You and Whose Air Force Mr Cameron?

As a result of SDSR 2010, The RAF front line strength of fighter aircraft will probably be reduced to a laughable 7 squadrons only.  These aircraft and crews must cover air defence of the United Kingdom and the Falkland Islands, contingency support for dependent territories, ongoing NATO commitments in Northern Europe, Iraq, and whatever other foreign adventures our government may, from time to time, dream up.  Of course, our new inventory of aircraft are highly capable and can produce devastating local effects but they cannot be in two places at once.

Fortuitously, through the unintended consequence of a marathon PFI contract, we have the highly capable Voyager air refuelling tanker which can extend the reach of fighter aircraft and enhance their flexibility.  Unfortunately, however, due to the inflexibility of the contract, we are stuck with rather too many of them!  Actually, we have enough Voyagers on the inventory to dedicate no less than two huge tankers to each fighter squadron.  We may not frighten our enemies but by George we can become the world's best at in flight refuelling!

There is of course, through the smoke and mirrors of PFI, a mechanism to lease out surplus capacity to the private airlines, Thomas Cook being a recent beneficiary, but I don't think the charade will save the taxpayer anything of significance.

Meantime, the silence on SDSR 2015 is deafening.