RED ARROWS JETS 'MUST BE BRITISH'

NINE former Red Arrows daredevils have joined forces to demand the iconic display team must keep flying British planes.

- JAMES KNUCKEY

The pilots urged defence chiefs not to choose a foreign aircraft to replace the ageing Hawk T1, but use jets that “symbolise British innovation” instead.

The veterans, who performed patriotic displays across the globe, have submitted a petition to trigger a debate in Parliament.

It came after the Sunday Express revealed the Red Arrows could take to the skies in a non-UK jet for the first time after government delays in selecting a replacement tipped the balance towards US manufacturers.

Andy Wyatt, who set up the petition, fears the move could make Britain more reliant on overseas defence manufacturers.

He said: “We always represented the very best of British – not just in terms of our professionalism as a team but also in what we were flying, in the capabilities of our aerospace industry.

"If we were to lose that expertise then it would be criminal really, because the British aerospace industry has been in sad decline since the 1950s."

"The last vestiges are now if we don't do something about it now, with whatever we can, then we will have nothing."

Mr Wyatt, who completed three display seasons with the team in the early 1990s, said: "To see the Red Arrows, which represent everything British, replaced by what's purported to be an American or Italian design good though they are, they do not represent the UK or its aerospace industry."

The Red Arrows have flown Hawk T1s at shows since 1980 but these are set to go out of service in March 2030, while the updated Hawk T2s used to train military fast jet pilots are due to be retired a decade later.