Red Arrows displays grounded four times in two years by faults in ageing jets

20 October 2023 , 13:00

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Problems led to some shows being cancelled or scaled back (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Red Arrows displays were grounded four times in the past two years because of maintenance faults with the ageing planes, we can reveal.

Two shows were scrapped in 2022 and two have been axed so far this year because of technical or engineering issues, according to a freedom of information request. In addition to the two displays pulled from the elite RAF unit’s 2022 schedule, another two were scaled back because of engineering or technical faults. The team instead flew with fewer than the Arrows’ usual nine aircraft.

In comparison, no shows were cancelled because of engineering faults between 2018 and 2021, while four were flown with a reduced number of planes - suggesting issues seem to be getting worse. The revelation will fuel calls for the Ministry of Defence to press ahead with ordering replacements from the famous fleet of scarlet fast jets.

RAF Top Guns are used to wooing fans with their daredevil stunts in their Hawk jets (MOD/AFP via Getty Images)

Shadow Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard, said: “The Conservatives have hollowed out our armed forces over the past 13 years. Military personnel - including the Red Arrows - are increasingly forced to rely on ageing and outdated equipment. In Government, Labour will ensure our forces have the kit they need to operate with confidence.”

Ministers were due to begin shopping for new aircraft for the air force's Aerobatic Display Team – the Red Arrows’ formal name - earlier this year. The Hawk jets currently flown by the daredevil team’s pilots are set to be retired from service in 2030.

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An industry source told the Mirror: "The issues recurring with these aircraft cannot be solved with a sticking plaster and the RAF deserves a long term solution that will be ready by the retirement of these iconic aircraft at the end of the decade.”

The Mirror revealed in July 2021 how the Red Arrows could be forced to fly foreign planes for the first time. The RAF's fearsome, frontline warplanes – the Eurofighter Typhoon and the F-35(B) Lightning II – are fully or part-made in Britain. But they are thought to be unsuitable replacements for the small, agile, highly-manoeuvrable Hawk – whose pilots perform breathtaking 350mph stunts and fly just feet apart in tight formations.

That means the MoD may be forced to look abroad to replace the single-engine jet – raising the prospect of a foreign firm making planes for Britain's world-famous aerial display force. However, a potential British replacement could emerge.

Aeralis' new aircraft could provide solution (Shutterstock)

Bristol-based Aeralis unveiled designs for variants of a “modular light jet” it is making at last month’s Defence and Security Equipment International arms fair in London’s Docklands. It follows a £9million deal struck with the MoD last year for “digital engineering support services” and to access information from its hi-tech system. Such a plane would be the first, fully-British “designed, engineered and manufactured” military jet since the Hawk, which was originally made by Hawker Siddeley and came into service in 1976.

Ben Glaze