RAF pilots grounded by lack of parts

Pilots of the RAF’s most advanced fighter jets are being grounded because shortages of spares mean they cannot put in enough flying hours to keep their skills up to date, MPs have warned.

By The Newsroom

Published 15th Apr 2011, 07:00 BST

The Commons Public Accounts Committee said five Typhoon pilots had to be temporarily grounded last year because a lack of aircraft availability meant they could not do the required flying time. It said the shortages were also affecting the training programme, with only eight Typhoon pilots qualified for ground attack operations – the role the fighter is currently being used for in Libya.

The RAF is currently having to cannibalise aircraft for spare parts in order to keep the maximum number of Typhoons in the air on any given day.

The committee said the Ministry of Defence had warned the problems were likely to continue until 2015 when it expects the supply of spares finally to have reached a steady state. The MoD was now buying a third fewer Typhoons than it had originally planned, but the cost of the project had risen by an estimated £3.5bn.

MPs RAF