The Royal Air Power Aerobatic Workforce (RAFAT), or the Crimson Arrows, will downsize from 9 jets to seven jets for many shows till at the least 2030 in a aware effort to preserve spares and flight hours for his or her Hawk T1 plane.
The historically 9 plane workforce, which has been maintained nearly repeatedly since 1966, will shed two plane from most air shows in a bid to guard the continuing lifetime of the Hawk T1 platform. Since 2022, the Crimson Arrows have been the only remaining UK operator of the Hawk T1.
Particular events, like commemorative flypasts, will nonetheless have the ability to draw upon the complete complement of plane. Those that have watched the Crimson Arrows’ 2026 show observe routines have suspected for a while {that a} discount to seven plane was on the playing cards.
With the 2026 season getting underway, Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group, Air Vice-Marshal Mark Jackson, has outlined a change that crowds will see to the Crimson Arrows’ show this yr and the way the @RoyalAirForce is planning for the workforce’s future.#RedArrows | #RAF pic.twitter.com/PZaHnhTxgw
— Crimson Arrows (@rafredarrows) Could 23, 2026
At current, the workforce is wrapping up their SPRINGHAWK deployment to Greece, the place the Mediterranean climate is used to make sure a extra dependable coaching schedule might be accomplished. Having now been granted the mandatory public show authority (PDA), the primary UK show for 2026 is scheduled to happen on Could 29, on the English Riviera Airshow in Torbay, Devon.
“PDA is the fruits of seven months of intensive winter coaching, together with the design and refinement of a brand new, dynamic show, the problem of working by way of extended intervals of poor climate and the continued upkeep and preparation of our Hawk T1 plane,” mentioned Wing Commander Sasha Nash, Officer Commanding of the Royal Air Power Aerobatic Workforce (RAFAT). Nash, previously a Twister pilot, made historical past earlier in 2026 when she grew to become the primary lady to command the Crimson Arrows workforce.
In accordance with the workforce’s official web site, the 2 new pilots who joined the Crimson Arrows in late 2025 – initially on account of grow to be the brand new Crimson 2 and Crimson 3 close to the entrance of the nine-jet formation – will now be Crimson 8 and Crimson 9. This implies they may miss out on most common show flights for 2026, however after this untypical first yr they may seemingly take the place of departing pilots in 2027 to rejoin the show part.
Flight Lieutenant Matt Brighty, listed as Crimson 8, is a well-recognized identify to airshow fans as the previous RAF Storm Show Workforce Pilot. Crimson 9, Flight Lieutenant Christopher Deen, is a former Twister GR4 pilot who was subsequently chosen for a a lot wanted trade posting with the U.S. Navy, flying the F/A-18E/F Tremendous Hornet.
Flying seven plane permits the workforce to proceed flying modified variations of a lot of their signature formations, together with the diamond form often referred to as ‘Diamond 9’. The workforce final flew with a normal of seven plane for the 2022 season, after two pilots departed forward of schedule amid complaints of inappropriate conduct and a ‘poisonous tradition’.
The Crimson Arrows started to make use of the Hawk T1 in 1979, transitioning to the brand new plane from the Folland Gnat which they’d been based with. On the time, and thru till the mid 2010s, the Hawk T1 was additionally utilized by the RAF for superior pilot coaching. This process now falls upon the Hawk T2, although the RAF are within the means of contemplating its choices for changing the Hawk T2 forward of schedule on account of reliability points.
It has been hinted that the contract to interchange the Hawk T2 would additionally embody scope for changing the Crimson Arrows’ Hawk T1s, although this stays topic to the eventual offers which are signed.
Saab, Boeing, and BAE Techniques Pitch T-7 Crimson Hawk for UK Quick Jet Coach
Forward of an anticipated competitors to interchange the RAF’s Hawk T2, Saab, Boeing, and BAE Techniques have signed a LOI to collaborate on a pilot coaching system centered on the T-7 Crimson Hawk
— The Aviationist (@TheAviationist) November 18, 2025
Traditionally, the Crimson Arrows have been marketed as a gross sales pitch for British business, flying British-designed and constructed jets. This association will wrestle to outlive an plane alternative – any new choice will nearly definitely be an abroad design, with the perfect case state of affairs being native manufacture and use of British parts.
An bold all-British proposal from Aeralis to create a modular jet coach has fallen into administration with none stable orders to maintain it. Although novel, the corporate’s providing got here into an already crowded market with no confirmed monitor file of plane manufacturing or any bodily demonstrators.
American Tour
As a part of the upcoming 2026 season, the Crimson Arrows are on account of undertake a tour of the USA referred to as Operation Eagle Hawk 2026. This can see the workforce participate in numerous airshows alongside the Worldwide Aerial Evaluation, deliberate to happen in New York on Jul. 4 as a part of the USA’ 250th anniversary celebrations.
🔴⚪️🔵 A collection of spectacular shows are to be carried out by the Crimson Arrows in the USA this summer time to mark 250 years of American independence. The tour is a part of a packed 2026 programme, with dozens of occasions within the UK and mainland Europe: pic.twitter.com/SBshVNME1J
— Crimson Arrows (@rafredarrows) Could 17, 2026
The choice to go forward with the tour amid tensions between the U.S. and its European allies, notably its threats in opposition to Denmark’s Greenland territory, has been controversial with components of the British public. Although the Royal Worldwide Air Tattoo (RIAT) is now cancelled, there are nonetheless many different areas all through the UK the place the Crimson Arrows have been anticipated to carry out however have now pulled out as a result of transatlantic tour.
