The RAF begs allies for Tornado spare parts....the once Mighty RAF is no more...

Thanks to Alert5 for the heads up!

via Express.co.uk...

However, last night senior Whitehall sources confirmed that Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford has recently placed both Italy’s Aeronautica Militare and Germany’s Luftwaffe, which operate the same variants of GR4 Tornado as the UK, on standby.
Britain operates eight GR4 Tornados as part of the so-called Coalition of the Willing against Islamic State.
Making his announcement on Tuesday, Mr Fallon also reprieved the 100-year-old 12 Squadron, which was technically scrapped last year, until 2017.
A senior source said last night: “The margins for spares are thin but they were manageable as things stood.
“However, this week’s announcement has added an extra strain. Syria is very different to Iraq.
"There are more targets and the chances of a GR4 suffering damage are consequently higher.”
He added that there were three vital components that were potentially problematic, though he refused to identify them on security grounds.
“There are three sensitive parts, in particular, over which availability is causing some concern,” he said.
“At this stage we don’t know whether Germany or Italy can spare them, since they have their own commitments, but the request has been made.

Here.

Amazing.  They already have their excuses lined up to try and explain this away...but one thing is obvious.

The once MIGHTY RAF is no more.

Additionally, I'd bet body parts that the situation will not improve with the F-35 coming onboard.  I hope they've properly documented their history.  The much respected RAF is about to become a laughing stock.