DON’T MAKE THE RED ARROWS FLY IN FOREIGN JETS
RED Arrows displays could be performed in foreign-built planes unless the Government steps in, MPs have warned.
A cross-party group of 142 said orders for replacement jets should be brought forward to save their British link – and jobs at BAE Systems.
The firm announced last week it was planning to cut almost 2,000 UK jobs in its military, maritime and intelligence services.
Red Arrows pilots use 15 Hawk T1 jets – which entered service in the 1970s – and the MPs warned there was only a slim chance they will last beyond 2030.
They said: “By ordering a new fleet of planes to be used by the iconic RAF Aerobatic Display Team, the Government will not only help to mitigate the job losses, but will also guarantee the continued production of the Hawk in the UK.” In a letter to PM Theresa May, the 120 Labour MPs, 21 Tories and one DUP member demanded “an urgent plan to save skilled jobs” at BAE. Around 40% of the new Hawk is manufactured at the firm’s site at Brough, East Yorks, and the rest at Warton and Samlesbury, in Lancashire. The letter, whose backers include ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband, warned the planes would lose reliability with age and said some air shows already feature a cutdown Red Arrows fleet.
If a new contract is not signed in time for 2030, the letter warned: “Any future Red Arrows Aerobatics team would have to have its aircraft procured from abroad, which would be devastating for both the aerospace industry in Great Britain and also for the UK economy.”
But Ministry of Defence sources rejected the MPs’ plea.
An MoD spokesman said: “There is no requirement to replace the Red Arrows Hawk T1 aircraft.
“The Hawk T1 is due to remain in service until 2030, as set out by the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Any decision about replacements is unlikely to be taken until after the end of this Parliament.”