Rumours of U-turn on RN carriers

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond is to make a Commons statement on the defence equipment programme amid reports of a major U-turn on the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers, Downing Street said last night.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Mr Hammond was expected to address MPs before Easter following reports of a rethink over the carriers’ Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

Ministers are said to be considering whether to revert to the original plan by the former Labour government to acquire the F-35B “jump jet” variant of the aircraft.

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That proposal was dropped in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) which opted instead to switch to the F-35C carrier version, which has a longer range, can carry more weapons and is inter-operable with the French and US navies.

In their foreword to the SDSR, David Cameron and Nick Clegg described the original Labour decision as an “error” which they were determined to rectify.