ORAC
The UK either wants to retain the capacity to build complex aircraft, warships and their support technologies or buys abroad . To choose the former but at the same time cut Defence expediture just leads to stretching out programmes as has been the case with both Typhoon and the carriers. With Typhoon the change of the users requirement from Air Defence to Swing role to justify the numbers of aircraft being bought then caused more delay and cost. Ditto the carriers and the F-35C.
The Queen Elizabeth build is now well underway with float out in 2012. After that, Bae planned to move to the second carrier. In response to the Cameron/Osborne query, it offered to do "something else" if replacement work was brought forward until the Type 26 was ready to commence around 2016. That way the "penalty clauses" would not have been invoked. So if Strategy rather than cost cutting had any place in this decision why did the Government not opt to do this!
