New British Defense Strategy

The British government announced a new defense strategy on 19 October 2010. A white paper released in Parliament titled Securing Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The Strategic Defence and Security Review details how the country’s armed forces will be reshaped in the coming years to face emerging and future threats. Among the expected changes, the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy will now operate only the F-35C, the carrier variant of the Lightning II, instead of the planned purchase of the F-35B short takeoff, vertical landing variant. With replacement aircraft entering RAF service this decade, the TriStar tanker fleet will be retired after 2013 and the C-130 fleet could be retired around 2020, a decade earlier than originally planned.