When will we ever learn. It ain't off the shelf, so it ain't for purchasing.

There's nothing to worry about here, Mr Fox has already stated that unless a budget is set and the funds are there they will not purchase anything.

So great, go for it, I guess this one will probably take as long to enter service as the original Typhoon, but it will be paid for and will be in budget. Unless of course Mr Fox isn't telling the truth.

Lovely.... now stand up in front of the thousands of hard-working employees whose jobs you would just LOVE to screw over and say that!

F3sRBest
 

BAe cant deliver on time or on budget, I worked (hard) for an airline like that, it went bust and I was on the dole.

Nothing personal but you must face the fact that just because you work (hard) for BAe your job should be protected for life.

Jimmy,

How dare you? Mr Fox is a politician. How could you imply he may not be entirely forthright with the facts?

:=
;)

Doc C

Poor Mr Fox made the dreadful mistake of being gung-ho in opposition and being the "expert" on defence

he probably figured (as is usual) that he'd get Energy or Single Mums but Dave just dropped him right in it and also covered his right wing flank

Same thing happened to poor Michael Gove at Education - that'll teach him to write smart articles in the "Times"

No, there really is something good about it...Those orange and green bits in the roundals look ace.

Do you think India would mind if we copied it?

And that big NAVY word on the tail? A carrier based aircraft, flown to an aircraft carrier, that floats on the sea and deploys for more than 2 weeks at a time? Flown by the Navy?

Ridiculous. What are they thinking?

Nobody wants to see BAE employees on the dole but I felt the same way about the poor folk who worked for MG Rover (formerly owned by BAe). Despite their best efforts, the product just wasn't competitive any more due to a lack of commitment by management. As a parallel, I know there are a lot of talented and dedicated people at BAE, who strive to get the product out on budget and schedule. However the corporate entity that is BAE Systems has consistently let this country and it's defences down and we simply cannot indulge another half-arsed, nebulous BAE project when the obvious answer is to buy something that has been clearly shown to be fit-for-purpose and available within the schedule and budget.

Survey the (literal) wreckage of MRA4 and the 25 year exercise in depressingly regular disappointment that has been Eurofighter and try to extol to the nation that paying BAE to bastardise a product that still isn't working as advertised in it's original form is a good idea.

Navalised Typhoon was being touted as an option for India's requirement, rather than UK one, during recent Aero India show. The carrot of heavy involvement in picking up from where early UK studies left off was being dangled, rather obviously, in front of Indian industry's nose.

If packaged together with a bigger Typhoon sale to India, the economics may not be quite so whacky after all.

Its probably more cost effective and easier to make the carrier fly to up to the Dart.

And BAE would do it for the same cost - initially.

BAE Speak "A key design driver for navalised Typhoon is the commonality at 95 per cent with the land variant."

You & Me Speak "95 per of the components used have the same name"

Did you know that there are fairies at the end of runway at Warton?

PM

Right, so we owe them a living. Get real or get out.

Willard is correct

they can't make things people want when people want them and at a price people can afford

Like so many other companies BAe has reached the end of the road with aircraft manuafacture - we just don't want to pour more of our money into a bottomless pit

Heathrow Harry
 

I totally agree, but will the Government ever learn !
Bae needs to move with the times now.

"BAe has reached the end of the road with aircraft manufacture - we just don't want to pour more of our money into a bottomless pit"

We have already "invested" tens of millions into the F-35 in the belief that this will give us a chunk of the West's next major combat aircraft. BAe is to provide aft fuselage and empennages, horizontal and vertical tails, crew life support and escape systems, EW systems, fuel system, and Flight Control Software. So unless the US cancels the entire programme, BAe will remain in the business of aircraft manufacture for some time.

The UK still aims to buy the F-35C once we spend the money to alter the new carrier(s) for the PM's favoured "cats and traps".

D55, All true, but we aren't buying Lightning II from BAES (they are a subcontractor). Thank God*.

And before any wipe-ass smart-ass says, no, I do NOT mean Gordo f'inBroon.

Wonderful :D

Wonderful news for BAE but how much of a guarantee is that for the UK?

BAE are only as British as BP. They are an international company that will put the work where it generates the most profit, which may NOT be in the UK.

For all the criticism of BAE on this thread, it does seem to do rather better in manufacturing and delivering to customers overseas, which now accounts for about 80% of its business.

Media reports this week quoted a study which showed BAE just behind Lockheed Martin when it comes to international sales. It is also the biggest overseas supplier to the US forces. The story can't be all bad!

Well seeing as they're doing so well, UK PLC doesn't need to pay over the odds for their disappointing products anymore and we can consider buying kit from companys who can make a decent stab at delivering what we wanted, when we wanted it and for not much more money than we agreed to pay for it in the first place!