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Red Arrows new aircraft could be built in Scotland
Aviation company AERALIS could build the next generation of Red Arrows jets at Prestwick Airport, in the west of Scotland.
According to BBC, the airfield is the company’s preferred site for the assembly of its aircraft and for this reason AERALIS is in partnership talks with the Scottish government-owned airport.
With the Hawk T1 jets (currently flown by the Red Arrows) due to be retired in 2030, AERALIS is the only UK-based company that is conceiving a manned light jet aircraft, which could equip the Royal Air Force’s display team or be sold for export.
While the components for the replacement jets would be built around the UK, the new jets would be assembled at Prestwick, where the aircraft would take their first flight.
The Scottish government bought Prestwick Airport for £1 in 2013, though officials hope to sell it back to the private sector.
“We are tremendously excited about this agreement with AERALIS and the opportunity it brings to generate jobs, apprenticeships, investment and innovation in the Prestwick area. We look forward to working with AERALIS to make this happen,” Ian Forgie, chief executive of Prestwick Airport, said.
Tristan Crawford, AERALIS chief executive, said Prestwick “represented an ideal site” for the company’s UK final assembly line.
AERALIS jet trainer as Red Arrows new aircraft
AERALIS plans would “clearly return Scotland to its deserved place as a first-tier aviation nation,” the company said while waiting for the UK government commitment to the aircraft.
AERALIS is the UK’s only new, British designed and built, jet trainer option. Requiring no upfront capital from the UK taxpayer, through its modular design it will be easily adapted to also fulfil European and Allied air force requirements to deliver significant export revenue for Britain.
As already explained, AERALIS new aircraft could be converted from basic trainer to aggressive fighter by swapping engines and wings. The unique modular system means that each variant will share a common core fuselage and avionics, but everything else, from the tail to the wings and engines, can be customised to suit the client.
According to AERALIS website, the UK stands at a decision point to ensure the country capability delivers a sovereign solution for when the Red Arrows need a replacement aircraft in the coming years, protecting the nation’s whole aircraft development capability, creating UK jobs and generating a modern pathfinder programme that demonstrates to the world how the UK is doing business to meet the future defence needs of Britain and it’s NATO allies.
In 2015, then-Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon expressed his support for the nation’s display team, saying: “I don’t think the public would let us lose the Red Arrows,” and that the Government would ‘start to think about’ how to replace the ageing aircraft in the ‘next year or two’.
Ten years on and no decision has been made.
The team is running out of jets
In the meantime, the team is reportedly running out of jets, forcing the Red Arrows maintenance personnel to pick apart old planes for spare parts.
Sources told The Sun that the Red Arrows’ popular shows, often the highlight of special occasions including Charles III’s coronation, could even be cancelled in the wake of the shortage.
One said: ‘There are no two ways about it — the Red Arrows are running out of planes.
‘Planes can only fly so many shows before they need new parts.
‘So either they get new planes or they have to cancel shows.’
The iconic fleet has been slashed from 26 working aircraft earlier this year to 17 in June, with a further four in so-called deep maintenance and unavailable to fly.
RAF considering the M-346 Master
As already reported, in April Royal Air Force (RAF) officials were considering the Aermacchi M-346 Master jet trainer as a replacement for the aging Hawk T1 trainer aircraft of the RAF Aerobatic Team Red Arrows.
Conservatives expressed anger over the potential decision, calling it “outrageous.”
In fact, the M-346, a twin-engine transonic advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft, was originally co-developed with the Russian aircraft manufacturer Yakovlev as the Yak/AEM-130, the partnership was dissolved in 2000 and then Alenia Aermacchi proceeded to separately develop the M-346 Master, while Yakovlev continued work on the Yakovlev Yak-130.
According to conservatives, buying an aircraft whose design was co-developed with Russia would be in direct contrast to the Red Arrows’ stated mission of promoting British industry.
However, Leonardo, Aermacchi’s owner, said in a statement that the Master is not only built in Europe “to the most stringent NATO standards,” but that the M-346 is used by 10 NATO air forces, including the RAF, whose pilots have had to train in Italy using Italian jets because of a shortage of operational Hawks in the UK.
Photo credit: Crown Copyright and AERALIS
