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May 10, 2021Will the UK Be Able to Budget for the Purchase of F-35s?
A new document has been submitted to the British Parliament regarding the UK’s 6th generation fighter jet project with bae systems, Rolls-Royce, MBDA and Leonardo. Within the scope of the document, which was presented in March, it was reiterated that the priority given to the Tempest aircraft project will continue in the coming years.
The government has also committed to providing an additional $2.8 billion to the fighter jet project for the next four years. The amount of funding allocated to Tempest and its priority raised whether the UK would change its purchase of the F-35 Lightning II.
Production of the aircraft is scheduled to begin in 2025, with the cost of the Tempest 6th generation fighter jet programme estimated to be around £25 billion. According to a 2020 report by the UK’s National Inspection Office, there is not enough funding for the supply of F-35s.
The UK would take a total of 138 F-35s into inventory. The Department of Defence has already ordered 48 aircraft from the United States. No commitments have been made for more.
In a recent interview with Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Wigston, the Defense News website also discussed the supply of F-35s and the Tempest program. Air Chief Wigston said the commitment of an additional $2.8 billion for Tempest was an indication of how important the programme was to the UK Government.
“We are committed to growing the fleet, and we will continue to grow our fleet. This year we have held discussions with the F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin and will decide on the next batch of aircraft that we will buy next year. We’ve built two fleets with platforms. We are trying to build the third fleet,” Air Chief Wigston said.
Current partners of the Tempest project include Italy and Sweden. Meanwhile, partnership talks with Japan for the fighter jet project are allegedly underway.
