
The UK government appears to have answered few of the questions that surround its defence procurement policy in the days since the publication of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), not least of which is whether it will buy the US F-35A stealth fighter.
As stated in the SDR, released to significant controversy amid parliamentary acrimony last week, among the recommendations was a need for “more F-35s… over the next decade”, which “could comprise a mix of F-35A and B models according to military requirements to provide greater value for money”.
The statement was rich with ambiguity, with no firm commitment to the acquisition of F-35A fighters, which differ from the current in-service F-35B in being a conventional take-off aircraft and only operable by the Royal Air Force (RAF), rather than the existent joint RAF/Royal Navy force.
Debate has raged for months over rumoured UK plans to acquire more F-35 fighters at the expense of buying a new tranche of Eurofighter Typhoons. While the UK is a Tier 1 partner on the US-led F-35 programme, its national industrial footprint for the Eurofighter Typhoon is far larger.

Influential labour unions previously urged the UK to secure defence industrial jobs through a new purchase of Eurofighters. Around 30 of the original Tranche 1 Eurofighters were retired from service earlier this year, leaving the RAF with a much-reduced fleet of combat aircraft.
In March, Unite stated that a UK order for the US-designed F-35 stealth fighter would have a “devastating impact” on the country’s aerospace sector.

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By GlobalDataEarlier, the union had said that any move for the F-35A would “only secure 2-3 months of work in Britain for 2,000 people whereas 24 Typhoons would secure 26,000 jobs for two years for workers in BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, Leonardo and the UK supply chain”.
Will the UK buy the F-35A?
A pair of written parliamentary written responses published on 9 May from UK Defence Procurement Minister Maria Eagle suggests a, perhaps unwitting, narrative being formed in favour of the F-35A fighter.
Responding to queries as to whether new Eurofighter aircraft will be acquired, Eagle stated the UK government was “committed to upgrading Typhoons” and “driving exports” of the type to overseas customers.
“The Strategic Defence Review does not recommend reductions in fast jets for the RAF, but it confirms the Government’s commitment to GCAP, to upgrade Typhoons and no reductions in the number of F35Bs and F35As,” Eagle said.
The Eagle statement was subsequently republished with a ‘correction’ to read that the SDR “says more F-35s could comprise a mix of F-35A and B models according to military requirements”.
For the purposes of clarity, it should be stated the UK does not currently operate the A model of the F-35, rather, at present, only the B variant, mainly from the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.
It is notable that Eagle spoke of Typhoon only as a platform to upgrade, rather than increase in number.
Any public statement from the UK confirming its apparent plan to acquire F-35A fighters will almost certainly come at the expense of further F-35B purchases, with the force likely to be constrained to just 48 airframes.
If this is the case, a future F-35A purchase would likely be for 24 aircraft, reaching the earlier planned UK commitment to 72 F-35 airframes, albeit in a new mix of A and B variants.