A statement by President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair on the final day of their two-day summit appeared to put to rest a dispute over codes used to access US avionics systems aboard the F-35 fighters.

Britain, angered by US reluctance to share the codes, had been preparing to pull out of the project and the planned purchase of 150 aircraft at 104 million dollars apiece.

Bush and Blair said they agreed that Britain "will have the ability to successfully operate, upgrade, employ, and maintain the Joint Strike Fighter such that the UK retains operational sovereignty over the aircraft."

US officials said the move would allow the British to make their own adaptations to the JSF without having to call in US technicians.

"Both governments agree to protect sensitive technologies found within the Joint Strike Fighter program," Bush and Blair wrote. "Together, we are working out the details, while remaining committed to these principles."

The statement did not mention another spat over the US cost-cutting move to cancel a 2.4 billion dollar contract for the British firm Rolls-Royce and the US giant General Electric to develop a backup engine.

Announcement of progress in resolving the JSF technology issue came as Bush and Blair, beleaguered Iraq war allies, declared their determination to boost their defense cooperation.

Their statement said they had agreed to allow "appropriately cleared British and US personnel" to use the same computer network to access intelligence and other planning tools supporting joint military operations.

The JSF has been billed as the United States' biggest fighter program. The Pentagon has planned to buy 2,400 of the stealthy multi-role fighters and other countries could purchase another 2,000 to 3,500 aircraft.

The aircraft is manufactured by Lockheed Martin with funding from the US armed forces along with international partners Britain, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore and Turkey.

But Britain's military industry press had buzzed with speculation that differences with Washington might force London to drop out and invest instead in the Rafale, developed by the French firm Dassault.

British officials denied the reports but Paul Drayson, minister for defense procurement, made it clear in testimony to the US Senate in March that failure to deliver the access codes could be a deal-breaker.

"Operational sovereignty, the ability to integrate, upgrade, operate and sustain the aircraft as we see fit and without recourse to others is of paramount importance," Drayson said.

Britain is also the biggest stakeholder in the Eurofighter project being developed jointly with Germany, Italy and Spain. France pulled out of Eurofighter to concentrate on the Rafale.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com