[KevinDonae]

By TOM NEWTON DUNN | 16 July 2012 02:02 GMT | The Sun

DAVID Cameron could be forced into a SECOND multi-billion pound U-turn on the design of
Britain’s new aircraft carriers.



The British Prime Minister will have to dump his revised plan for jump-jets to fly off the two giant ships if there is no
quick resolution to the US budget crisis.

Chopping of the American-led programme to build the F35B Joint Strike Fighter is “likely” under automatic spending cuts,
a US Congress report has revealed.

That would push the MoD into a third complete redesign for the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.



Only two months ago, Mr Cameron and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond were humiliated when they had to tear up their
initial design change.

The F35B jump jets were replaced with conventional jets in the October 2010 defence review, only for the F35B plan to be
revived in May as costs and delays began to soar.

The Sun’s revelation comes as Mr Hammond flies to America this week to take receipt of Britain’s first F35B.

In their report Congressional committee officials warned the F35B programme faced “likely elimination” under January US
defence cuts.

Labour said the F35Bs’ scrapping would be a disaster.

Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy said: “A second U-turn would throw the carrier programme into jeopardy and blow
a hole in the Government’s defence budget plans.”

A MoD spokesman said: “We remain firmly committed to the JSF programme.”

The ships’ decks would have to be torn up again to fit catapults and traps so conventional jets that don’t hover could take
off and land.

That could delay the vessels’ arrival by years. And the cost, topping £2billion, would leave the newly-balanced defence
budget in tatters.