The current British strategic defence review (SDR), due to be completed before the end of June, is operationally and strategically driven, not led by Treasury hawks.
This was the comment of John Spellar, UK undersecretary of state for defence, who was speaking on the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) stand at Asian Aerospace yesterday.
Emphasising that nothing was being ruled either in or out, Spellar said the review was of critical importance, due to the changing international role of the British armed services.
"However, the British Royal Air Force has a major shortage of strategic lifters and this is one of the major areas which will be addressed in the SDR."
Spellar says a variety of major strategic lifting options are being discussed, including the possibility of acquiring Boeing C-17 Globemasters; taking a fresh look at the European Future Large Aircraft (FLA) project in which British Aerospace has a major stake; and even re-examining the potential of the Antonov An-70, which is currently being proposed in some quarters (mainly German) as being the ideal Europe-wide solution.
The fact that everything's back in the melting pot means that the RAF may still lose its three squadrons of Sepecat Jaguars sooner than expected - they are due for replacement anyway toward the end of the first decade of the new millennium - and be forced to merge its British Aerospace Harrier GR7 fleet into a joint RAF/Royal Navy advanced short take-off and vertical landing (ASTOVL) wing.
Spellar was in Singapore on a two-day visit to support the British contingent, the largest ever at Asian Aerospace and to take advantage of the opportunity for a variety of meetings with counterparts.
"It's possible that the region's potential was slightly over-sold in the past and that this could be behind some of the current difficulties.
"However, the potential for future growth is immense and the British government has great faith both in the Asia-Pacific region in general and in the ability of UK companies to succeed."
Source: Flight Daily News
