My take on it is that for aircraft to be destroyed under CFE conditions that country would have to have exceeded their allocated quota. Under the CFE treaty (2010 figures) the UK is allowed 900 combat aircraft and 356 attack helicopters. In 2010 the UK declared 417 combat aircraft and 233 attack helicopters. Anything over that ceiling would have to be destroyed as per the CFE guidelines. For example the Jaguars also came under CFE but were obviously not destroyed or disposed of by CFE methods. If the numbers had exceeded the permitted UK quota then those excess aircraft would have to have been destroyed.
In the case of the disposal of UK F-4 then their destruction or disposal would not come under the CFE Treaty. The UK F-4s will obviously come under US Foreign Military Sales and the US guidelines of keeping parts away from the Iranian smuggling networks. I would say that the UK would have to have had the final nod from the US over the F-4s disposal? A Freedom of Information Act request might be the only way of knowing the background and the details surrounding the remaining UK F-4 disposals?
http://www.dasa.mod.uk/modintranet/UKDS/UKDS2010/c4/table415.php
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) guidelines for combat aircraft destruction
Section VI consists of 4 paragraphs. This Section details the procedures for the reduction of combat aircraft at reduction sites. Section VI specifies three ways by which combat aircraft may be destroyed: destruction by severing (i.e., cutting); destruction by deformation (e.g., bending or crushing); and destruction by use as an aerial target drone. The number of combat aircraft that may be destroyed by use as a target drone is limited to 200 per State Party, but such destruction need not take place at a reduction site (e.g., it may occur at a test range).
Paragraph 1 of Section VI provides each State Party the right to choose any one of the following procedures each time it destroys combat aircraft at reduction sites. The purpose of this provision is to make clear that a State Party is free to pick from the entire menu of destruction options each and every time it elects to destroy a combat aircraft.
Paragraph 2 of Section VI lists the procedures for destruction by severing, as follows:
The fuselage of the aircraft shall be divided into three parts not on assembly joints by severing its nose immediately forward of the cockpit and its tail in the central wing section area so that assembly joints, if there are any in the areas to be severed, shall be contained in the severed portions.
Paragraph 3 of Section VI lists the procedures for destruction by deformation, as follows:
The fuselage shall be deformed throughout by compression, so that its height, width or length is reduced by at least 30 percent.
Paragraph 4 of Section VI lists the procedures for destruction by use as target drones, as follows:
(A) each State Party shall have the right to reduce by use as target drones no more than 200 combat aircraft during the 40-month reduction period;
(B) the target drone shall be destroyed in flight by munitions fired by the armed forces of the State Party owning the target-drone;
(C) if the attempt to shoot down the target drone fails and it is subsequently destroyed by a self-destruct mechanism, the procedures of this paragraph shall continue to apply. Otherwise the target drone may be recovered or may be claimed destroyed by accident in accordance with Section IX of the Protocol, depending on the circumstances; and
(D) notification of destruction shall be made to all other States Parties. Such notification shall include the type of the destroyed target drone and the location where it was destroyed. Within 90 days of the notification, the State Party claiming such reduction shall send documentary evidence, such as a report of the investigation, to all other States Parties. In the event of ambiguities relating to the destruction of a particular target drone, reduction shall not be considered complete until final resolution of the matter.
http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/cfe/text/artbyart/art7.htm
See also sections X and XII for procedures for reduction for static display and ground instructional purposes.
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