How as a country did we ever sink so far into this lice-infested hole of ineptitude and military mismanagement?

Via the splendid Croydonian and sourced from Hansard we learn that Dr. Liam Fox tabled the following question:

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Air Force aircraft of each type are (a) in service, (b) in the forward air fleet and (c) fit for purpose

Quentin Davies: ….”in service” has been taken to mean the effective fleet, which covers all aircraft barring those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal.

The number of aircraft in the forward fleet comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short term unserviceable. Short term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other unforeseen rectification work that can arise on a day-to-day basis. Serviceable aircraft available to the front-line commands for operational and training purposes are termed fit for purpose.

Well that isn’t fudging anything, is it, sunshine? Quentin Davies, one of those interesting examples of a rat joining a sinking ship quotes figures of 790 RAF aircraft, which doubtless includes helicopters, the Queen’s flight and the Red Arrows to nudge the numbers up. The Croydonian has crunched the figures and he arrives at 427 fit for service – 54%

The Croydonian further observes: “If tbe Typhoon and the Tornado F3 are taken as being the air superiority division, and our first line of defence against incoming bombers from the enemy du jour, just 49 of 122, or 40% are ‘fit for purpose’.”

Let’s just hope that the Icelandic banks don’t buy some second-hand MiGs and declare that it’s pay-back time. He’s worried that the French are in better shape than we are – and it’s a fact that they are now have superior firepower to us in all three services. Luckily there’s no chance of any return of a Spanish Armada. Spanish ships are built with glass bottoms nowadays so their current navy can see their previous navy.