Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Update – Both the USA and Italy are to slash their orders for this aircraft, making the (British) Ministry of Defense bill for each of the aircraft is set to rise sharply.     Experts warned that the higher prices are likely to mean Britain can afford fewer of the multi-role warplanes, which are due on the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier by 2020.

The JSF, also known as the F-35, is being built by American Lockheed Martin as part of an international progamme led by the US but partly funded by Britain and seven other ’partner nations’.     The arrangement shares the enormous cost of developing the world’s most advanced aircraft but also leaves Britain dependent on large orders from other countries to keep price down.     Britain is due to place orders for one squadron, around 20 aircraft, next year (2013) but will settle on the final number of planes to be bought until in 2015.     Lockheed has admitted that the British Government is likely to pay even more than the $ 90 million (£ 57 million) currently projected as the cost of a single aircraft but could not give an exact figure.

As part of a drive to reduce America’s annual military budget, the Pentagon announced earlier this month that it was delaying purchasing 179 aircraft until after 2017, saving the US $ 15 billion (£10 billion) over the next five years.    The US was followed almost immediately by Italy, which said that under new austerity measures it could no longer afford the 131 jets it agreed to buy and was reducing its order to just 90.    Both Australia and Canada have also signaled they may delay or cut their purchases.    The first British order will be made next year and the aircraft are expected to be operational by 2016, with British pilots to train jointly with the US Navy before being posted aboard the carrier.