UK's Reid Sees U.S. Combat Jet Deal in 2006

Published: Apr 05, 2006
Source: today.reuters.co.uk



LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and the United States should be able to resolve technology transfer issues by the end of this year to allow London to buy F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft as planned, Defence Secretary John Reid said on Wednesday.

Britain is the main foreign buyer of the JSF, which promises to be the biggest warplane programme in history, costing 143 billion pounds for nearly 2,600 next-generation radar-evading supersonic jets.

The government wants the Lockheed Martin Corp. jets to become the core of its naval air fleet aboard two new carriers.

But officials have been upset because Washington has not offered a waiver of technology transfer rules, which would mean that expensive software upgrades could only be carried out in the United States during the life of the planes.

Officials have discussed other possibilities, including designing a naval version of the Eurofighter Typhoon, the main European rival warplane.

Reid flew to Washington on Wednesday, where he is to meet Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and members of the U.S. congress. He said the JSF programme would be on his agenda.

"We all, that is us and the U.S., we all need to resolve this issue this year and we all know that. We are approaching this positively," Reid told Reuters in a telephone interview before leaving London for Washington.continue..