A leading British union, Unite, responded unfavourably to reporting from The Times suggesting the UK government will purchase F-35A conventional take-off and landing fighter jets over the fifth tranche of Eurofighter Typhoons.
Currently, 48 F-35B (short take-off and landing) aircraft are on contract with the Royal Air Force (RAF), and 37 units been delivered to date.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have said that Typhoons will be in service until 2040; this overlaps with the supposed entry into service of the future sixth generation Tempest aircraft in 2035 under the the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).
Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite, told Airforce Technology on 31 March that opting for the American jets over Typhoons would have “a devastating impact” on the UK.
“By making that choice, the government would be abandoning sovereignty, undermining [GCAP], deskilling our defence industry, putting thousands of UK jobs at risk and throwing away long-term economic benefits,” Graham said.
Unite’s research conflicts with that of the MoD as the union determined that an order of 24 T5 Typhoons would secure more than 20,000 jobs for several years, whereas an order of 24 F-35As would only secure two or three months of work in the UK for about 2,000 workers.
The British government’s decision, if it goes as reported, comes at a time when Europe has begun to confront the need to rearm without security guarantees from their longtime ally, the United States, for the first time since the Second World War.
F-35: strategic autonomy?
As part of the newborn trend for strategic autonomy, a number of European countries have expressed a desire to disentangle from the US defence industrial base as the strategic objectives and values of US President Donald Trump begin to diverge from those of Europe – particularly when it comes to ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Portugal has hinted it will not select the American fighter jet to replace its ageing F-16s. Likewise, Türkiye is currently weighing up Britain’s offer to sell some of its Eurofighters, which would move Ankara away from upgrading its legacy F-16s.
Recently, the chief executive of Europe’s leading missile manufacturer MBDA indicated that the group can deliver sovereign weapon systems when its customers decide to “desensitise” their dependency on American supply chains.
According to The Times, many nations fear Trump’s ability to ground aircraft in circumstances that conflict with his own geostrategic interests. Approval would be needed since there are many American-made parts to the combat aircraft. There is a precedent: his predecessor, Joe Biden, prevented Britain and France from sending Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles to Ukraine that would enable them to strike deep inside Russian territory.
Graham similarly added: “To do this in order to purchase a problematic US made fighter plane, which will make RAF squadrons reliant on cooperation from the American government to function, would be inexplicable.”
However, an MoD spokesperson said, without explaining how the UK would bypass approval, that “the UK maintains the freedom of action to operate the F-35 Lightning at a time and place of our choosing.”
