Partnership with industry is reflected
in the way the RAF trains its personnel.
The UK Military Flying Training System
(MFTS) has pioneered a new approach
in this area. It removed the front-end
capital investment involved in procuring
expensive new aircraft, instead
partnering with industry to provide
contracted services.
As a training service partner across the
UK armed forces, Ascent Flight Training
works with the MoD in designing and
providing assets. This is achieved via
an arrangement with the RAF’s No
22 (Training) Group and the UKMFTS
project team from DE&S.
Ascent was responsible for working
alongside BAE Systems and the RAF
to overhaul the stepping-stone to the
operational conversion unit for new ab
initio fighter pilots. This first stage of the
MFTS program manifested itself at RAF
Valley with the Hawk T2 fast jet training
effort under No IV Squadron.
Next was the requirement to replace
the King Air B200 multi-engine training
aircraft of No 45 Squadron at RAF
Cranwell, the basic fast jet training
Tucano T1s at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, and
the Grob Tutors of the elementary flying
training units.
Ascent awarded Elbit Systems and KBR
a contract to supply 38 new training
aircraft through their joint company
known as Affinity Flight Training
Systems, which received a $500-million
contract to purchase the airframes. The
resulting acquisition will see 23 GrobG120TPs, known in RAF service as the
Prefect T1, operating from Cranwell and
Barkston Heath starting this year. They
will give student aircrews 40 hours of
conventional flying and 20 synthetic
hours of training. Five Phenom 100s will
be based at Cranwell for multi-engine
training following a short multi-engine
lead-in course on the Prefect.
In addition, 10 T-6C Texan IIs will
replace the Tucanos. Basic fast jet
training is likely to be relocated to Valley
alongside the Hawk T2s.
The next phase will be rotary-
wing. Airbus Helicopters won the UK
rotary-wing training contract under a
£1.1-billion ($1.6-billion) deal. This will
involve 29 Airbus Helicopters H135s and
three larger H145s replacing the current
34 Squirrel HT1s and 15 Griffin HT1s.
The numbers of new aircraft and
helicopters are far lower than the
current quantities in service. Much of
this is offset by new synthetic training
aids. However, the dramatic overhaul
in the UK training enterprise has left
some unconvinced. Indeed, some extra
capacity will inevitably be required.
When factoring in scheduled servicing,
10 T-6Cs are unlikely to meet the RAF
and Royal Navy’s requirements on a
day-to-day basis. Additional airframes
would appear to be essential to avoid a
bottleneck in the training pipeline.Manning the squadrons
The RAF has dramatically renewed its
aircraft fleets in recent years, often
through clever partnering arrangementsIt’s extraordinary how
much output the RAF
generates given its overall size...
However, the RAF also requires
the capacity — and an increase in
funding — to help secure its future,
rather than risking an erosion of
the ethos that has underpinned it.
The RAF procured 28 Hawk T2s from
BAE Systems. They operate under the
Ascent Flight Training model at RAF
Valley. Jamie HunterThe RAF operates an impressive fleet
of 60 upgraded Chinooks, including
new HC6s. Crown CopyrightFORCE REPORT // ROYAL AIR FORCE CENTENARY
34 April 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
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