What a Waste

The Harriers that have been stored in hangers for the last eleven months have finally been sold to the United States of American. One of the many counties that still see this aircraft as a capable warbird ready to defend it lands and interests. While we are left without a carrier force for the nearly twenty years if the rumours are right about the construction of the new carriers to replace those sold by the Government.

Of course the Harriers have been sold at a fraction of there real value. The Americans have brought seventy two aircraft complete with spare parts and support equipment for one hundred and ten million pounds. According to reports the spare parts alone are worth an estimated thirty million pound meaning that if take account of the support equipment that each aircraft was sold for under a million pounds each. Rear Admiral Mark Heinrich, chief of the US Navy's supply corps, said "We're taking advantage of all the money the Brits have spent on them. It's like we're buying a car with maybe 15,000 miles on it. These are very good platforms.". It certainly makes you think about the wisdom scrapping a Harrier fleet which the Americans intend to use until 2025, especially when you think that the Harriers were all recently upgraded and have  excellent serviceability.

Of course none of it makes sense when you look at the figures and the facts. For starters, the Harrier has performed better in Afghanistan than the Tornado and it is a newer airframe and has far fewer serviceability problems. They are cheaper to run and maintain than the Tornado fleet and they are more versatile and being carrier capable and they can be deployed rapidly to maintain our overseas interests. They would have been better aircraft to use in the recent Libyan crisis as they would have been able to fly more sorties than the Tornado aircraft that were deployed. The Harrier when combined with a carrier is better placed than the Tornado to maintain British political and military power and influence on the global stage.

Of course the British Governments of recent years haven't been known for there wisdom. When it costs three hundred and forty million pounds to buy just one Typhoon, just reducing the number of these aircraft ordered by four would have saved over two hundred million pounds more than the one billion pounds saved by scraping the Harriers and the Aircraft Carriers, but that didn't occur to them, nor did the fact that a lot of support jobs and trained flight crew are now unemployed. It is just such a waste.