http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2152035/...
Lord Drayson, minister for defence procurement, told the The Daily Telegraph that the planes were useless without control of the software as they could effectively be "switched off" by the Americans without warning.
"We do expect this technology transfer to take place. But if it does not take place we will not be able to purchase these aircraft," said Lord Drayson.
The problem stems from strict US guidelines on the transfer of technology to other countries. Under current rules any British requests for the use of US technology can take 20 days to go through, obviously limiting the usefulness of a jet strike force.
Lord Drayson is currently in Washington to speak to members of Congress. His tough talking on the
project includes the fact that Britain has a 'Plan B' if the Joint Strike Fighter deal falls through.
I believe the Plan B is the convert
The Typhoon for carrier operations. Plan C would be to go for The French
Rafale. Plan C is probably the more likely: The new aircraft carriers have been designed to work with their French counterparts and a very similar. The French pulled out of the Eurofighter project because the plan was not carrier enabled - and the view is that sort of conversion is not that easy.
It would meen that the RAF and the RN would loose theircapability when the
Harrier is retired.
Link to the JSA for reference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F35
