The number of RAF combat aircraft is so low they would be wiped out by ‘attrition’ if Britain went to war with Putin as Russia has more than 20 times more aircraft and our fleet is smaller than European allies
- UK ‘dangerously exposed’ with just 169 frontline jets to Russia’s 3,500
DAILY MAIL
The RAF‘s fleet of combat aircraft is so small it would be wiped out if Britain went to war against Vladimir Putin, according to a parliamentary report.
There are so few Typhoon jets and F-35s that the fleet could not withstand the ‘levels of attrition’ that would occur.
The UK has just 169 frontline jets to Russia‘s 3,500 and, after repeated post-Cold War cutbacks, our fleet is also smaller than that of our European allies.
According to the Defence Select Committee’s analysis, France has 231 combat aircraft, Germany 214 and Italy 199. As recently as 1990 the UK had 463.
The RAF claims that the sophistication of its aircraft compensates for it having fewer of them. But the report says the UK is ‘dangerously exposed’, adding: ‘The combat aircraft fleet provides boutique high capability [but] lacks numerical depth and has an inadequate reserve.
‘In a peer-on-peer conflict such as a shooting war with Russia, every airframe will count.
‘[Government plans] will create a combat air capability gap which, on current plans, will persist well into the 2030s. This is unacceptable. The Ministry of Defence and the RAF must consider as a matter of urgency how they can increase combat air mass.’
Despite the shortage, the RAF intends to retire 30 of its Typhoons five years ahead of schedule in 2025, rather than upgrade them. This decision has been questioned by MPs.