Britain’s armed forces are to be significantly weakened after the RAF announced it will retire 30 “quick reaction alert jets” which currently protect Britain’s skies from Putin.
RAF bosses are retiring the Tranche 1 Typhoons from service to save money despite MPs urging the UK’s top generals to rethink the decision amid surging tensions with Russia.
In addition, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that next week’s Budget will not include a rise in defence spending.
Former defence minister Mark Francois said that instead of being outright scrapped, the jets could be mothballed in a hangar and brought back into service at a later date.
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He told MailOnline: “Can you imagine if we had sold off squadrons of Spitfires prior to the Battle of Britain? There would have been uproar.
“The Tranche 1 Typhoons should be mothballed to enable them to be brought back at a time of conflict.
“For the purpose of defending Britain's skies from Russian jets, they will do splendidly.”
As a result of the plan, Britain’s jet fleet of T1 Typhoons will decrease from 137 to 107. The first jets will start being withdrawn from service in 2025 – five years ahead of the original date of 2030.
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A spokesperson for BAE Systems said: “Retaining Tranche 1 Typhoons would not offer operational benefit or value for money and would lead to significant reductions in available spares and investment for Tranches 2 and 3.”
They added that keeping the Trance 1 jets would cost “in excess of” £300million for repairs and upgrades.
Plans to slash the Typhoon jets from service come after MPs were warned that the British armed forces are “haemorrhaging” troops faster than they can recruit as uninterested young people and draconian entry requirements have left the British Army knee-deep in a “disastrous” military staffing crisis.
Following a slump in recruitment, the British Army is at its smallest since the 1850s.
95 per cent of people who voted in the GB News poll agreed with the statement that Britain has given up on its armed forces, while four per cent voted against it.