the MoD in its infinite wisdom has chosen to do,” Wheeldon said. “While our would-be enemies — the Russians and Chinese — are probably laughing, my big fear is that the Americans are shaking their heads with disgust.”

But that take hasn’t found unanimous support. The ability of the U.S. and Britain to exchange data is a more critical capability, according the retired Rear Adm. Alex Burton, who commanded British maritime forces and surface ships.

“The true risk to the U.K. and our relationship with our allies is that transformation doesn’t happen fast enough. Two more frigates or four more infantry regiments will not make us a better ally or provide an edge between success or failure,” said Burton, now a senior executive with data technology firm Rebellion Defense.

“If we are unable to network with our allies, particularly the U.S., if we are unable to exploit data, algorithms and intelligence with our allies, we will become as relevant as sail in the age of steam. Most worryingly, it makes us irrelevant to our adversaries.”

Talking to Washington-based reporters on Monday, James Heappey, armed forces minister, pushed back on the idea the review would result in a loss of capacity to work with its largest partner.

“I can’t think of anything that we currently do with the United States that we wouldn’t be intending to continue doing,” Heappey said.
“Most obviously, our commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan endure, so too our commitments to countering Daesh in Syria,” he added, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group. “There continues to be shared purpose in pushing back Russian influence in the North Atlantic, and that remains undiminished. But actually what I see is a set of up arrows, I see a set of up arrows in the Pacific.”

One area that could strengthen ties between the U.S. and U.K., he noted, is the creation of a new British Army ranger regiment, one modeled on the U.S. Army’s Green Beret forces.
The review plans for £120 million in investments over the next four years to equip that force, the start of which Heappey said should be “up and running” by Christmas.

The new unit “doesn’t just do training and advising of partner nations forces, but actually goes and trains, advises, assists and then accompanies them into non-permissive environments, which is exactly what the Green Berets are,” Heappey said. “It’s pretty likely that we’ll find Green Berets and Rangers working alongside each other in the same environments. Sub-Saharan Africa feels like the growing market. But actually there’s still plenty to be done in places like Iraq and Afghanistan as well.”

Is it all affordable?
Overall, the out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new approach has attracted criticism.

Politicians like parliamentary Defence Committee Chair Tobias Ellwood and former military chief Gen. David Richards have both decried the purchase of high-tech weapons at the expense of traditional conventional capabilities, which they argue are still needed to deter potential adversaries.
However, Burton thinks the government is heading in the right direction. “Information data and algorithms are going to be as critical as bullets, missiles and fuel in the next war. The review recognizes that,” he said.

“This is the most comprehensive and ambitious transformation of our armed forces in over a generation. Where it has been sophisticated is that it has laid out the aspirations and ambitions the U.K. has as a nation and capabilities we need to deliver on that,” he added. “Also, reading between the lines, the review has laid out an extraordinarily [paced] timeline of delivery, so I think defense comes out really well, but the hard work is about to begin.”
The details laying out the size and shape of the military follows last week’s publication of the first part of an integrated review across defense, security, foreign policy and international development aimed at setting out the country’s future policies. The first part of the review said Britain intends to pivot its global efforts toward the Asia-Pacific region and increase its nuclear weapons stockpile.

The review echoes the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, which, amid fiscal problems, saw personnel numbers cut, maritime patrol aircraft and Harrier jump jets get axed, and armored vehicle numbers reduced.
While the defense budget remains significantly overcommitted — despite several attempts to address the shortfall — the MoD is attempting this new transformation from a better financial position.

“Where this review differs from earlier efforts is the MoD has the money — an extra £24 billion over the next decade. That is a bigger increase than defense has had for a generation. I don’t think the excuse now can be that there isn’t enough money,” Burton said.
The Johnson government surprised analysts, politicians and others last November by pledging to provide an additional £16.5 billion over the next four financial years to help fund the transformation effort. Together with an annual 0.5 percent real-term increase in the defense budget for the six years following 2024, the MoD is likely to get an injection of additional cash totaling £24 billion over the next 10 years.

Some of that money will go toward plugging a financial black hole in the 10-year equipment program, which the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee reported last week could be as large as £17.4 billion — a figure disputed by the MoD, which put the figure at £7.3 billion.

Aaron Mehta in Washington contributed to this report.

14 C-130J to be retired out of service
Tranche 1 Typhoons (24 to 53 aircrafts )
2 Type 23 frigates to be retired out of service earlier

Bangladesh can exploit these options, upgrade these Typhoons and frigates and use them as stop gap. Specially when our MRCA and frigate program is getting delayed further. How much life these Typhoons, Chinooks and frigates have?
 
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An absolute disaster and a reverse of the "global Britain " slogan.Boris is a liar and a crook.All I see is cuts with nothing coming instead, no plans, only empty big words.
 

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France is now the the top Military power of Europe while Italy is second.

UK and its future is just cuts and cuts. What is going on??
 

Costin84

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France is now the the top Military power of Europe while Italy is second.

UK and its future is just cuts and cuts. What is going on??
Coronavirus .....I think the UK spent the most in Europe on furloughs and schemes to keep businesses and employees afloat.
 

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An absolute disaster and a reverse of the "global Britain " slogan.Boris is a liar and a crook.All I see is cuts with nothing coming instead, no plans, only empty big words.

His hands are tied fiscally. Right wing or left wing or centre doesnt matter much here if you look at certain key numbers that are spooking british establishment esp after brexit.

No country outside the US has their version of the fed and 110 trillion "assumed" "delayed emperor new clothes" "buffer" to eat into....for both mid term spending and long term committed liability.

Thus the long term rational plan is dictated quite differently for european countries....incl. UK. UK has to concentrate and specialise and have some good breakouts to offer....rather than let any exceptionalism/ego cloud too much policy and decision making....esp as the empire era recedes and become less relevant each passing year.

Boris just has to make do of somewhat bad situation (one needs to ignore the politician waffle they all do) and he is making one correct move soon: visiting India to promote and complete a host of deals, cooperation and projects. Such things need to be taken forward and accelerated with the money saved (and/or less debt) from more rational fiscal policy in big way this decade and next.

India has a 2.7 trillion total market capitalisation that is looking to get to 4 and then 5 trillion as quick as possible so that it can hit the large single digit and dbl digit trillion optimally next decade.....UK has a big advantage here to be significant part of it for number of reasons....and feed this into their own economic future (which is basis for security provision and projection for every country in the end).

UK and West in general has to start making larger inroads into security and political partnerships with India....as US no longer occupies dominant position and large population + growing economy + democracy (to provide enough multi-polar hedging balance for western world/western system) of note only found in one country. Strict NATO model/assurance cannot exist "as is" forever....in fact it already did unneeded extra damage w.r.t Russia (after cold war ended) if you ask me....when West could have taken things calmer and more rationally and been the bigger party (and not saying the quiet things out loud in interest of geopolitical potentials later) that it is on various matters.

Anyway let us see.
 

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An absolute disaster and a reverse of the "global Britain " slogan.Boris is a liar and a crook.All I see is cuts with nothing coming instead, no plans, only empty big words.

In French we use to say "Les promesses n'engagent que ceux qui y croient". (Which could be translated to something like "promises only bind those who believe in them") :)
 

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Who are the winners and losers in Britain’s new defense review?​

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has delivered on his promise: A new defense, security and foreign policy review released March 22 calls for cuts to the Army’s end strength and aging hardware as well as the creation of new military structures and the acquisition of high-tech capabilities.

By the time Defence Secretary Ben Wallace stood up in Parliament to announce the outcome of the review, the fate of several key capabilities had already been leaked by the government over several weeks as it promoted the virtues that a data- and intelligence-driven military could bring to competing with potential adversaries like Russia, particularly in gray zone warfare.

In the government’s review, the Ministry of Defence committed to buying more than the 48 F-35B fighter jets it has already ordered, but the timeline for securing more of the aircraft is vague.
The government also unveiled a major naval shipbuilding program that calls for a multi-role ocean surveillance ship designed to protect underwater communications cables from possible Russian interference.

But older, conventional hardware in the MoD’s inventory took a hit as the military cut programs to better afford a pivot toward high-tech acquisitions in the fields of space, cyber, unmanned vehicles and artificial intelligence, among other advanced capabilities.

The Warrior infantry fighting vehicle and the Hercules C-130J military transport aircraft fleets are both being axed, while Typhoon combat jets and Challenger 2 tanks are being reduced in numbers.
Some of the takeaways:
  • The Lockheed Martin UK program to update several hundred Warrior infantry fighting vehicles has been axed, before it even entered the manufacturing stage and a decade after development work began.
  • The government will speed up work on the Boxer eight-wheel drive armored vehicle to introduce it into service sooner than planned, with the platform to replace the Warrior.
  • Army personnel numbers are being cut by 10,000 to 72,500 by 2025 — the smallest it has been for about 200.
  • Space investments will include the £5 billion (U.S. $7 billion) Skynet 6 program to recapitalize satellite communication capabilities. And the government wants to spend an additional £1.4 billion in the space domain over the next decade, including developing a U.K.-built intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellite constellation.
  • Transformation of amphibious forces will include more than £50 million to convert a Bay-class support ship to deliver a more lethal littoral strike capability. Force structure changes include the creation of self-sufficient brigade combat teams, boosting support of special forces with a rangers regiment, and the global deployment of security force assistance units to help stabilize nations and fight extremism.
  • The concept and assessment phase for a new Type 83 destroyer will get underway to begin replacing Type 45 destroyers in the late 2030s.
  • Lockheed Martin Hercules C-130J military transport aircraft, mainly used for special forces deployments, are to be taken out of service by 2023, ending an association between the British military and the tactical airlifter going back to 1967. The Airbus A400M will fill the gap.
  • Twenty-four early build Typhoon combats jets, known as Tranche 1, will be retired from service.
  • Nine older Chinook helicopters are to be withdrawn from service and replaced with an extended-range version.
  • More than £250 million is to be spent over 10 years on the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System. In addition, the Army is spending more than £800 million over the next decade on a new 155mm howitzer platform.
  • The Army is upgrading the Challenger 2 tank fleet at a cost of £1.3 billion, but only 148 vehicles will be improved.
  • The Royal Navy is to retire early two aging Type 23 frigates. Mine countermeasures are also in line for the cutting block.
Concerns across the pond
But it’s the cut in end strength that has caused controversy. The Army will see a new round of personnel reductions by around 10,000 to 72,500 by 2025. Retired Adm. Mike Mullians, who served as chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told listeners on the BBC radio Monday morning that the cut in manpower will likely cause “huge concern “in Washington, particularly over Britain’s ability to sustain deployments.

That’s a concern other senior U.S. officials have voiced for years amid a shrink it British Army numbers.
Howard Wheeldon, an analyst at Wheeldon Strategic Advisory, said the cut would be seen as a big mistake in terms of U.S.-British defense relations.

“The Pentagon has continually warned the U.K. government that if you expect to retain your current level of credibility, do not allow troop numbers to get any smaller. But that is just what the MoD in its infinite wisdom has chosen to do,” Wheeldon said. “While our would-be enemies — the Russians and Chinese — are probably laughing, my big fear is that the Americans are shaking their heads with disgust.”

But that take hasn’t found unanimous support. The ability of the U.S. and Britain to exchange data is a more critical capability, according the retired Rear Adm. Alex Burton, who commanded British maritime forces and surface ships.

“The true risk to the U.K. and our relationship with our allies is that transformation doesn’t happen fast enough. Two more frigates or four more infantry regiments will not make us a better ally or provide an edge between success or failure,” said Burton, now a senior executive with data technology firm Rebellion Defense.

“If we are unable to network with our allies, particularly the U.S., if we are unable to exploit data, algorithms and intelligence with our allies, we will become as relevant as sail in the age of steam. Most worryingly, it makes us irrelevant to our adversaries.”

Talking to Washington-based reporters on Monday, James Heappey, armed forces minister, pushed back on the idea the review would result in a loss of capacity to work with its largest partner.

“I can’t think of anything that we currently do with the United States that we wouldn’t be intending to continue doing,” Heappey said.
“Most obviously, our commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan endure, so too our commitments to countering Daesh in Syria,” he added, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group. “There continues to be shared purpose in pushing back Russian influence in the North Atlantic, and that remains undiminished. But actually what I see is a set of up arrows, I see a set of up arrows in the Pacific.”

One area that could strengthen ties between the U.S. and U.K., he noted, is the creation of a new British Army ranger regiment, one modeled on the U.S. Army’s Green Beret forces.
The review plans for £120 million in investments over the next four years to equip that force, the start of which Heappey said should be “up and running” by Christmas.

The new unit “doesn’t just do training and advising of partner nations forces, but actually goes and trains, advises, assists and then accompanies them into non-permissive environments, which is exactly what the Green Berets are,” Heappey said. “It’s pretty likely that we’ll find Green Berets and Rangers working alongside each other in the same environments. Sub-Saharan Africa feels like the growing market. But actually there’s still plenty to be done in places like Iraq and Afghanistan as well.”

Is it all affordable?
Overall, the out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new approach has attracted criticism.

Politicians like parliamentary Defence Committee Chair Tobias Ellwood and former military chief Gen. David Richards have both decried the purchase of high-tech weapons at the expense of traditional conventional capabilities, which they argue are still needed to deter potential adversaries.
However, Burton thinks the government is heading in the right direction. “Information data and algorithms are going to be as critical as bullets, missiles and fuel in the next war. The review recognizes that,” he said.

“This is the most comprehensive and ambitious transformation of our armed forces in over a generation. Where it has been sophisticated is that it has laid out the aspirations and ambitions the U.K. has as a nation and capabilities we need to deliver on that,” he added. “Also, reading between the lines, the review has laid out an extraordinarily [paced] timeline of delivery, so I think defense comes out really well, but the hard work is about to begin.”
The details laying out the size and shape of the military follows last week’s publication of the first part of an integrated review across defense, security, foreign policy and international development aimed at setting out the country’s future policies. The first part of the review said Britain intends to pivot its global efforts toward the Asia-Pacific region and increase its nuclear weapons stockpile.

The review echoes the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, which, amid fiscal problems, saw personnel numbers cut, maritime patrol aircraft and Harrier jump jets get axed, and armored vehicle numbers reduced.
While the defense budget remains significantly overcommitted — despite several attempts to address the shortfall — the MoD is attempting this new transformation from a better financial position.

“Where this review differs from earlier efforts is the MoD has the money — an extra £24 billion over the next decade. That is a bigger increase than defense has had for a generation. I don’t think the excuse now can be that there isn’t enough money,” Burton said.
The Johnson government surprised analysts, politicians and others last November by pledging to provide an additional £16.5 billion over the next four financial years to help fund the transformation effort. Together with an annual 0.5 percent real-term increase in the defense budget for the six years following 2024, the MoD is likely to get an injection of additional cash totaling £24 billion over the next 10 years.

Some of that money will go toward plugging a financial black hole in the 10-year equipment program, which the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee reported last week could be as large as £17.4 billion — a figure disputed by the MoD, which put the figure at £7.3 billion.

Aaron Mehta in Washington contributed to this report.






Bangladesh can exploit these options, upgrade these Typhoons and frigates and use them as stop gap. Specially when our MRCA and frigate program is getting delayed further. How much life these Typhoons, Chinooks and frigates have?

typhoon esp looks like a ripe rational picking for BD....

estimated total airframe life is 6000 hours

It seem they get about (21,000/136) ~ 150 hours per year per airframe in RAF service:


Assuming say a 14 year old bird (I think this is current age of oldest in tranche 1), it comes to about 2100 hours or so.....so I think BD can snap up a squadron of 4000-remaining hr birds.

If BD runs these at same intensity of 150 hours a year....thats projected service of 25 more years or so. If you run more intense, then of course it drops by that factor of hr/hr ratio etc.

Maybe they ran the first tranche harder though (when fewer were around etc), so probably have to factor that in too.....but I think its good deal for BD, as the hours left would still probably look good given BD AF needs now and later etc.
 

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typhoon esp looks like a ripe rational picking for BD....

estimated total airframe life is 6000 hours

It seem they get about (21,000/136) ~ 150 hours per year per airframe in RAF service:


Assuming say a 14 year old bird (I think this is current age of oldest in tranche 1), it comes to about 2100 hours or so.....so I think BD can snap up a squadron of 4000-remaining hr birds.

If BD runs these at same intensity of 150 hours a year....thats projected service of 25 more years or so. If you run more intense, then of course it drops by that factor of hr/hr ratio etc.

Maybe they ran the first tranche harder though (when fewer were around etc), so probably have to factor that in too.....but I think its good deal for BD, as the hours left would still probably look good given BD AF needs now and later etc.

Can these be upgraded to block 5 and integrated with meteor? Is this estimation with or without the upgrade? Can Hawk T1 be upgraded with new avionics?
 

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Can these be upgraded to block 5 and integrated with meteor? Is this estimation with or without the upgrade? Can Hawk T1 be upgraded with new avionics?

I believe all the RAF (single seater) tranche 1's are upgraded to block 5 already...and I think they mothballed the dbl seater tranche 1's for spares etc so those are out of equation.

Block 5 is max upgrade I think for tranche 1 on RAF side. I think spaniards started upgrading their tranche 1's to an even higher standard recently via airbus. (Something like this could be done by BAF too I guess if it wanted).

But tranche 1's cannot have Meteor I believe....the mission computer is a full version below whats needed for meteor ...and upgrading that is/was too pricey (given how the tranche 1, tranche 2 costing worked out with the OEM and clients) compared to buying a new a/c.

Thus tranche 2s and later are meteor ready or can be upgraded to such if they are early block in tranche 2 jsut before meteor adoption (but I think thats all done now by the client AF's).

Tranche 1 (block 5 or not) is AMRAAM-only for A2A BVR AFAIK. ASRAAM and IRIS-T for WVR.

Block 5 latest software has the basic A2G package too.

Upgrades would not affect the time spent/left on airframe fatigue life (just an integral of flight hours compounded)....so that should be ok for BAF....though you probably get more specifics of these block 5s (expected lifetime left etc) a bit later if BAF pursues....but should be 15 - 25 years depending on BAF planned intensity.

Hawk T1 could potentially be upgraded with some new avionics....but probably not worth it, RAF is planning to retire these this decade and by 2030 (replace all with T2)....so you would have to approach OEM specifically to get them on board for it for just a small window of forseeable service time with BAF etc.
 

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