US Marines 'to buy all UK harriers '
14 November 2011
The US government is finalising a deal that will see it purchase all 74 of the UK's decommissioned Harrier jump jets and their spare parts, it has been reported.
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed it is working on a deal with the US for the sale of "Harrier assets", but said it would be inappropriate to comment on the future of the fleet, currently in storage at RAF Cottesmore.
The deal is likely to be completed in the next two weeks, DefenceManagement.com understands.
Reports have suggested that any deal would see the US pay $50m for Britain's inventory of Harrier spares and a further unspecified amount for the aircraft themselves and their Rolls-Royce Pegasus Mk-105 and Mk-107 engines,
The US Marine Corps currently operates around 120 Harrier AV-8B aircraft, including training variants, but is expected to phase out the Harrier as the F-35B, the Short Take Off and Vertical Landing variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), comes into service in the middle of the next decade.
British Harrier jump jets and aircraft carriers were scrapped in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, which left the country without carrier strike capability until the launch of the first of the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers in 2019. The new carriers will operate the F-35C carrier variant of the JSF.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman told DefenceManagement.com: "We are currently negotiating the sale of Harrier assets to the US government. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment on the future of the Harrier fleet at this time. "
Source:
http://www.defencemanagement.com/news_story.asp?id=18010
