Aircraft

A likely expansion of UK military operations in Afghanistan this year will place additional pressure on the Royal Air Force’s already heavily tasked air transport fleet, says chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup.

“Two [simultaneous] operations will put considerable stress on our air transport fleet,” he says, adding: “We can cover the operations, but it will be testing.”

An RAF News report from early January suggests the UK will cope with the workload of an increased Afghan operation by flying personnel into the region using civilian charter flights before completing their deployment using defensive aids system (DAS)-equipped transports. This will avert availability issues experienced by the RAF’s Lockheed TriStars in Iraq late last year. Meanwhile, another four TriStars are to receive DAS equipment by 2007.

Stirrup says the RAF also wants to see an “early solution” to its delayed Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme, which will replace the TriStar and Vickers VC10 fleets with around 20 Airbus A330-200-based tanker-transports. A contract potentially worth £13.9 billion ($24.6 billion) for the FSTA requirement should be signed in the first quarter of this year, with the UK’s Defence Procurement Agency expecting the new aircraft to enter service “towards the end of the decade”. Initial plans had called for the FSTA fleet to start operations during 2007.

Other top RAF priorities include the establishment of a more agile and adaptable force equipped with precision-guided weapons and – where appropriate – unmanned air vehicles, says Stirrup. Near- space systems, micro-satellites and lighter-than-air technologies should also be assessed to increase its future capabilities. The UK should also link its future defence spending more closely to its
GDP and take more risk during research and development activities, he believes.

CRAIG HOYLE/LONDON