Parliamentary Report Says U.K. JSF Buy Remains 'High Risk'

Members of the British Parliament have described the U.K.’s plan to purchase the Joint Strike Fighter for the carrier strike role as high risk because of the defense ministry’s lack of control of the program.

In a report released Sept. 3, the U.K. Public Accounts Committee (PAC) studied the ministry’s decision to flip-flop its choice of which F-35 variant to operate from the U.K.’s new Queen Elizabeth II-class aircraft carriers.

It moved from the short-takeoff and vertical landing (Stovl) F-35B to the conventional catapult-launched F-35C in 2010, then reverted back to the F-35B in 2012.

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