Ministers swither over carrier jet

Ministers have yet to reach a decision on whether to go through with major changes to the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier programme, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday.

Armed forces chiefs are reportedly recommending they should revert to a decision by the last Labour government to equip the carriers with the F35B jump-jet variant of the American-built joint strike fighter.

It would mean reversing a decision in the government’s 2010 strategic defence and security review to switch to the F35C carrier version, which has a longer range and carries a bigger payload.

However, the cost of fitting the necessary catapults and arrestor gear to one of the carriers, while the other ship is mothballed, has since spiralled to a reported £1.8 billion.