Media are today speculating that the MOD’s plans to introduce a new fleet of Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) jets, capable of landing on the latest state-of-the-art Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, could be delayed.
The MOD’s plans remain on track to have a new carrier strike capability from around 2020. We are taking delivery of our first Joint Strike Fighters for test and evaluation purposes this year and are committed to purchasing the carrier variant of these jets.
The Defence Secretary recently met his US counterpart to discuss a number of issues including the Joint Strike Fighter and following the meeting we are confident that the US Defence Review will not impact upon our plans for regenerating carrier strike.
An agreement was signed that will see the US and UK work closely on joint training and the integration of our carrier programmes.
