Few people realise just how far Britain has gone in selling off its Armed Forces. The jets that refuel our fighters, the ships that carry our armour, and even the planes that train our pilots are not ours. They are owned and run by private companies and leased back to us at a premium. In 2025 we even relied on a US contractor to fly surveillance missions over Gaza because our own fleet had been retired early. The nation that once ruled the waves is now hiring back its own military muscle. That is not efficiency. It is a loss of sovereignty.
This happened because of the Private Finance Initiative. PFI was sold to the public as clever accounting, a way to keep debt off the books. In reality it became a trap. Labour signed the first big defence contracts, the Conservatives doubled down, and both promised savings. Instead Britain was shackled to decades-long deals that cost billions more than direct ownership and surrendered control of critical assets.
The numbers are staggering. The RAF’s entire fleet of Voyager air-to-air refuelling tankers was handed to a consortium in 2008. Around £6 billion has already been paid to use aircraft that will never belong to us, and by 2035 the bill is expected to top £10.5 billion. Training future pilots was outsourced in the same year. The UK Military Flying Training System gave Ascent, a contractor partnership, a 25-year monopoly. The National Audit Office found it consistently failed to deliver the number of trained pilots required, leaving the RAF short of aircrew while paying handsomely for the privilege.
The Navy’s roll-on/roll-off transport ships, vital for moving tanks and ammunition, were contracted out in the early 2000s and kept under private control in 2024 with a £476 million award to Foreland Shipping. The Army’s heavy equipment transporters were brought in under a PFI too, with civilian drivers wearing uniforms as “sponsored reserves.” And when the RAF retired its Sentry AWACS fleet without replacement, Britain had to turn to an American company to cover intelligence missions in the Middle East. These are not luxuries. They are the backbone of our ability to fight.
The consequences are dangerous. In an emergency Britain cannot always act when and how it wants. Training schedules, refuelling capacity, and even strategic lift are dictated by contract terms. Billions are paid year after year to private consortia, yet Britain owns next to nothing at the end. PFI was officially scrapped for new projects in 2018, but the damage is baked in: deals already signed will bleed the defence budget into the 2030s.
All this while the state fails its veterans. The Armed Forces Covenant promises no disadvantage, but transition support is threadbare, housing patchy, and NHS priority access inconsistent. Combat Stress and other charities have seen funding cut, leaving ex-service personnel waiting months for treatment. Government surveys show only a small share of veterans officially classed as homeless, yet charities report 3–5% of rough sleepers are former soldiers. Billions flow to aircraft we do not own while men and women who wore the uniform sleep rough.
Other nations would never tolerate this. The United States Air Force owns its tanker fleets outright and can requisition commercial aircraft by law in a crisis. NATO owns a shared tanker fleet. Russia and China keep their forces entirely under state control. Britain stands almost alone among major powers in outsourcing the very core of its defence to corporate contractors.
By 2035, tens of billions will have been spent renting back our Armed Forces. We will still own almost nothing. The simple truth is this: defence without sovereignty is not defence. Britain must take back ownership of its military assets and deliver properly for its veterans. Until it does, both sovereignty and service will remain betrayed.