§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
What impact the current design overweight of the F-35B will have on the Joint Combat Aircraft project. [HL2595]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) requirements are defined in terms of aircraft performance, which are the product of many factors, including weight, drag, and engine thrust. At current engine thrust and drag values, the Short Take Off/ Vertical Landing variant of the JSF is some 3,300 lbs overweight to meet its stipulated performance levels. Work is in hand in the United States to examine options to ensure that the overall performance requirements are met, addressing all possible options including a significant reduction in aircraft weight. This work will not mature in detail until early 2005, although an interim assessment of likely outcome in summer 2004 will enable performance against the United Kingdom's key user requirements to be preliminary evaluated at that time.