The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (RAFAT), or the Red Arrows, will downsize from nine jets to seven jets for most displays until at least 2030 in a conscious effort to conserve spares and flight hours for their Hawk T1 aircraft.
The traditionally nine aircraft team, which has been maintained almost continuously since 1966, will shed two aircraft from most air displays in a bid to protect the ongoing life of the Hawk T1 platform. Since 2022, the Red Arrows have been the sole remaining UK operator of the Hawk T1.
Special occasions, like commemorative flypasts, will still be able to draw upon the full complement of aircraft. Those who have watched the Red Arrows’ 2026 display practice routines have suspected for some time that a reduction to seven aircraft was on the 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 Red Arrows’ display this year and how the @RoyalAirForce is planning for the team’s future.#RedArrows | #RAF pic.twitter.com/PZaHnhTxgw
— Red Arrows (@rafredarrows) May 23, 2026
At present, the team is wrapping up their SPRINGHAWK deployment to Greece, where the Mediterranean weather is used to ensure a more reliable training schedule can be completed. Having now been granted the necessary public display authority (PDA), the first UK display for 2026 is scheduled to take place on May 29, at the English Riviera Airshow in Torbay, Devon.
“PDA is the culmination of seven months of intensive winter training, including the design and refinement of a new, dynamic display, the challenge of operating through prolonged periods of poor weather and the continued maintenance and preparation of our Hawk T1 aircraft,” said Wing Commander Sasha Nash, Officer Commanding of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (RAFAT). Nash, formerly a Tornado pilot, made history earlier in 2026 when she became the first woman to command the Red Arrows team.
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According to the team’s official website, the two new pilots who joined the Red Arrows in late 2025 – originally due to become the new Red 2 and Red 3 near the front of the nine-jet formation – will now be Red 8 and Red 9. This suggests they will miss out on most regular display flights for 2026, but after this untypical first year they will likely take the place of departing pilots in 2027 to rejoin the display section.
Flight Lieutenant Matt Brighty, listed as Red 8, is a familiar name to airshow enthusiasts as the former RAF Typhoon Display Team Pilot. Red 9, Flight Lieutenant Christopher Deen, is a former Tornado GR4 pilot who was subsequently selected for a much sought after exchange posting with the U.S. Navy, flying the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
Flying seven aircraft allows the team to continue flying modified versions of many of their signature formations, including the diamond shape usually known as ‘Diamond Nine’. The team last flew with a standard of seven aircraft for the 2022 season, after two pilots departed ahead of schedule amid complaints of inappropriate behavior and a ‘toxic culture’.
The Red Arrows began to use the Hawk T1 in 1979, transitioning to the new aircraft from the Folland Gnat which they had been founded with. At the time, and through until the mid 2010s, the Hawk T1 was also used by the RAF for advanced pilot training. This task now falls upon the Hawk T2, though the RAF are in the process of considering its options for replacing the Hawk T2 ahead of schedule due to reliability issues.
It has been hinted that the contract to replace the Hawk T2 would also include scope for replacing the Red Arrows’ Hawk T1s, though this remains subject to the eventual deals that are signed.
Saab, Boeing, and BAE Systems Pitch T-7 Red Hawk for UK Fast Jet Trainer
Ahead of an expected competition to replace the RAF’s Hawk T2, Saab, Boeing, and BAE Systems have signed a LOI to collaborate on a pilot training system centered on the T-7 Red Hawk
https://t.co/WtufMYzjZP
— The Aviationist (@TheAviationist) November 18, 2025
Historically, the Red Arrows have been marketed as a sales pitch for British industry, flying British-designed and built jets. This arrangement will struggle to survive an aircraft replacement – any new option will almost certainly be an overseas design, with the best case scenario being local manufacture and use of British components.
An ambitious all-British proposal from Aeralis to create a modular jet trainer has fallen into administration without any solid orders to sustain it. Though novel, the company’s offering came into an already crowded market without a proven track record of aircraft production or any physical demonstrators.
American Tour
As part of the upcoming 2026 season, the Red Arrows are due to undertake a tour of the United States known as Operation Eagle Hawk 2026. This will see the team take part in a number of airshows alongside the International Aerial Review, planned to take place in New York on Jul. 4 as part of the United States’ 250th anniversary celebrations.
🔴⚪️🔵 A series of spectacular displays are to be carried out by the Red Arrows in the United States this summer to mark 250 years of American independence. The tour is part of a packed 2026 programme, with dozens of events in the UK and mainland Europe:https://t.co/Lla3DAHwCf pic.twitter.com/SBshVNME1J
— Red Arrows (@rafredarrows) May 17, 2026
The decision to go ahead with the tour amid tensions between the U.S. and its European allies, particularly its threats against Denmark’s Greenland territory, has been controversial with elements of the British public. Though the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) is now cancelled, there are still many other locations throughout the UK where the Red Arrows were expected to perform but have now pulled out due to the transatlantic tour.
