UK Ministry of Defence

News Premium

UK MOD told to consider advantages of operating mixed F-35A/B fleet

The UK parliament’s Defence Select Committee was told that the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review set out plans for the UK to buy 138 F-35B Lightning IIs. As of May 1, 2023, the UK had taken delivered of 31 F-35Bs, with a total of 48 due to be delivered by the end of 2025 as part of an initial Tranche 1 order

News Premium

RAF fast-jet training problems branded ‘farcical’ by new report

An engine fault on the RAF’s Hawk T2 advanced jet trainers has caused substantial delays in fast-jet pilot training and has cost the UK MOD more than £50m, a report by an influential group of British MPs has found

News Premium

UK MOD told to reverse cut in E-7A Wedgetail fleet size by British MPs

The decision by the UK MOD to cut its E-7A Wedgetail AEW1 fleet from five aircraft to three is “perverse” and must be reversed, the findings of an aviation procurement investigation has said

News Premium

RAF urged to mothball Tranche 1 Typhoons instead of scrapping them

The RAF’s Tranche 1 Typhoon FGR4 fighters should be mothballed rather than scrapped, an influential group of British MPs have concluded in a new investigative report

News Premium

UK MOD slammed for creating capability gap after axing RAF C-130J fleet

The decision to retire the RAF’s fleet of C-130J Hercules C4/C5 tactical transports earlier than originally planned has left a capability gap in air mobility tasks and special forces operations, a report by an influential group of British MPs has found

News Premium

UK airpower in crisis amid growing threat of war, MPs say

The state of UK airpower and its inability to counter the growing threat of war has been laid bare in a damning report by an influential group of British MPs

News Premium

Final report into UK F-35B crash raises broader operational safety concerns

Almost two years after an F-35B Lightning II assigned to the RAF’s No 617 Squadron ‘The Dambusters’ plunged into the Mediterranean following an aborted take-off attempt from HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK MOD has released a final report of its investigation into the incident, highlighting concerns regarding safety and security aboard the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier during its first operational cruise

Success for Royal Navy in Wildcat’s first air-to-air firing of Martlet missile

In a recent series of trials, an AW159 Wildcat HMA2 multi-mission maritime helicopter from the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm’s 815 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset, carried out the first successful test firing of a Martlet lightweight multi-role missile against an aerial target

News Premium

UK MOD criticised over E-7A Wedgetail procurement in damning new report

The UK's decision to cut its order for Boeing E-7A Wedgetail AEW1 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft from five examples to three has been described as an "absolute folly" in a damning new report by an influential group of MPs

News Premium

UK MOD releases report into last year’s Royal Navy Hawk T1A crash

A UK Ministry of Defence Service Inquiry report into the loss of Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm-operated Hawk T1A (serial XX189) – assigned to 736 Naval Air Squadron – on March 25, 2021, was released on July 28