Britain’s ambition to build a fleet of 138 F-35s by 2030 is far from being achieved. 74 planes might finally be enough, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton said during a hearing in Parliament’s Defense Committee.
In the early 2000s, the Minister of Defense (MoD) had mentioned the purchase of 138 US aircraft. Thirty have been delivered to date and a further 48, or 74 aircraft, will be delivered by the end of 2025, the Royal Air Force chief said.
For the remaining 64 F-35Bs, “it depends on the decisions we make about the future combat air system.” Sir Richard Knighton recalls that the decision to go beyond 74 aircraft would be taken in 2025.
A saving of 15 billion dollars
If it is made, this decision not to go to the initial figure will not be taken lightly, explains the officer, recalling that the air and naval forces “need these planes.” To equip these 64 aircraft, the amount of the invoice would be around 15 billion dollars, enough to seriously finance the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) carried out with Italy and Japan.
In April, London announced a fund for 650 million pounds (742 million euros) to launch this project competing for the Franco-German-Hispanic Scaf. This investment is part of the 2,000 million pounds sterling (1,130 million euros) of spending planned until May 2025.
The Ministry of Defense has committed to completing its sixth-generation aircraft by 2035 to replace the Eurofighter Typhoons of the RAF and Aeronautica Militare, as well as the Mitsubishi F-2s of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JAFAF). Manufacturers in all three countries, whose main contractor is BAE Systems, will have to go into “war economy” mode to achieve this within this timeframe.
On the other hand, the first phase of the Scaf of the studies that should be ready in 2025 represents a budget of 3,600 million euros. France, Germany and Spain will have to publish a new budget to develop a demonstrator in 2027/2028 and finish the program in 2040.
Source: BFM TV
