JSF is too heavy for the Royal Navy

London Times
May 17, 2004

Overweight Carrier Fighters Give MoD £10bn Headache

By Michael Evans, Defence Editor

THE Ministry of Defence is facing another procurement disaster after a
minister disclosed that the fighter jet planned for two new large
aircraft carriers is far too heavy. Adam Ingram, the Armed Forces
Minister, has admitted that the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), also known
as F35, which will replace the Navy’s Sea Harrier from 2012, is
3,300lb overweight, a figure that astonished military aircraft
experts. The JSF, which is being jointly developed by the American
company Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems in Britain, has been designed
for the Royal Navy with the short take-off vertical launch (Stovl)
concept, like the Harriers. However, Lockheed Martin, whose JSF
proposal was chosen in preference to the version offered by Boeing,
has replaced the basic Harrier-style Stovl idea with a new type of
large fan to create the thrust needed for take-off and landing. The
aim was to provide greater power. This has led to the increase in the
engine’s weight. The MoD insisted that although the weight
problem was a concern, the JSF programme was in its early stages and
it was confident that the matter could be resolved. However, some
industrial and Naval experts believe that it is such a challenge that
the MoD may be forced to scrap the Stovl concept and go for a normal
take-off version, even though this would mean extending the carrier
flight deck and adding to the cost of the overall programme, which is
already an estimated £12.9 billion. This might suit the Navy, but the
MoD is committed to the Stovl concept. Rob Hewson, editor of
Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, said he could see no way in which
Lockheed Martin would be able to “shave off” 3,300lb. When
the JSF was originally designed there were fears expressed that the
engine would be too heavy. “But that was more like 1,000lb too
heavy, now it’s suddenly 3,300lb overweight. It looks like
another potential disaster,” Mr Hewson said. If the weight
problem, which would affect the aircraft’s ability to fly
safely, was not resolved without too much extra cost and time, the
Royal Navy might face the calamitous situation of “not having an
aircraft for the carriers”. The other concern for the MoD is
that the Pentagon, its partner in the JSF programme, is planning to
buy the Stovl version of the aircraft for the Marines only — a
few hundred aircraft. The vast bulk of the JSFs for the US will be
bought by the American Air Force and Navy, and they will all be the
standard take-off versions, catapulted off the carriers. Mr Hewson
said: “If Lockheed Martin finds it cannot solve the weight
problem with the Stovl version, I wouldn’t be at all surprised
if the Pentagon doesn’t drop it and cancel the US Marine order
and just go for the normal take-off version. Then Britain really will
be in trouble.” The MoD is planning to buy 150 JSFs, costing £10
billion, for the two large aircraft carriers. The two ships are, on
current estimates, due to cost £2.9 billion, although BAE Systems,
which was appointed prime contractor for the programme, has given
warning for some time that it will actually cost closer to £4 billion
for two 60,000-tonne carriers. If there is any delay in the planned
in-service date of 2012 for the first carrier, this would cause acute
embarrassment for the MoD. The Sea Harriers are being taken out of
service by 2006, partly because of problems they have been having with
operating in hot climates. The Sea Harriers have difficulty taking off
and landing with a full load of weapons and fuel in excessive heat,
such as in the Gulf. The only solution was to fit a bigger engine ino
the Sea Harrier but the MoD decided it would be too expensive. The
first batch of Sea Harriers has already been withdrawn, and when they
are all taken out of service by 2006 there will be a gap in capability
for six years — or more, if the JSF problem is not resolved.