page_title: Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010
section_title: Royal Air Force
hierarchical_section_title: Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 / Summary / Royal Air Force
caption_attribution_description: English: BAe Nimrod MRA4 Serial Number ZJ517 flying past at the Farnborough Air Show, England.
context_page_description: The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 was announced by the newly formed Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of the United Kingdom in May 2010, and published on 19 October 2010. The previous major review of UK defence strategy was the Strategic Defence Review, published in 1998, and updated in 2003 by the Delivering Security in a Changing World white paper.
  As well as wanting an updated security policy, both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats wanted the £38 billion overspend in the Ministry of Defence procurement budget addressed. With the government committed to reducing the national budget deficit, the Treasury asked the MoD to draw up options for a 10–20% real-terms cut in its budget. The final amount was a 7.7% reduction over four years.
context_section_description: Personnel to be reduced by 5,000 to 33,000.
  After long delays, technical difficulties, and a total cost of £3.2 billion, the Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft project was scrapped. RAF Kinloss, where the aircraft were to be based, ended its 73-year association with the RAF on 26 July 2012 when it was transferred to the Army.
  Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft procurement to go ahead, to replace the ageing VC10 and TriStars. The VC10 made its final flight in RAF service on 20 September 2013.
  The purchase of 22 Airbus A400M military transport aircraft was confirmed, with the aircraft to operate alongside the RAF's eight C-17s.
  The C-130J fleet to be retired by 2022, ten years earlier than planned.
  The proposed purchase of 12 additional Chinook helicopters – a cut to the original order for 22. However, in 2011 the Ministry of Defence signed a contract for 14 Chinooks.
  The RAF's future fast-jet fleet to be based on the Typhoon and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, with the latter also to be flown by the Royal Navy.
  The Sentinel R1 ground surveillance aircraft would be retired when it was no longer required to support forces in Afghanistan. The utility of the aircraft in deployments over Libya and Mali has led to some calls for the retention of the aircraft.
caption: The Nimrod MRA4 was cancelled and all airframes scrapped.
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