UK MOD in a muddle over F-35C

"...At $110 million (around £71 million) a piece, the Lightning does not come cheap....

...[earlier] a specially designed helmet that gives the pilot a 350 degree view around the aircraft simply by tilting his head...."

"LONDON — Flawed assumptions and immature data were behind a 150 percent rise in the estimated cost of Britain switching its planned carrier strike aircraft force from the STOVL F-35B to the conventional takeoff F-35C, says a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) here.

Britain flip-flopped back to the STOVL version of the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter May 2012 after it emerged that the cost of converting one of the Royal Navy’s partly built aircraft carriers to include catapults and arrestor gear rose from an estimated £800 million (US $1.24 billion) in 2010 when the initial switch in aircraft type was ordered to about £2 billion.

The report, published May 10 by the government spending watchdog, cataloged a series of faulty assumptions about the change to the F-35C made at the time of the 2010 strategic defense and security review. Information on overall affordability, the cost of conversion, timescales and the degree to which French and US jets could cross-deck with the British were all inaccurate, says the report.

“Every element of the conversion cost increased significantly” between 2010 and 2012, according to the report.

Under the plan to operate the C variant, the government intended to equip one of the two carriers now under construction with a US-supplied electromagnetic aircraft launch systems (EMALS) and mothball or sell off the second warship...."

"The MOD acted promptly to revert to the decision to buy the vertical take-off version of the Joint Strike Fighter but will have to manage significant risks"

"Roles
The F-35B Lightning II will place the UK at the forefront of fighter technology, giving the Royal Air Force a true multi-role all weather, day and night capability, able to operate from well-established land bases, deployed locations or the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be known in UK service as the Lightning II.... The Lightning II will provide UK Defence with a 5th Generation (low observable, supersonic, enhanced data fusion), multi-role, all weather, day and night aircraft that will have the ability to operate from land bases as well as the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers, the first of which is due to accept Lightning II onto her deck in 2018. This basing flexibility will give UK Defence a truly joint expeditionary Combat Air capability well into the 2030’s. The RAF is the lead service for the operation of Lightning II and, like the Harrier before, the Joint Lightning II Force will be manned by both RAF and RN personnel....

...Lightning II will place the RAF at the forefront of fighter technology and will give it a true multi-role aircraft that will surpass the majority of other weapons systems in production today, or envisaged in the foreseeable future. Lightning II and Typhoon aircraft will make up the Fast Jet elements of Future Force 2020...."

"Published on May 21, 2013
A glimpse of what the finished ships will look like when fully operational"

jetnerd wrote:Gorgeous video, Spaz. Nice nighttime SRVL at 2:05. Great visuals overall. Can't wait for the day when our Brit friends have them fully operational.