Britain will push ahead with a multi-billion pound deal to buy US fighter jets in defiance of European warnings that President Trump could disable the aircraft.
Ministers are set to confirm the purchase of F-35 Lightnings instead of “expensive” Eurofighter Typhoons.
The US has denied the existence of a “kill switch” on the F-35 after panic swept Europe that Trump could ground the fifth-generation fighters on a whim.
Those fears were exacerbated when Trump said he would “tone down” the F-47, a new model of US aircraft, by “about 10 per cent” before selling the planes to allies. “Because someday, maybe they’re not our allies,” he said.
Unite, one of Britain’s largest unions, has urged the government to buy two squadrons of Typhoons, manufactured in Lancashire, rather than F-35As, warning that buying American aircraft could leave the UK in a situation where “Trump wakes up in a bad mood and locks us out of using our own fighter jets”.
• Secret contract could let the US ground Germany’s F-35 jets
However, military chiefs are confident that Britain, which makes 15 per cent of every F-35, would be able to operate the aircraft independently of the US, unlike countries such as Denmark, which has expressed regret about buying the American planes following the dispute over Greenland.
“We spent a lot of time and money being a level one partner on the F-35,” one defence source said. “That means we were involved in testing the plane and understanding it. I would not be so relaxed if I were Danish.”
Britain is short of fighter jets because the RAF is retiring 49 Tranche 1 Eurofighter Typhoons. Seventeen have been scrapped already; one will be disposed of imminently; 11 are in storage; ten have been cannibalised for spare parts; four will be used for training engineering crews; four have been deployed to the Falkland Islands; two could be sold to a friendly country.
The UK has received 37 F-35B fighter jets, designed for short take-offs from the Royal Navy’s two aircraft carriers, from an initial order of 48 planes.
However, ministers are considering buying more F-35As, which operate from normal runways, following the recent increase in defence spending.
Buying F-35s, which are generally considered superior to Typhoons against Russian air defences, would potentially allow the UK to integrate American nuclear bombs into the RAF.
RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk has undergone works that suggest the US air force is planning to return American nuclear weapons to the UK. The F-35A is certified to carry B61-12 thermonuclear gravity bombs.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, has said that failing to protect Typhoon manufacturing jobs in the UK would endanger Tempest, a sixth-generation fighter jet being jointly developed by Britain, Italy and Japan and scheduled for introduction in the mid-2030s.
“UK domestic production of T5 Typhoons is essential as a bridge to ensure we can produce Tempest in the UK,” Graham said in a recent letter to John Healey, the defence secretary.
“F-35s are made with US owned intellectual property, they rely on US data and use US technology and US weapons. RAF squadrons of F-35As would be effectively reliant on co-operation from the American government in order to function.”
However, industry sources believe that British engineering skills will be retained even if the RAF buys F-35s because of increasing confidence that Saudi Arabia and Turkey will place orders for Typhoons.
For the next decade at least, Britain could be left in the peculiar situation where it is selling British fighter jets abroad and buying American planes for the RAF.
However, ministers are understood to believe that fourth-generation Typhoons are “too expensive” and “less advanced” than fifth-generation F-35s.
An F-35A is thought to cost £64 million on average and an F-35B costs £85 million. A Eurofighter Typhoon reportedly costs £73 million.
The F-35 is a stealth fighter with a small radar signature, making it difficult to detect. Its dominance over Russian air defences was seen last year when Israel was able to destroy Iranian batteries of S-300 and S-400 air defences without any losses.
“It’s an incredible piece of kit,” one military source said. “Typhoon is a good aircraft, but it is not a stealth fighter-bomber like the F-35. Typhoon is not the future.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “Our new Defence Industrial Strategy will help make the defence sector an engine for UK growth and will strengthen domestic supply chains.
“The UK is leading Typhoon export campaigns to other nations, and we continue to work on upgrading the RAF’s existing Typhoons, both of which can support thousands of skilled UK jobs.”
