RAF ‘wants jets that cannot use carriers’
A ROW has broken out over F-35 jets, as the RAF has been accused of wasting money on “outdated” warplanes that cannot take off from Britain’s £3billion aircraft carriers.
Ahead of the highly anticipated Integrated Defence and Security review, sources have told The Sunday Tele
graph that they are concerned about the RAF’s priorities regarding the procurement of F-35s, at a time when the Ministry of Defence’s budget will be coming under scrutiny.
The row centres over two versions of the planes, the F-35A and F-35B, with the former being unable to operate from the 65,000-ton Queen Elizabethclass carriers.
There are concerns that the RAF may present the type A as more cost effective to purchase as it looks to save money ahead of the review, which sources have deemed “short-sighted”.
One defence industry source said it was “nonsensical” to hear that the “RAF is ramping up their push for the F-35A”, adding: “Why do they think they need F-35As when they cannot operate them from an aircraft carrier?”
The source dismissed as an “excuse” arguments that the type As were cheaper because the aircraft does not have the Rolls-Royce lift system that enables the Bs to take off vertically from a short runway, and added that “they only want the ‘A’ because they want their own toys to play with”.
“If you are going to buy F35s you buy them to operate on aircraft carriers.
“What is the point in buying an outdated aircraft that you can’t send anywhere around the world?” A separate source claimed to have seen a briefing slide by the RAF, recently shown to the Treasury, which set out the need for F35As, and alleged it contained figures that were “invented fact”.
Tobias Ellwood, the chairman of the defence select committee, said he was concerned “that we are even having such conversations”.
“It could very well be that the purchase of F35As makes strategic sense, but only after you’ve established what you want to do with them,” he said.
“I’m afraid it’s a pattern of behaviour that we see within the MoD. Let’s establish what we need to do. Then you can work out the necessary platforms to implement that strategy. Let’s have that Integrated Review that allows us to ask these questions.”
Last month, a National Audit Office report warned that the Royal Navy’s two new carriers could be “constrained” by a lack of support fleet.
It also said that the MoD had yet to commit the funding required for enough F-35 Lightning II fighter jets to sustain the carriers over their expected 50-year operating life.
The Telegraph understands that there is concern that “without these crucial supporting elements they are not going to use carrier strike in the way they want to use it”.
It is understood that the MoD has Treasury approval to complete the tranche 1 fleet of 48 F-35B aircraft, due to be delivered by 2025, on which the RAF and Royal Navy are in agreement.
A spokesman for the MoD said: “Decisions on future F-35 numbers and aircraft variant will ensure the right capability for our Armed Forces along with value for money. The upcoming Integrated Review will allow the UK to determine the best variant for future F-35 purchases.”