Carrier jets chaos: MoD attacked over 'flawed' decision to switch to new Royal Navy fighter aircraft

The Ministry of Defence was strongly criticised by MPs today over the “flawed” decision to switch fighter aircraft for the Royal Navy's new carriers.

It was announced in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review that the Government would adopt the carrier variant of the US-built F35 Joint Strike Fighter rather than the "jump jet" version chosen by the previous Labour government.

Ministers argued that the carrier variant was a more capable aircraft and that it would increase "interoperability" with other navies - even though it meant mothballing one of the two carriers on grounds of affordability.

Read more