{"id":40306,"date":"2015-12-04T18:32:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T18:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/12\/04\/uk-air-chief-hopes-to-add-combat-squadron\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:20:16","slug":"uk-air-chief-hopes-to-add-combat-squadron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2015\/12\/04\/uk-air-chief-hopes-to-add-combat-squadron\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Air Chief Hopes To Add Combat Squadron"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>LONDON \u2014\u00a0Having secured three extra combat squadrons a little more than a week ago in a\u00a0strategic defense and security review (SDSR), Britain\u2019s Air Force chief said that he has\u00a0a plan to add a fourth unit to further boost air power. <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">capabilities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We were destined to be down to six<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">6<\/span> [combat] squadrons by 2020,&#8221; the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford told an audience of senior military and industry executives at an Air Power Association dinner at the House of Commons on Thursday. &#8220;We knew that was too few &#8230; and we fought for more. We got three squadrons, and I\u00a0have a fourth in my pocket.&#8221; <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford told an audience of senior military and industry executives at an Air Power Association dinner at the House of Commons Thursday.<\/span><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Dec 3.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The previous defense review in 2010\u00a0mandated that Royal Air Force combat-squadron numbers be reduced\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">reducing <\/span>to just six, with the final three Tornado strike-jet squadrons being scrapped by 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taking the Tornado out of service by 2019 was confirmed by SDSR 2015 last week, but rather than see squadron numbers sink to a new low, the RAF received government approval to stand up two extra squadrons of Typhoon multirole aircraft and bring forward the purchase of F-35s to form a squadron of jets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We are going to stay at nine [squadrons], and I have a plan to get to 10,&#8221; Pulford said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A spokesman for the RAF later sought to play down the remarks, saying that no such plan existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;SDSR confirmed that the UK will have nine<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">9<\/span> combat air squadrons,&#8221; said the spokesman.\u00a0&#8220;T<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">t<\/span>here are no plans for\u00a0a\u00a010th squadron. CAS\u2019 comments referred to how, over time, future efficiencies from within the RAF could be used to create an extra squadron.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span>&#8221; <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">said the spokesman.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<style>.oembed-asset-link { background: #fff; border-bottom: 1px solid #e1e1e1; }.oembed-link-anchor { display: block; clear: both; }.oembed-link-thumbnail{ float: left; padding: 14px; }.oembed-link-thumbnail img { max-width: 78px; max-height: 60px; display: block; }p.oembed-link-title { font-size: 75%; color: #009BFF; margin: 0 14px; padding-top: 12px; font-weight:normal; text-align: left; line-height: 120%;  }p.oembed-link-desc { font-size: 100%; color: #666; font-weight: normal; margin: 0 14px 14px 14px; font-family: 'Futura Today Light'; text-align: left; line-height: 120%; }<\/style>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Howard Wheeldon, a consultant and Air Force specialist, said that although he had been surprised by Pulford\u2019s comments, they agreed with his view that the RAF <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">still <\/span>needed additional combat mass.\u00a0<br\/> \u00a0<br\/> \u00a0&#8220;Whilst I\u00a0very much welcome any plan to increase the number of squadrons, including the formally announced eight<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">8<\/span>, eventually rising to nine<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">9<\/span> squadrons, I\u00a0take the view that we have not sufficiently well answered the need for resilience and greater mass,&#8221; he said.\u00a0<br\/> \u00a0<br\/> &#8220;There are risks in the fast jet capability program as outlined particularly surrounding the timing of Typhoon enhancement capability,&#8221;\u00a0Wheeldon said. &#8220;CAS&#8217; suggestion may be a reflection of the need to address this danger.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span>&#8220;<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> said Wheeldon. <\/span>\u00a0<br\/> \u00a0<br\/> It wasn\u2019t just Wheeldon who was surprised by Pulford\u2019s remarks.\u00a0Industry executives at the dinner wondered where the RAF would get the money and the manpower from for an extra squadron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The additional two Typhoon squadrons already announced are being generated by making more efficient use of the existing fleet, rather than by buying new aircraft. That&#8217;s being enabled in large part by better exploitation of advanced simulation for training and mission rehearsal, allowing a greater number of pilots to be sustained at high readiness from broadly the same number of live-flying hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At one point, British strike-jet resources had shrunk to the point where plans to disband a Tornado squadron in March 2015 had to be scrapped to allow the RAF to base a small fleet of the jets at Aktrotiri, Cyprus, to strike Islamic State group targets in Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this week, the RAF fielded an additional two\u00a0Tornados to Cyprus to bring the fleet up to 10 aircraft. It\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">and <\/span>also boosted strike capabilities by deploying six Typhoons.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Tornado<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> is<\/span> can carry <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">currently capable of carrying <\/span>a wider range of air-to-ground weapons than the Typhoon, including the much-discussed\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">talked about<\/span>MBDA-built Brimstone missile, which is able to engage fast-maneuvering targets with precision and low collateral damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Work on integrating the Brimstone 2 weapon and the Storm Shadow cruise missile on Typhoon is <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">currently <\/span>underway but won\u2019t be ready until the end of the decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Typhoon&#8217;s main air-to-ground weapon <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">for the moment <\/span>is the Raytheon Paveway IV precision-guided bomb.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deployment of the additional jets to Cyprus also saw the RAF give a first operational outing to the Airbus A400M airlifter, now coming into service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The increase in combat-jet numbers in Cyprus followed a Wednesday parliamentary vote <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Wednesday Dec 2<\/span> approving the extension of the RAF\u2019s role to allow it to attack Islamic State group targets in Syria.\u00a0Previously, the RAF had been hitting Islamic State group targets in Iraq but was restricted to <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">only <\/span>reconnaissance missions by the Tornado and its Reaper drones over Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SDSR generally was seen by analysts and others as a big win for the RAF, with improvements to combat mass, a significant increase in ISTAR resources and\u00a0a decision to run <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">on <\/span>the bulk of the C-130J Hercules fleet beyond its 2022 out-of-service date to 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pulford said that getting to keep 14\u2013Js was like getting a &#8220;Christmas present.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The aircraft are principally earmarked for special forces operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The chief of the air staff said that the decision to extend the out-of-service dates of many of the RAF&#8217;s \u00a0key ISTAR assets had provided certainty where there had previously been uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SDSR extended the lives of the\u00a0Sentinel battlefield-surveillance aircraft, the Shadow intelligence aircraft, Sentry E3 airborne early-warning and Rivet Joint signals-intelligence platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New purchases include nine Boeing P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, more than 20 Protector UAVs <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">unmanned air vehicles <\/span>to replace the 10 General Atomics Reapers now in service<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> and an additional three Shadow aircraft \u2014 two new platforms and the conversion of a third King Air airframe already owned by the MoD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We needed certainty, we needed funding and we also had to address the maritime patrol gap,&#8221; Pulford said.\u00a0&#8220;We\u00a0have all of those. They\u00a0are all up arrows. I have increased numbers of crews and airplanes, and we have got nine maritime patrol aircraft;\u00a0I could ask for little more.&#8221;<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,&#8221; Pulford said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Email:\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:achuter@defensenews.com\">achuter@defensenews.com<\/a><br\/> \u00a0<br\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having secured three extra combat squadrons a little more than a week ago in a strategic defense and security review (SDSR), Britain&#8217;s Air Force chief said that he has a plan to add a fourth unit to further boost air power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":82780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3351],"class_list":["post-40306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-home"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"K365GOKHNFF3LPYXFY4JT3M4FY","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2015\/12\/04\/uk-air-chief-hopes-to-add-combat-squadron\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is 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