US military to buy Britain's scrapped fleet of Harrier jets
The US military has agreed to buy Britain’s entire fleet of Harrier jump jets after they were controversially scrapped under the Government’s austerity measures.
7:30AM GMT 16 Nov 2011
The US Navy and Marine Corps is in the final stages of negotiations to purchase all 74 of the planes, which have been permanently grounded since last year’s Strategic Defence Review.
The sale is likely to raise further questions over the wisdom of axing the Harrier as US defence chiefs suggested they were getting a bargain by buying the recently upgraded aircraft.
Rear Admiral Mark Heinrich, chief of the US navy's supply corps, said buying the Harriers made sense because many of the jets had recently undergone a refit, and the US already had pilots who could fly them.
"We're taking advantage of all the money the Brits have spent on them," he told the US newspaper Navy Times.
"It's like we're buying a car with maybe 15,000 miles on it. These are very good platforms. And we've already got trained pilots."
The Ministry of Defence last night confirmed that it was negotiating the sale but declined to disclose how much the Americans are offering.
The US navy, which already has a fleet of Harriers, hopes that the deal will allow it to continue operating the aircraft into the middle of the next decade and provide extra planes to replace its ageing two-seat F-18D Hornet strike fighters.
Rear-Adml Heinrich added that the US was prepared to pay $50m (£32m) for spare parts alone, while experts said converting the British jets to US specification is a relatively inexpensive process.
The Harrier’s retirement, which came at the same time as the Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier Ark Royal was axed, was heavily criticised by several senior military figures, while dozens of pilots were left without planes to fly.
The recent campaign in Libya renewed concerns that without the fleet of Harriers, Britain’s military capability has been severely hampered.
Rear Admiral Chris Parry, who was among those who criticised the defence review, said: "The issue is not that the US marines are buying the Harriers: it's that the US still thinks that the Harriers are viable aircraft. They still think there is a need for them."
The British Harriers have been kept in storage at RAF Cottesmore, in Rutland, where they have been maintained in an airworthy condition in readiness for sale.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “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.”
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