MoD To Slash Jet Fighter Orders As It Struggles To Save Aircraft Programme -- The Guardian
• Defence chiefs decide UK cannot afford current plan
• Cost of 140 US-built planes has risen by £25m each
Defence chiefs are preparing drastic cuts to the number of American stealth aircraft planned for the RAF and the Royal Navy's proposed new carriers, the Guardian has learned.
They will be among the first casualties, with existing squadrons of Harrier and Tornado jets, of a huge shift in military spending being considered by ministers, officials and military advisers.
As they head towards their biggest and most painful shakeup since the second world war, a consensus has emerged among the top brass that they can not afford the 140 American Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) they have been seeking.
My Comment: Future program cuts will be even worse if the UK cannot stop the budget catastrophe that it now finds itself in. This is just a prelude of what may be happening on a deeper level within a year or two.
3 comments:
do you know of a in depth cost-gain comparison between current UAV top models and fighter jets, when it comes to about the same level of precision, costs, targets hit, stealth, future upgradability perspectives, advantages (speed/durability/manouverability), etc?
That is a good question Mark, one that I have been asking myself for the past year or two.
UAV technology is changing rapidly with new research and development. While I doubt that the Predator or Reaper would be a threat to an F-15 or F-16, I would not be surprise if future models will .... with the proper air to air missile systems attached .... be a threat that cannot be ignored.
As to precision, costs, future upgradability perspectives, advantages (speed/durability/maneuverability), etc .... I would not be surprise if the men and women who are designing these platforms do not know for sure themselves .... this new technology is being learned on the fly, but given time I am sure that such information will eventually be publicized.
The only way to find out is to have a full one on one war. Not the nancy boy dancing around yelling at each other with firecrackers we've had over the past 70 years but serious unconditional surrender. I suspect the lethality space is now uninhabitable. There were hints at this in WW1.
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