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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 01, 2002

Britain to Buy New Generation Fighters

Britain said on Monday it had decided to buy 150 short take-off and vertical landing F-35s fighters to keep investing in jump-jets for its air and naval forces.


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Britain said on Monday it had decided to buy 150 short take-off and vertical landing F-35s fighters to keep investing in jump-jets for its air and naval forces.

Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said the government would buy the new generation of F-35 jets from Lockheed Martin Corp., at a cost of up to 10 billion pounds (about 15.6 billion US dollars).

The jets, which also have been ordered by the U.S. Marine Corps,are expected to come into service in 2012 and will operate both from land bases and from two large new aircraft carriers to be built in the next decade.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is viewed as a replacement for the aging fighters of the British forces, including Harriers, F-16s and F-18s. It is the biggest warplane project in history and the Pentagon's largest ever purchase.

Harrier jump jets, which are currently used by Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, can take off on a short runway and land vertically on ships. They have been used since the 1960s and 29 of the Sea Harriers are scheduled to be retired between 2004 and 2006.

The Ministry of Defense said work on F-35s, which have British company Rolls Royce engines, would create 3,500 jobs in Britain, and the jobs could rise to 8,500 once the aircraft moves into production and then into service.

"This is good news for Britain's armed forces, good news for British manufacturing and good news for British jobs," a BBC report quoted Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon as telling a conference of the ruling Labor Party in Blackpool, northwestern England.


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