Originally Posted by ORAC
needs to be spent here, not in the USA
We have a history of being let down in these matters by the USA. Skybolt, F-111 etc, and itīs no coincidence that, whilst others were buying F16s, F18s etc, we were spending more to build Jaguars and Tornadoes.
Actually we don't have any such history. We chose to abandon the F-111 because the government lost its nerve when the costs began to spiral. Ultimately, the F-111 would have been a good deal, and the airframes were eventually sold to Australia where many of them are still active.
Likewise, Skybolt eventually started showing some signs of success just as we pulled out of the programme. Even though the US decided to abandon it, we were offered the whole programme but chose not to take-up the option.
It was indeed no coincidence that we were busy building Jaguars MRCA's and the like, while the US was starting to churn-out F-15's and more, but that was because our government embarked upon a rose-coloured relationship with France and Europe, only to find that France ultimately screwed us on the Jaguar, and the Tornado programme could only cater for the needs of just three countries. By any standards, the lesson to be drawn from these programmes was that we could have simply purchased "off the shelf" from the US, and saved a fortune.