TIM RIPLEY
A massive overhaul of US defence strategy by the new Bush administration, Turkey's economic crisis and the election of a new government in Italy are all adding uncertainty to the fate of the $200 ¡ billion bid to build the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). During the coming week aerospace executives from both sides of the Atlantic will be pondering the fate the flagship JSF programme, on which so much rests. So far there has been little indication from the new US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the future of the JSF, beyond hints that he wants to "leap a generation" of equipment. Some analysts have taken this to mean the JSF doesn't have a place in President George Bush's plans for the future American defence procurement, with the aircraft unlikely to go into production in its current form or in anything like the numbers projected by the outgoing Clinton Administration. Rumsfeld has said he intends to unveil his defence review in the summer, keeping many in Washington and further afield on tenterhooks. In Europe, attention has focused on the incoming Italian government of media magnet Silvio Berlusconi, who has to consider a recommendation from his defence ministry to join the JSF programme as a full collaborative partner. This would involve Italy contributing more than $1.2 billion to the Engineer Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase to build the JSF prototypes from October onwards. Turkey had expressed a desire to join the EMD but the collapse of its currency earlier this year has thrown this into doubt. Under existing plans more than 3,000 JSFs were to be built for the US Air Force, US Navy, Marine Corps, British Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. A further 3,000 aircraft could be bought by other air arms around the world. The JSF programme entered its current phase, the Concept Demonstration Phase, in November 1996 when two contractors, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, were selected to build and fly concept demonstrators.
Source: Flight Daily News
