British Eagle trainer aircraft. According to British media reports, the British "Eagle" type medium/advanced jet trainer aircraft has been responsible for training naval and air force fighter pilots since its service in the mid-1970s. As time goes by, its design gradually becomes outdated and the body ages. Despite the urgent need for the replacement of trainer aircraft in the British military, the government has not yet issued a clear demand signal or started arranging related projects. The Eagle trainer aircraft has sold over 1000 units worldwide, with sales exceeding £ 15 billion (approximately $19.5 billion). Multiple small and medium-sized countries use it as a light attack aircraft to perform close range air support missions. The United States developed the T-45 "Eagle" carrier based trainer aircraft based on the "Eagle" prototype. The UK has trained a large number of jet fighter pilots using the Eagle trainer aircraft. In the 1980s, its short-range interceptor version, the Eagle T1A, briefly served in the British Air Force. In December 2009, the British Air Force received 28 new Eagle T2 aircraft equipped with digital cockpits. After retiring from the British Naval Aviation in March 2022, with the exception of some Eagle T1 aircraft still retained by the Red Arrow aerobatic team, only 28 Eagle T2 trainer aircraft remain in the British combat forces. The UK Ministry of Defence had optimistically predicted that the Eagle T2 trainer aircraft would be in service until 2040. However, the constantly rising usage costs and increasingly prominent reliability issues make it difficult to achieve this goal. Due to the limited number of "Eagle" T2 aircraft, it was unable to meet the training needs of the British military for pilots. As a result, the British military had to outsource some training tasks to allied countries, with an annual cost of over 50 million pounds. In addition, there is a shortage of spare parts for the "Eagle" T2 trainer aircraft, and the Mk-951 engine it is equipped with frequently malfunctions, with maintenance costs even higher than those of frontline fighter jets. This directly weakened the combat effectiveness of the British Navy and Air Force. According to British media analysis, although unmanned aerial vehicles are about to be put into use, it will still take a long time to build a fully autonomous jet unmanned aerial vehicle fleet. In the foreseeable future, manned aircraft will remain the core force in aerial combat, which means that the British military still needs to equip mature jet fighters and train a large number of skilled pilots. Due to the lack of a clear plan for the replacement of trainer aircraft, BAE Systems, the manufacturer of the Eagle trainer aircraft, has shifted its business focus to the Typhoon fighter jet and the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), resulting in the stagnation of the successor plan for the Eagle T2 trainer aircraft. With the retirement of the Eagle style T2 trainer aircraft planned for 2033, it is urgent to develop an alternative plan. Currently, one of the alternative options summarized by British media is to use a new domestically developed trainer aircraft, while the existing option is only the modular jet trainer aircraft being developed by Alaris. Established in 2017, Airalis is the first British company in over 50 years dedicated to developing new jet trainer aircraft. In September 2023, at the London International Defense Exhibition, Alaris showcased its latest design for modular aircraft. This design is based on an integrated wing body fusion structure, which can be equipped with different engines, wing combinations, and cabin layouts, and can evolve into various aircraft models such as training aircraft and attack aircraft according to demand. Alaris Corporation stated that if the project is approved by the UK Ministry of Defence, it is expected to create approximately 4000 job opportunities. However, as of now, the design completion rate of the modular jet trainer aircraft is only about 60%. Another option is to purchase mature trainer aircraft from the international market, with candidate models including the Italian Leonardo M-346, the American Boeing T-7A Red Hawk, and the Korean Aerospace Industries T-50. However, these aircraft models have shortcomings in some key technical and tactical performance, and more importantly, do not meet the requirements of UK defense technology autonomy. The biggest concern for the UK is that once the next generation of trainer aircraft is introduced from abroad, it may permanently lose its development capabilities and related support industries in the trainer aircraft field. But if decisions are not made in a timely manner, the 'Red Arrow' aerobatic team will have no chance of being available by 2030, and pilot training for the British Navy and Air Force may also come to a standstill. (New Society)