Military Aircraft
(asked on 29th January 2018) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the Royal Airforce aircrafts (a) Panavia Tornado GR4, (b) Eurofighter Typhoon and (c) Chinook Helicopters were serviceable on the first day of each month of 2016.
The number of RAF Tornado and Typhoon aircraft and Chinook helicopters in the Forward and Sustainment Fleets at the beginning of each month for 2016 is shown below:
| Tornado | Typhoon | Chinook | |||
Month 2016 | Forward Fleet | Sustainment Fleet | Forward Fleet | Sustainment Fleet | Forward Fleet | Sustainment Fleet |
January | 49 | 37 | 92 | 40 | 35 | 25 |
February | 49 | 36 | 91 | 41 | 37 | 23 |
March | 51 | 32 | 89 | 43 | 40 | 20 |
April | 49 | 32 | 91 | 41 | 43 | 17 |
May | 47 | 33 | 90 | 42 | 41 | 19 |
June | 46 | 32 | 91 | 41 | 43 | 17 |
July | 45 | 31 | 91 | 43 | 44 | 16 |
August | 48 | 26 | 89 | 45 | 41 | 19 |
September | 48 | 26 | 88 | 46 | 40 | 20 |
October | 48 | 24 | 88 | 46 | 40 | 20 |
November | 44 | 26 | 90 | 44 | 41 | 19 |
December | 46 | 23 | 90 | 44 | 42 | 18 |
The Forward Fleet comprises serviceable and short term unserviceable aircraft. Typically, the short term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection that can arise on a day-to-day basis. The sustainment fleet includes aircraft airframes undergoing upgrade or maintenance or being held in storage. The number of aircraft available varies day-to-day, according to normal fleet management activities.