Ascent Flight Training has been awarded a £300 million ($400 million) contract to markedly increase its provision of rear crew instruction from later this decade to support the operational needs of the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy (RN).
Announced by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 19 May, the future intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance and rear crew training system (FIRCTS) deal will cover an eight-year period until during 2033.
Placed in support of the broader UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) service provision, the award “will deliver the latest advances to trainee aircrew, to meet the growing ISTAR and unmanned aircraft system demands of the military front line”, the nation’s Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) body says.
Output of mission aircrew personnel will see a “four-fold increase” from today to 140 per year, with activities performed at existing training sites RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall, and RAF Cranwell Lincolnshire.
“FIRCTS will recapitalise the Culdrose and Cranwell sites with the build and management of two new state-of-the-art training facilities by Babcock International Group,” DE&S says.
“The synthetic and mission simulated environments provided by Lockheed Martin will enable a greater download of live flying, and Draken will provide support for the fleet of upgraded Textron [Beechcraft] King Air 350E Avenger aircraft,” it says.
Four RN-liveried Avengers are already used in support of the UKMFTS service, with the twin-turboprops undergoing an extensive upgrade to ensure their continued use until 2033.
“The first trainees will be able to use the new training system in 2027,” the procurement body says, while noting that the new arrangement will “reduce both flying hours and carbon footprint”.
Qualified mission aircrew will go on to serve aboard RAF assets including the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning, P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol, and RC-135 Rivet Joint electronic intelligence aircraft, plus the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Protector RG1 remotely piloted air system. RN personnel will become observers on the Leonardo Helicopters AW101 Merlin HM2 and Wildcat rotorcraft.
“Today’s air systems require aircrew who can exploit the electro-magentic spectrum and assist in decision-making as we seek to outpace our adversaries in complex battlespace,” says Air Vice Marshal Ian Townsend, the RAF’s air officer commanding 22 Group.
“The contract reinforces our commitment to providing the highest level of readiness and operational effectiveness while creating new jobs across the UK and investing in regional economies,” says DE&S UKMFTS team leader Captain Polly Hatchard.
“We are so proud to once again be trusted by our UK MoD customers to deliver this innovative training solution across our operations sites in Cornwall and Lincolnshire,” says Ascent managing director Tim James.
