Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 61
61
Not Addressed
Limited airfield flexibility hampers RAF warfighting ability despite past investment, requiring further resources.
Conclusion
The Chief of the Air Staff argued that the RAF had benefitted significantly from investment in the past 15 years which had resulted in the bringing into service the F-35 fleet; A400M fleet; the Voyager fleet and the P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft fleet. This had made the RAF “more capable” and therefore “better able to meet the threats of the high- end fight”. However, he acknowledged the concerns about dispersal. He told us the current level of “agility and operational flexibility” was hampering the RAF’s warfighting ability leading to a need to increase flexibility in the airfields the RAF utilised. This would require “investment in spares and some further investment in infrastructure and in people”.124 Strategic Command
Government response summary AI-generated
The government discusses the Defence Command Paper 2023's aims for modernising and mobilising conventional forces, enhancing lethality, and rebalancing investment in capabilities’ availability and sustainment, but does not specifically address the RAF's acknowledged need for investment in spares, infrastructure, and people for dispersal and operational flexibility.
Government Response
The government responded to this report on 25 April 2024. No passage in that response could be matched to this conclusion. Read the response document ↗