2ND GENERATION UK SEARCH AND RESCUE AVIATION

Government Transformation and Service Delivery

Record date: 31 March 2026

Whole-life cost: £2.0bn
Published schedule: 16/12/2019 – 01/01/2027
NISTA delivery confidence: Not disclosed
Senior responsible owner: Mark Bradley

What the project is for

The UKSAR2G programme’s purpose is to procure a national UK aviation search and rescue (SAR) service that continues to save lives, protect UK economic interests and continue to comply with International Conventions beyond the end of the existing UKSAR Helicopter contract in 2024-26.

Departmental delivery commentary

Compared to financial year 24/25 Q4, the SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating at 25/26 Q4 remained at green. This is primarily due to the programme remaining on track for all air stations to go live under SAR2G by Jan 2027, the project remains within financial approvals and it continues the service continues to undertake Search and Rescue when needed.

Schedule

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's end-date at 25/26-Q4 remained the same as last year's published end-date. This is primarily due to the continued forecast for the last air base to have transitioned to SAR2G by Jan 2027.

Cost

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Whole Life Cost at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) remained at £1,959.436. This is primarily due to the following factors. Even though there has been some increase in inflation figures some costs have been recovered through KPI relief on those parts of the contract that has transitioned. Although some variance in reported figures and held figures is noted this is due to the NISTA deflation of the figures.

Benefits

Compared to financial year 24/25-Q4, the project's departmentally agreed Benefits at 25/26-Q4 (measured in £m) remained at £24,474.990. Although some variance in reported figures and held figures is noted this is due to the NISTA deflation of the figures.