UK to spend £2.5bn on F-35 fighters

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26124894



UK to spend £2.5bn on F-35 fighters
11 February 2014 Last updated at 12:10 ET

~snip~

The initial UK order for 14 F-35Bs will, with support costs added, cost about £2.5bn, Newsnight has learned.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the F-35B was an expensive plane, but one with an "incredible capability".

But critics have questioned Ministry of Defence suggestions that the jets will be combat capable by 2018.

The F35-B will be known as Lightning II in UK active service and is going to replace the already retired Harrier.


--

$2,500,000,000 / 14 = $178,571,428 a pop. Since the B model is more expensive that the A (at least $270,000,000) or C models, I suspect the B model cost is waaaay low.

[VMA131Marine]

1. Note that the cost quoted is in British Pounds

not dollars. Currently £1 = $1.65 so the total order will cost $4.1bn or $297,000,000 per plane.

[unhappycamper]

2. You're correct - I forgot to do the pound conversion.

My bad.

[Ghost Dog]

3. Can't we buy something cheaper, and... say, French

for our jointly-built new carriers?

[Angleae]

4. As soon as the french build something that can land vertically it can be considered.

Last edited Fri Feb 14, 2014, 07:38 AM - Edit history (1)

The british decided to equip their new carrier with no arresting wires so the plane has to be able to land vertically.

PS: They're not jointly built, france pulled out for now.

[Ghost Dog]

5. Mmmm... Oh, fuck.

Last edited Sun Feb 16, 2014, 02:57 AM - Edit history (1)

... The carriers will be completed as originally planned, in a Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) configuration, deploying the Lockheed Martin F-35B. Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the British government had intended to purchase the F-35C carrier version of this aircraft, and adopted plans for Prince of Wales to be built to a Catapult Assisted Take Off Barrier Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) configuration. After the projected costs of the CATOBAR system rose to around twice the original estimate, the government announced that it would revert to the original design on 10 May 2012.

Under the previous plans, the Royal Navy would operate only one aircraft carrier, routinely equipped with 12 fast jets. However, the Chief of the Defence Staff has subsequently said that the STOVL design "gives us the ability to operate two carriers if we choose." The final decision will be made at the next major strategic defence review, expected in 2015.[6][7][8]...

/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth-class_aircraft_carrier

Yeah. You're right. I hadn't noticed...

... PA2 (French "Porte-Avions 2", English "Aircraft Carrier 2&quot was a planned aircraft carrier under development by Thales Naval France and DCNS for the French Navy. The design was based on the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers developed for the Royal Navy. The project was cancelled in the 2013 French White Paper on Defence and National Security.[2][3]...

/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_French_aircraft_carrier

/... Edit, to add this:

And this one:

And...

...