In one word, whats wrong with the British armed forces these days?
As to cost, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in recent years estimated the entire planned British buy of 232 jets at £20bn, putting each plane at £86m. (Any lesser figure can be produced only by very creative accounting.) However, it is widely acknowledged that the RAF cannot in fact use more than 120-odd jets plus some attrition spares. Meanwhile, it is also well known that the RAF would like a much more capable strike capability than the “austere” option currently on offer. The cost to the UK taxpayer of enhancing Tranche 3 aircraft in this way has been reported as an additional £5bn.
