RAF butchers four Typhoon jets worth £500m for spare parts to keep warplanes flying
The RAF is butchering state-of-the-art Typhoon fighters for spare parts to keep vital warplanes flying.
Four jets, costing £125million each, are being cannibalised to cover a desperate shortage of key kit.
The embarrassing revelation comes
as six Typhoons were sent to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to boost the UK mission against Islamic State in Syria .
They are set to pound targets in Iraq and Syria after MPs gave the green light to extending military action.
Defence Minister Philip Dunne made the embarrassing admission about stripping for spares following a written parliamentary question.
He insisted: “It is routine practice to move parts between aircraft within the RAF Typhoon fleet to ensure optimum aircraft availability.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) suggested four years ago that stripping Typhoons - built under a deal between the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany - for spares would end by 2015.
It expected the supply of spares to have finally reached a “steady state”. But Mr Dunne’s admission reveals the problems are ongoing.
Westminster’s spending watchdog, the powerful Commons Public Accounts Committee, previously revealed five Typhoon pilots were temporarily grounded in 2010 because there were not enough planes for them to keep up their required flying time.
“The department relies on a small group of key industrial suppliers who have the technical and design capability to build, upgrade and support Typhoon,” the committee said in 2011.
“Problems with the availability of spare parts have meant that Typhoons are not flying as many hours as the department requires.
“The Typhoon supply chain is complex and stretches across Europe. However, the department admitted that it had not been managed well enough or delivered all the required parts when needed.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/raf-butchers-four-typhoon-jets-6963359
Vanha juttu vuodelta 2015 mutta kertoo että vuonna 2003 esiteltyyn koneeseen ei yli 10 vuoden jälkeenkään ole saatu riittävää huoltoa ja varaosia johtuen ainakin osittain hankalasta tuotantoketjusta eri maissa. On melko surullista jos yksi arvostetuimmista ilmavoimista maailmassa pitää normaalitoimintana sitä että se käyttää yli 100 miljoonan euron hävittäjiä varaosina. Onko järkee?!
Hornetilla ei ole ollut tietääkseni kertaakaan näitä ongelmia suomessa vaan tavaraa kulkee, kunhan sitä muistetaan tilata ajoissa ja tarpeeksi. Maailman suuri lentokonevalmistaja pystyy toimittamaan osia ilman ongelmia.