CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
GRANDMAN O VESACRED 3. 182 KING JELMAR E Anwend
Despite these reductions
every effort will be made to implement the
planned improvements promised to NATO in the fields of anti-
armour and air defence. Provision will continue to be made for
major items which are essential for a modern field army in
Europe.
Royal Air Force
55. We shall maintain the planned numbers of our front-line combat aircraft committed to NATO in Britain and West Germany. But the
reductions in our specialised reinforcement tasks and our with-
drawals from the Mediterranean and from most of our non-NATO
commitments will enable us to make a substantial reduction in the
RAF transport fleet and some reduction in the requirement for
maritime patrol aircraft.
56.
RAF combat capability will be improved by the replacement of Phantoms in the strike attack and reconnaissance roles by increased
numbers of Jaguars, which will allow the Phantoms to be transferred
to the air defence role; and in due course by the introduction
of the MRCA.
Our planned requirement for a total of 385
MRCAS is unaffected, but in order to spread the costs of the
programme in later years we propose to reduce the rate of deliveries
to the Royal Air Force by up to one-third. We shall be working out the exact details with our collaborative partners,
57. By early 1976 we intend to reduce the fixed-wing element of
the RAF transport fleet by 50 per cent, from 115 to 57 aircraft. The Comet and Britannia squadrons and the Andover tactical trans-
port force will be disbanded a total of 39 aircraft; and the
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CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL