Example: their aircraft carriers. $9.4B (USD) for 2 ships which were designed to carry around 40 F-35s.
Now? 16 jets which will be shared between the two ships.
Other big budget items are the two new aircraft carriers, HMS Elizabeth, due to come into service in 2020, and, afterwards, HMS Prince of Wales.
The MoD has been struggling to find the money for planes for the two aircraft carriers. Anything less than at least 20 planes for each carrier would be viewed at Westminster as a political embarrassment.
The way around this for the MoD is to stress that only one carrier is likely to be operational at any time, with the other being used for training or being refitted, so planes would only be needed for one.
The MoD originally wanted 138, then slashed it to 48. The plan is to buy an initial 16 F-35s and reassess the position when the carriers are in service.
Not accurate. The UK wanted 150. So: 150, then 138, then 48, now...16.
From 2001:
The JSF program is a huge prize for Lockheed Martin, with a potential total value of $200 billion-$400 billion. The US plans to buy nearly 3,000 aircraft, while the United Kingdom is expected to procure as many as 150. The US Air Force requires 1,763 aircraft; the US Navy, 480 aircraft; the US Marine Corps, 609 aircraft; the British Royal Navy, 60 aircraft; and the British Royal Air Force, 90 aircraft.
As for value. Well, let us see.
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