UK MoD confirms Sentinel fleet cut
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed reports that it will retire one Sentinel R1 aircraft, reducing the Royal Air Force's operational fleet to four aircraft.
The MoD's yearly spending review known as the annual budget cycle (ABC17) did not allocate more funding for the Sentinel programme, meaning the fleet would have to be reduced.
It is understood that the fifth aircraft has already been withdrawn from operational service.
Retirement for the whole fleet is still planned for 2021, an MoD spokesperson confirmed.
The MoD spokesperson told Shephard that the department was following the planning assumptions made in
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