Joint Strike Fighter Update – The MoD reported, after Easer (in mid April) that The Scotsman incorrectly reports that “it has been decided which variant of Joint Strike Fighter will be flown from the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers”.     

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The paper claims that a Royal Navy press release confirms that the MOD will opt for the short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, but no such decision has been made.    An article on the Royal Navy website yesterday merely reported on the maiden flight of one of the trial versions of the F-35 LIGHTNING II aircraft, which was purchased years ago by the previous government and happens to be a STOVL variant. The Royal Navy article said 'there has been intense media speculation about the F-35 and the variant which may - or may not - fly from the decks of the HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and PRINCE OF WALES'.    The article also made clear that while Britain did originally opt for the 'jump jet' version, known as F-35B, following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review a decision was made to instead purchase the traditional carrier version, the F-35C.   The intention to move to a 'cats and traps' based carrier strike capability was always subject to a detailed piece of work to assess the costs and risks involved in converting a QUEEN ELIZABETH Class carrier and that work is ongoing.     The Defence Secretary will announce the outcome of this process to Parliament in due course.

The combat and mission systems of the 'jump jet' version of the F-35 are almost identical to the carrier variant. So, irrelevant of what decision is made over which jets to buy, British pilots will be using the aircraft which flew yesterday as part of their training and learning experience, until the first carrier variant trial aircraft are ready.   The Strategic Defence and Security Review set out a strategic view of our defence requirements and took the decision to reintroduce carrier strike capability as part of Future Force 2020. This government is committed to implementing that decision.
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So now we know!