LONDON, March 2 (UPI) -- The British government, amid concerns about delays and rising costs, is reviewing a plan to purchase up to 50 new fighter jets, officials said.
The F-35C Joint Strike Fighters, being built in the United States, were chosen to replace the Royal Navy's Harrier jet because they would be easy to operate from aircraft carriers but there are problems with the design of the landing gear, The Daily Telegraph reported.
A redesign, expected to be costly, could seriously delay the project, leaving Britain's new aircraft carriers without any fighter jets to land on them, The Guardian said Friday.
Philip Hammond, Britain's defense secretary, may be forced to choose an alternative model of the Joint Strike Fighter, which would affect an agreement between Britain and France to share weapons and equipment, putting it in doubt, the newspaper said.
Jim Murphy, the Labor Party's shadow defense secretary, expressed his concerns Thursday in a letter to Hammond.
"There are increasing fears in the United States and in other countries that the proposed program for aircraft for our new aircraft carriers will not be completed to time and on budget," he said. "There are real worries that time and money may have been wasted."
