Smiths Industries has announced that it has entered full-scale development on a number of key systems for the US Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme. The company has already secured contracts valued at about $1 million per aircraft, and expects to gain business worth $10 billion over the life of the aircraft.
Participation in the JSF programme does not guarantee a country industrial work, but only the right to bid for work on the programme. There is unlikely ever to be a second foreign production line for the aircraft (as there was for NATO F-16s) and some have doubted whether foreign suppliers would ever gain worthwhile workshare on the aircraft.
It has been suggested that the UK might expect to gain workshare worth about 10% of the value of each aircraft. But some suspected that the UK would receive no more work than was essential to keep it ‘on board', and that no foreign companies would gain significant work when bidding against US companies in open competition.
The success of UK aerospace companies in gaining work on the JSF tends to contradict this pessimistic view, and is a direct result of Britain having joined the programme as the only Level 1 partner, investing in the EMD phase of the programme.
The UK government has invested $1.3 billion in the EMD phase to gain Level 1 status (plus a further $900 million for UK-specific requirements) and has committed $1 billion more for the SDD phase. This sum (about $3.2 billion) does not pay for any of the aircraft to be purchased for the UK armed forces, but has already earned UK industry valuable contracts, and will earn the UK a small royalty on every JSF sold.
The JSF promises to be the world's largest fighter programme, with work totalling $400 billion and a production tally exceeding 8,000 aircraft, according to some estimates. The potential value of sub-contract work on the JSF is enormous – especially since the US Government no longer requires a second, US-based source for any foreign-supplied components. This means that foreign suppliers could in theory build major sections of every JSF built, including those for the US home market.
Participation in the JSF programme promises more than mere work, however. Being a JSF partner means being a close and favoured ally of the USA, and gives access to and involvement in arguably the most technologically advanced fighter programme of all time.
Source: Flight Daily News
