Unfit to Fly

Aerospace, Issue 1531

DEFENCE secretary Ben Wallace penned a column in the Sunday Times extolling the virtues of Britain’s aerospace industry ahead of a recent trip to the Middle East. He pointed out its role in sustaining jobs and keeping our forces safe. In fact, he stated, during lockdown “the British aerospace industry has been at the forefront of our resilience”.

An RAF Voyager

With that, Wallace headed off on his trip to promote British aerospace. Alas, the industry’s resilience was not on display when he went to board his RAF Voyager for the flight to Oman. It was declared unfit to fly after a problem with its pressurisation, and a plane earmarked for bringing British troops back from Estonia was diverted to rescue the stranded minister. Not a great way to start his PR tour.

Air-to-air refuelling

The broken-down RAF Voyager is part of a £10.5bn PFI deal between the government and private contractor AirTanker, signed in 2008. The contract for 14 aircraft capable of air-to-air refuelling took nine years to negotiate and the Commons public accounts committee later accused the Ministry of Defence of “astonishing” failures in its purchase of the fleet.

The MPs said the MoD did not know if the deal was good value for money – and had signed it after its own project team advised that there were “significant concerns” over the bid.

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SUGAR RUSH

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AN ILFORD WIND

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SPEAKER SPEAKS OUT

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HOUSING NEWS

The Affordable Homes Programme will offer grant for social rent homes, the most affordable tenure. Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near enough.