Cuts leave the RAF 'critical'

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Air Chief Marshall Sir Peter Squire, head of the RAF until 2003, spoke out over economies which have seen the service stripped of thousands of staff and scores of aircraft.

He said: "I am concerned that we are at or near critical mass in the RAF" - referring to the minimum resources needed to maintain and fly aircraft for military tasks.

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The RAF's Tornado jet fighter

"I do worry about too much civilianisation and the effect it has on the ethos and culture of the service.

"When a young officer sees hardly anybody else in uniform for the first three years of his or her career that is a problem."

The RAF has shrunk from 85,000 servicemen in the 1990s to just 43,000 today.

A force spokesman insisted the RAF was "twice as potent as in the 1980s".