The RAF may have to wait until the 2040s for delivery of fighter jets to replace the Typhoon (Image: Getty)
The Royal Air Force may have to wait until the 2040s for delivery of fighter jets to replace its Typhoons, a report suggests. Tempest aircraft entering service will reportedly be delayed until the late 2030s or even the 2040s as funding for the project is pushed back until the middle of the next decade.
The Tempest has been hailed by the RAF as promising the deployment of “game-changing” tech. It was due to replace the Typhoon as the RAF’s main fighter from 2035. Its development is part of a joint project with Italy and Japan set to cost £12billion. Britain’s overdue Defence Investment Plan (DIP) will reportedly confirm that funding for the scheme won’t be released until the mid-2030s, the Telegraph reports.
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Labour has been accused of bottling the tough decisions to fund defence (Image: Getty)
Shadow Defence Secretary, James Cartlidge, said with war on two fronts and the threats the UK faces, Labour should be speeding up programmes which make Brits safer, not “deliberately delaying them for years”.
He accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of being willing to kick the UK’s next generation fighter programme into the long grass even if it damages the country’s defence capabilities.
Mr Cartlidge said: “Labour have once again bottled taking the tough decisions to fund defence and are effectively cutting capabilities to find cash when they should be cutting welfare.”
Labour’s Strategic Defence Review was published in June last year and promised an end to the “hollowing out” of Britain’s armed forces.
The DIP setting out defence spending priorities over the next decade was meant to be published in autumn last year, but it has still not been released.
The Conservative Party has tabled an amendment which would require the plan to be released within a month of the Armed Forces Bill getting royal assent.
The Tempest was due to replace the Typhoon from 2035 (Image: RAF/Crown Copyright)
Though Labour’s Commons majority means it is almost guaranteed not to pass, the move will highlight that a year has passed since the review on June 2 last year.
Lord George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary and one of the authors of the Strategic Defence Review, used a lecture last month to hit out at the Government’s “corrosive complacency” on defence spending.
Asked about delays to the DIP being published, Work and Pensions Secretary, Pat McFadden, told Sky News on Sunday (May 31): “It’s close.”
He added the Government has not been putting off its publication, but taking the time to get it right.
It is understood that drones and autonomous systems will be given priority in the DIP after their use in both the Ukraine and Iran wars.
The Telegraph reports that the NATO summit on July 7 is being viewed by officials as a deadline for the DIP’s publication to avoid Sir Keir’s blushes if he shows up empty-handed.
Under pressure from US President Donald Trump, the Government has pledged to increase defence spending to 2.7% of GDP from next year, rising to 5% by 2035. Mr Trump is expected to attend the NATO summit in Turkey.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The UK remains committed to the global combat air programme, working closely with our international partners to deliver a next‑generation combat air capability.
“Our focus is on continuing to work closely with Italy and Japan on the next steps towards the full international contract. We are working to finalise the Defence Investment Plan and will publish it as soon as possible.”