from Defense News:
Letter Raises Possibility U.K. Could Return to STOVL F-35
Mar. 2, 2012 - 11:38AM | 
By ANDREW CHUTER | 1 Comments
Britain may be reconsidering its decision to nix a purchase of the short-takeoff and vertical-landing variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, known as the F-35B. Above, a STOVL plane is shown earlier this year at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Angel DelCueto / Lockheed Martin)
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LONDON — New doubts have emerged over the future of Britain’s aircraft carrier plans following a letter sent by the opposition Labour Party suggesting the government is considering reverting to its original plan to buy the short-takeoff and vertical-landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter instead of the conventional-takeoff version.
Delays and uncertainties over the rising cost of purchasing the F-35 have also added to concerns about the future of the program, Jim Murphy, Labour’s shadow defense minister, said in the March 1 letter to Defence Secretary Philip Hammond.
In the letter, Murphy asks whether the government is considering abandoning its decision, made in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), to introduce “the [F-35C] carrier variant of the JSF in 2020 and whether any consideration is being given to reversing the decision to abandon the short-takeoff and vertical landing [F-35B] version.”
Murphy said there had been “worrying suggestions” about the F-35C variant of the JSF and its possible impact on the construction of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier scheduled to carry them.
A spokeswoman at the MoD admitted a review of the carrier and other programs was underway as part of the planning round for the 2012-13 financial year, but didn’t directly address whether another JSF change was in the offing.
“We are currently finalizing the 2012-13 budget and balancing the equipment plan,” she said. “As part of this process, we are reviewing all programs, including elements of the carrier strike program, to validate costs and ensure risks are properly managed. The defense secretary expects to announce the outcome of this process to Parliament before Easter.”
The spokeswoman said the government remains committed to implementing the decision to reintroduce a carrier strike capability as part of its Future Force 2020 reorganization of the military.
In the letter, Murphy writes he is “concerned that the cost of conversion combined with the increased unit cost [of the aircraft] could be prohibitive to the plans as outlined in the SDSR being realized.”
Rumors of a possible change have been circulating for several weeks, and a source here, who asked not to be named, said high-level conversations about a possible change back to the STOVL variant have already taken place between the MoD and the Pentagon.
At the time of the British switch in allegiance, the STOVL version, also being purchased by the U.S. Marine Corps, was reckoned by many to be under threat of cancellation. That threat was lifted recently.
A flip-flop by the U.K. government would be hugely embarrassing. The British burnt their bridges with the U.S. Marine Corps when they abandoned the STOVL concept virtually overnight, and used up a lot of political capital in Washington as well, an industry executive here said.
If a reversal is being considered, it could have something to do with Hammond’s reappraisal of the costs involved in the change over, the executive said.
Hammond’s nickname among industry executives is “Forensic Phil” — a compliment to his thoroughness on the financial aspects of programs and other budget issues facing the MoD.
The Conservative-led coalition government announced in the SDSR that it would fit catapult and arrestor gear, known as cats and flaps, and other design changes to at least one of the two 65,000-metric-ton aircraft carriers — being built by a BAE Systems-led alliance — to accommodate the change from STOVL to conventional aircraft.
The SDSR called the F-35C “more cost-effective and capable” than the Lockheed Martin F-35B version that the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force originally agreed to buy.
The aircraft continues to have its problems, though. Recently, it was discovered that the tail used by the F-35C was in the wrong place and would have to be redesigned.
The redesigned aircraft carrier, which is expected to use General Atomics’ new electromagnetic aircraft launch system if the F-35C buy does ahead, would also be interoperable with key allies like the U.S. and France, the government said at the time of the SDSR.
The National Audit Office, the government watchdog, has estimated the carrier redesign could cost up to 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) on top of the 5.2 billion pounds already being spent on the Queen Elizabeth-class warships.
Douglas Barrie, the senior air analyst at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, said that it may not be the aircraft itself that is the cause of the concern but the cost of converting the aircraft carrier.
“With ongoing concerns over budgets and costs at the MoD, one reason the U.K. might be considering overturning the decision to move to the conventional aircraft might have more to do with the financial implications of changing the ship design rather than concerns over the aircraft itself," he said.
The carrier build alliance is midway through an 18-month study into the cost and various redesign options of changing to the conventional aircraft requirement and is scheduled to report results at the end of this year.
In the meantime, the possible costs and other problems involved in a carrier redesign are causing increasing concerns in the MoD, a second source said.
For the moment, the only significant design change being built into the first carrier, now being assembled at Rosyth, is the removal of a ramp that would help the STOVL aircraft take off.
That carrier could be mothballed once it is handed over in 2016. The second carrier, the vessel expected to carry the electromagnetic aircraft launch system, is due to be handed over two years later.
The SDSR announcement said the Royal Navy’s carrier strike capability would be reduced to just one operational vessel, with the other being put on extended readiness or possibly sold.
The first carrier operating Joint Strike Fighters is not expected to be operational until at least 2020 and then with only six aircraft in the first instance, Murphy writes in his letter.
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