Government wasted £74m on decision to switch fighter jet on new aircraft carriers

Abandoned plans to switch the type of fighter aircraft used on the Royal Navy’s new carriers will cost taxpayers £74m, according to the National Audit Office.

Defence secretary Philip Hammond last year decided to revert to plans by the former Labour government to acquire the jump jet version of the US-built F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Under proposals set out in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the coalition had intended to switch to the F-35C carrier variant of the aircraft, even though it meant mothballing one of the two carriers on grounds of affordability.

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