The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) is selling off Sentinel R1 airframes, reversing previous plans to scrap the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) recently retired airborne battlefield and ground surveillance aircraft for parts.
“The UK MOD has signed a sales agreement to deliver Sentinel airframes to a consortium,” a MOD spokesperson confirmed to FLYING in an email. “Details of the agreement are commercially sensitive.”
The RAF retired its fleet of five Sentinel aircraft earlier this year after it was decided there was no longer a need for the capability, the spokesperson said.
“The original plan was to break down the aircraft and sell the components in order to generate some return, however, an unsolicited bid offered better [value for money] for the taxpayer and has been accepted,” the MOD spokesperson said.
The confirmation comes one day after a report by the UK Defence Journal that MOD had accepted a bid from Raytheon USA and Bombardier to make the aircraft flyable to the U.S.
A spokesperson from Raytheon declined to comment on the report.
According to a document provided to FLYING by MOD, the initial decision to tear down the fleet of five Sentinel aircraft for saleable parts was made after two potential sales to other governments fell through.
How We Got Here
In December of last year, MOD’s Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA) solicited Expressions of Interest in tearing down the aircraft, recovering the saleable parts, and scrapping the remainder. By the end of January, DESA had received 16 EOIs.
The aim of the teardown, according to MOD, was to self-fund aircraft disposal through aircraft part sales.
“The main value is recognized to be from the engines, avionics and under-carriage from the Bombardier Global Express Aircraft, which is the basis of the Sentinel platform,” the MOD document said.
RAF first used the Sentinel aircraft in 2008 to provide an Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) system, eventually acquiring five copies of the aircraft. The service conducted its last operational flight from RAF Waddington in late February.
During its service life, the RAF Sentinel fleet flew 32,300 hours over the course of conducting approximately 4,870 sorties, the service said.
