Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of service is for a Hawk T1 aircraft in a Red Arrows squadron.

The RAF rotates individual aircraft from the wider Hawk T1 fleet through the Red Arrows as part of routine fleet management. Aircraft do not therefore spend their entire service life with the team.

Although the maintenance and service life of individual aircraft will differ, it is expected the current aircraft will each serve an average of some 1,400 flying hours with the Red Arrows before they are returned to the wider Hawk T1 fleet for maintenance, transfer to another unit, storage or disposal. Some aircraft may also be transferred back to the Red Arrows in due course.