تويت
As Britain struggles with military funding... Saudi Arabia stockpiles UK-made war jets
FEARS have been raised over Britain's depleted military defences after it was revealed Saudi Arabia has TWICE as many UK-made warplanes as the Royal Air Force.
By ROB VIRTUE
09:51, Wed, May 6, 2015 | UPDATED: 15:33, Wed, May 6, 2015
Y
Saudi Arabia has invested in a large number of Eurofighter Typhoon
Ongoing cuts to Britain's armed forces have seen the number of Tornado GR4 bombers down to around 36 and concerns are being raised over what would happen in the event of an intense military campaign.
Now it has been revealed the Saudis are using around 100 war jets in ongoing operations in Yemen, with half of them made in Britain by BAE Systems.
They include Eurofighter Typhoons and Tornado GR4s.
The Saudis have spent around £2.5billion upgrading their fleet while Britain has cut the number of its front line combat squadrons from 30 in 1990 to just seven today, according to experts.
Former head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon told the Telegraph: “To mount a campaign for a lengthy period of time, as the Saudis are doing in Yemen, you need to have a lot of aircraft and a lot of aircrew to fly them, and we simply do not have those sorts of numbers because of the budget cuts.”
Sir Michael had previously called on current RAF bosses to quit over ongoing cuts.
“You cannot continue down this route and pretend you are capable of doing all the things the Government asks you to do," he said.
And he said the current situation puts the UK at risk from attack by Russia at a time when relations are increasingly frayed with Vladimir Putin's nation.
very much doubt whether the UK could sustain a shooting war against Russia," said Sir Michael.
"We are at half the capabilities we had previously.
"They fly in these regions to check our air defences and have probably worked out we are not as sharp as we were.
"They know it is provocative and they are doing it at a time when defence in the West is pretty wet compared to where they are."
Severe cutbacks were made to the budget by the Coalition Government in 2010, meaning the RAF struggled to send Tornados to fight against Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria.
The Saudi involvement in the Yemen civil war, meanwhile, is continuing. It has now flown over 2,200 combat missions in the last month.
On Wednesday, warplanes carried out more than 30 strikes on the northwestern Yemeni provinces of Saada and Hajja, local officials and residents said.
منقول
FEARS have been raised over Britain's depleted military defences after it was revealed Saudi Arabia has TWICE as many UK-made warplanes as the Royal Air Force.
By ROB VIRTUE
09:51, Wed, May 6, 2015 | UPDATED: 15:33, Wed, May 6, 2015
Y
Saudi Arabia has invested in a large number of Eurofighter Typhoon
Ongoing cuts to Britain's armed forces have seen the number of Tornado GR4 bombers down to around 36 and concerns are being raised over what would happen in the event of an intense military campaign.
Now it has been revealed the Saudis are using around 100 war jets in ongoing operations in Yemen, with half of them made in Britain by BAE Systems.
They include Eurofighter Typhoons and Tornado GR4s.
The Saudis have spent around £2.5billion upgrading their fleet while Britain has cut the number of its front line combat squadrons from 30 in 1990 to just seven today, according to experts.
Former head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon told the Telegraph: “To mount a campaign for a lengthy period of time, as the Saudis are doing in Yemen, you need to have a lot of aircraft and a lot of aircrew to fly them, and we simply do not have those sorts of numbers because of the budget cuts.”
Sir Michael had previously called on current RAF bosses to quit over ongoing cuts.
“You cannot continue down this route and pretend you are capable of doing all the things the Government asks you to do," he said.
And he said the current situation puts the UK at risk from attack by Russia at a time when relations are increasingly frayed with Vladimir Putin's nation.
very much doubt whether the UK could sustain a shooting war against Russia," said Sir Michael.
"We are at half the capabilities we had previously.
"They fly in these regions to check our air defences and have probably worked out we are not as sharp as we were.
"They know it is provocative and they are doing it at a time when defence in the West is pretty wet compared to where they are."
Severe cutbacks were made to the budget by the Coalition Government in 2010, meaning the RAF struggled to send Tornados to fight against Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria.
The Saudi involvement in the Yemen civil war, meanwhile, is continuing. It has now flown over 2,200 combat missions in the last month.
On Wednesday, warplanes carried out more than 30 strikes on the northwestern Yemeni provinces of Saada and Hajja, local officials and residents said.
منقول
تعليق