Further Memorandum from the Ministry of
Defence
FUTURE CARRIER AND JOINT COMBAT AIRCRAFT
PROGRAMMES
1. Carrier Strike is an expeditionary air
power capability that will be able to operate in uncertain access,
basing and overflight conditions as part of a joint force: the
fast jet element should be capable of delivering the full range
of effects from both the land and sea base. At its core are the
Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA), Future Aircraft Carriers (CVF) and
Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control (MASC), along with
expeditionary campaign infrastructure for operations from deployed
operating bases. Other enabling capabilities eg Military Afloat
Reach and Sustainability (MARS) and Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft
(FSTA), will contribute to the success of all components within
a joint campaign.
WHOLE LIFE
COSTS
2. CVF, JCA and MASC are at different stages
in their acquisition cycle. All three projects have yet to proceed
to Main Gate[10]
and consequently, work is continuing to develop our understanding
of the acquisition and support costs. Such costs will be an integral
part of the Main Gate business cases for the individual projects
and will need to be sufficiently mature in order to inform the
main investment decision(s).
3. Against this background of maturing cost
data, the current estimate of whole life costs for the core projects
of the Carrier Strike capability is approximately £31bn,
including some £12 bn acquisition costs.
OTHER OPTIONS
4. Ahead of the decision in favour of the
Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in 2001, studies were conducted into
options to meet the then Future Carrier Borne Aircraft (FCBA)
requirement. Other options considered were the US F/A-18E, French
Rafale M, "navalised" Eurofighter and an advanced Harrier,
but these were all rejected on cost-effectiveness grounds. In
September 2002, the UK announced its selection of the Short Take
Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of JSF.
5. While we are not re-considering the decision
to procure JSF, normal programme management disciplines mean we
continue to assess the ability of STOVL variant to meet the JCA
requirement.
NON-CARRIER
BASED OPTIONS
6. The overall capability requirement was
set out in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review and its supporting
papers. These concluded that "the ability to deploy offensive
air power will be central to future force projection operations".
It also concluded that "we cannot be certain that we will
always have access to suitable air bases" and that "even
when we do, experience has shown that bases may not always be
available in the early stages of a crisis, and that their infrastructure
is not always able to support the full range of operations required".
It was judged at the time that a solution based on aircraft carriers
would "provide valuable flexibility" and "offer
a coercive presence". We have to date only considered a carrier
based solution given the overall requirement outlined in the Strategic
Defence Review.
September 2005
10 In order to match the US procurement cycle, JCA
has been through a tailored Main Gate for Development only. Back
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