London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Red Arrows: What is going wrong at the RAF?

Red Arrows: What is going wrong at the RAF?

The RAF display team the Red Arrows is meant to be one of the crown jewels of the Royal Air Force.

The service's shop window to the public and the world.

But this year it has been a shadow of its former self. The team of nine Hawk jets has been reduced to just seven.

Some of the team's elite pilots have gone - without any official explanation.

This smaller display team in their distinctive red Hawk jets have still managed to wow the public in air displays this summer all over the country.

But a more seasoned defence observer told the BBC that their acrobatic displays were looking a little tired.

There may be a number of explanations.

Their Hawk jets are ageing and there has been a spate of tragic accidents in recent years.

But this same observer suggested it might be more - with issues of morale.

There are now serious allegations of larger problems under the surface.

Last week, the Sun reported that one of the team's elite pilots had been suspended, another had resigned in protest at a "toxic culture", and another had moved on for unexplained reasons.

There has been enough of a crisis to prompt the Chief of the Air Staff to order an inquiry into the Red Arrows. It started last December and has still to be completed.

But the Times reports that it has already highlighted allegations of bullying, misogyny, sexual harassment and drunkenness - and included complaints from young female recruits.

The Red Arrows team is more than the pilots. With its support team and ground crew, it is 130 strong.

In a statement, an RAF spokesperson confirmed an investigation into allegations of unacceptable behaviour within the Red Arrows was under way.

They said it would not be commenting on individual cases.

But a Ministry of Defence source has confirmed that a number of service personnel, who were part of the team, are subject to investigation following allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

The RAF firmly denies that any pilots have flown while drunk.

However, the allegations are already a major embarrassment for the RAF and its head, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston.

The Chief of the Air Staff is already at the centre of a controversy over the RAF's diversity targets.

He has set ambitious goals for the RAF to dramatically increase the proportion of women and Black and Asian recruits within the service.

He wants its intake to be 40% women and 20% ethnic minorities by 2030.

Not everyone in the RAF thinks this is achievable or necessarily good for morale.

One senior recruitment officer, a female group captain, has already resigned her post in protest after recruitment at RAF Cranwell was slowed down to look at ways of boosting diversity.


A bigger problem?


Supporters of Sir Mike applaud his efforts to make the service more diverse - along with his efforts to root out so-called unacceptable behaviour. The armed forces have long been criticised for not doing enough on either.

But his critics see the recent spate of bad news for the RAF as a sign of "drift" under his leadership.

Sir Mike was a surprise choice for head of the air force, by the then-Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson. One RAF officer told the BBC he had risen without trace.

But he made his mark when Mr Williamson commissioned him to conduct an urgent review of the armed forces following serious allegations of sexual assault.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston is Chief of the Air Staff, the head of the RAF


The Wigston Report, published in 2019, into inappropriate behaviour was meant to mark a shift in the culture of the armed forces.

It certainly explains Sir Mike's zeal to root out bad behaviours and to increase the representation of women and ethnic minorities in the RAF.

But some serving and recently retired RAF officers, who the BBC has spoken to, question whether he has lost sight of the raison d'etre of the RAF - to fight and win wars?

Few believe the RAF was a big winner in the recent defence review.

There is certainly evidence that serving and recently retired personnel have been willing to speak out to the press - most anonymously.

The BBC has been told that it has now prompted the RAF's top brass to conduct several simultaneous leak investigations.

Its summer of bad headlines may just be unfortunate. Or does it suggest a bigger problem?

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×