Combat air strategy to review future UK defence capability

The defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, has announced the launch of a combat air strategy aimed at finding the next generation of fighter jets and shoring up British aerospace jobs.

The strategy involves consultation between the Ministry of Defence, industry and with the UK’s international partners. It follows completion of a similar strategy for shipbuilding that was completed in September.

The announcement was partly aimed at trying to prop up the British aerospace industry. BAE Systems said in October that it was to cut 2,000 jobs over lack of orders for its Eurofighter Typhoon.

Williamson, who made the announcement during a meeting of the Commons defence committee, said: “The combat air strategy will bring together the best of British engineering, skill and design.”

The chief of the air staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, said: “This strategy will ensure that the RAF can continue to remain at the forefront of the high-end airpower technology and innovation we need to deal with future threats, working in close collaboration with UK industry and our international partners.”

No date was set for completion of a new air strategy, in part because of uncertainty over Brexit. Other European countries are considering joint procurement programmes in response to moves towards a European defence force, which the UK has said it wants no part of.

Even if there was a speedy completion of the air combat strategy, the gap between the current generation of jets and the introduction of the next generation will still remain too big to bridge. Although BAE’s Typhoon is expected to remain in UK service until at least 2040, developing new aircraft normally takes decades.

The MoD is at present phasing in the troubled and well over-budget F-35 fighter, bought from the US, to be deployed on the UK’s two new aircraft carriers.

The announcement was welcomed by industry. Paul Everitt, the chief executive of ADS, a trade organisation for companies in the defence sector, said: “The strategic threats faced by the UK and its international partners and allies require long-term thinking and close collaboration between industry and government.”