British Aerospace looks likely to take part in the new US Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme whoever wins this plum contract, says Boeing's defence and space chief Jerry King.
Speaking at Farnborough, King was full of praise for the role BAe could play in the next generation of US strike aircraft.
The British military aircraft maker is now tied exclusively to McDonnell Douglas and Northrop Grumman in the contest to build a JSF demonstrator, but King believes that could change whoever wins the lucrative contract to build thousands of the aircraft.
Contestant
The third contestant, Lockheed Martin, has also indicated that it would welcome BAe on its team if McDonnell Douglas fails to get on the shortlist.
Says King: "We have a lot of interest in talking about an additional role for BAe if they are not selected. We had general discussions with them early on."
King says Boeing is keen to extend industrial partnership. "We are looking additionally in the UK, France, Italy and Germany.
"There has been a lot of interest from France. We have been doing some development activities with Dassault."
No matter who eventually wins the JSF contract, King believes all the contestants may be involved in some way in the final aircraft programme.
King says he is pleased with the early tests of a 94% scale model and describes his company's designs as a "low risk solution".
He says that under the company's existing bid, 15% of the JSF's value would come from UK sub-contractors.
Partnership
"The landing gear is coming from Dowty, Rolls-Royce is doing the vertical lift system and GEC-Marconi is providing the flight avionics," he said. "We have a long-term partnership with these people and their participation will be even greater if we are selected."
Source: Flight Daily News
