UK military flying training system approaches decade milestone with 110-aircraft fleet
UK Military Flying Training System providers detail current activities with 110-strong fleet. With the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) BAE Systems Hawk replacement need placed firmly in the news spotlight, what does the wider future of military pilot training look like in the UK? The current tri-service UK Military Flying Training System (MFTS) uses 110 aircraft across five fixed- and two rotary-wing types, employed from multiple bases, with its delivery led by Ascent Flight Training. FlightGlobal recently visited RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire to get an overview of the now well-established MFTS programme, which has a current contract term running until 2033. Having acquired and introduced a fleet of 42 fixed-wing aircraft as a delivery partner on MFTS, Affinity Flying Training Services has to date provided just over 100,000 pilot training hours for the programme. Stood up in February 2016, the Elbit Systems UK and KBR joint venture company has provided 23 Grob Aircraft G120TP Prefects, 14 Beechcraft T-6C Texan IIs and five Embraer Phenom 100s, respectively operated in the elementary, basic and multi-engine pilot training roles. Service entry began in the 2018-2019 period. Affinity delivers services under a private finance initiative (PFI) model through which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) paid to take ownership of all the new training aircraft within five years. G120TPs are primarily flown from Cranwell, with typically around seven of the Prefects also operating from a nearby satellite base at RAF Barkston Heath. The Phenoms operate from Cranwell only, and the T-6Cs are located at RAF Valley on Anglesey, North Wales. The UK’s G120TP elementary trainers are mainly operated from RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. Source: Affinity Flying Training Services Announcing its latest major flight hours milestone in mid-July, Affinity noted that "half of the 100,000 figure was achieved in the last three years alone". "We are about aircraft on the flight line to meet customer demands," says Affinity managing director Iain Chalmers. Of its just shy of 210 employees, which include ex-military personnel and others with a background in civil aviation, roughly 140 are located in Lincolnshire, with the others in Wales. Affinity business director Alex Davison says the company has 75 engineers and technicians in Lincolnshire, along with operations staff, while the entire cadre of almost 70 personnel working at RAF Valley are from the former categories. With pilot throughput rising, the company and Ascent – a joint venture formed by Babcock and Lockheed Martin – are eyeing an opportunity to potentially boost the size of the T-6C inventory. The MFTS fleet was initially scaled as having 10 of the single-engined turboprops, before a follow-on batch of four was secured in 2022. "It's a demand issue, as there has been a bit of 'download' of some types of flying from [the BAE Systems] Hawk [T2], which is getting towards the end of its life," Chalmers says. "It's to make sure we've got enough capacity in there to guarantee getting students through." A new deal could potentially be for around four more of the aircraft. "This is a very live conversation," says Ascent managing director Chloe Barker. "We have been working really hard as industry with the MoD to find a way through this. There was an intention initially to bid for some MoD underspend. A few months down the line from that we have got some different [acquisition] models that we are exploring that are looking very positive." Phenom-enal performer With one Phenom in-depth maintenance at the time of our visit, the small business jet-based fleet is currently down to four operational examples only, but Chalmers notes, “We are flying more hours than we've ever flown on the Phenom despite that. "It's honestly brilliant," he says of the twinjet. "Up, down, as many times as you like a day, with something like a 98% dispatch rate." That includes meeting air force-specific needs such as formation flying and low-level instruction, he notes. Embraer’s Phenom 100 serves in the multi-engine pilot training role. Source: AirTeamImages Notably, the MFTS Phenoms do not feature modifications for their military role, beyond the aircraft's galley being used to accommodate additional avionics equipment. With its landing gear and engines removed – with the latter sent away for inspection and overhaul – the example currently in the hangar is the third of the fleet to undergo this major work. Meanwhile, Chalmers says: "The MoD is outsourcing for a two-year period to get an additional capacity hump" for multi-engine training provision, enabling it to support the RAF's Boeing RC-135 Rivet Joint and P-8A Poseidon fleets. Elsewhere within the same hangar at Cranwell, a trio of G120TPs are undergoing scheduled maintenance. The most intensive of those activities – performed after every 3,000 flight hours – involves removing the engine and wings, with maintenance work lasting between nine and 12 weeks. Other checks are required after intervals of 150h and 600h. In another recent milestone, May saw the 10th anniversary of rotary-wing training provision by Ascent at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire. Supporting that work, the MFTS fleet includes 29 Airbus Helicopters H135s and seven larger H145s, with the twin-engined models respectively named Jupiter and Juno for military use. Ascent – which has around 400 employees – also delivers rear-crew and observer training for the Royal Navy at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall using four Beechcraft King Air 350-based Avengers. The highest-profile assets within the MFTS fleet are 28 Hawk T2s. Flown from Valley, those jets were acquired by the MoD outside of the PFI mechanism used for the rest of the programme. A long-awaited replacement process got under way in early August, when the MoD's National Armaments Director (NAD) Group issued a request for information linked to the Jet Training System (JTS) opportunity. That will deliver replacements not only for the Hawk T2 fleet but also for the aged Hawk T1s used by the RAF's Red Arrows aerobatic display team. A contest to replace the RAF’s Hawk T2s is entering its initial stage. Source: Crown Copyright The UK's Defence Investment Plan (DIP) of 30 June detailed an initial financial commitment of £360 million ($486 million) through the end of this decade in support of "full recapitalisation of the jet training system". Responding to that publication, Ascent said it "stands ready to work in partnership with the MoD to design and deliver the JTS, ensuring future pilots are equipped with the skills required to operate the most advanced combat aircraft… while sustaining high-value UK jobs and strengthening sovereign training capability for the long term". JTS rivals Likely contenders include a BAE-led offer of the T-7A Red Hawk, to be advanced in conjunction with Boeing and Saab; Korea Aerospace Industries' T-50; Leonardo's M-346; and the Turkish Aerospace Hurjet. It is unknown whether the selected JTS could also be required to conduct additional tasks such as serving as a companion light fighter or to perform adversary training duties. To be operated within a future structure dubbed "MFTS 2.0", the JTS aircraft are likely to be acquired directly by the MoD, with a contractor then paid to deliver a service against a set number of flight hours or sorties per day. "Ascent are absolutely keen to work with our customer to ensure that we get to the best, most effective, most integrated [training] model going forward," Barker says. "I expect that there will be a competition for a Future Flying Training System, or FFTS," she adds. "There are teams being set up within the MoD to start looking at that now. "From an Ascent point of view, I'm not resting on any laurels and expecting the current [MFTS] model to continue. There are a lot of things that we could do quite differently moving forward and should look to explore those." Unlike the current system, that could mean building a t