LONDON: Senior US aerospace and defence executives are pressing the Bush administration to rescind its decision to deny Britain, America’s loyal ally, access to top-secret stealth technology in the new F-35, the joint strike fighter that is the world’s costliest aircraft.

Last week Lord Drayson, the British defence procurement minister, warned senators Britain would pull out of the $250bn project unless the White House and Pentagon agreed to technology transfers that would enable UK to retain control over its military assets and adapt the fighter to its own needs.

Britain is contributing $2bn to the project and has opted to buy 150 fighters out of the potential 2,600 on order for the US air force, navy and marines. But ministers are annoyed that President George Bush has cancelled plans for a second engine — to be jointly built by Rolls-Royce and GE — alongside one being developed by Pratt & Whitney. The F-35, worth a potential $400bn when export orders are included, would be built by BAE Systems in Britain and other firms, including Finmeccanica, in Italy, Holland, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway.

Lord Drayson told the Senate armed services committee: “Without the technology transfer to give us the confidence to deliver an aircraft fit to fight on our terms, we will not be able to buy these aircraft.” He is the latest in a string of ministers, including Tony Blair, to demand a quid pro quo from the Americans for the support the UK has given the Bush administration over Iraq, Afghanistan and other military campaigns.

President Bush’s draft 2007 budget excludes a second engine for the F-35, which will save the hard-pressed Pentagon budget about $1.8bn. But GE and Rolls-Royce executives told the senators Pratt & Whitney would benefit from a windfall of up to $82bn over the F-35’s 30-year life if it alone built the engine. Britain is being denied access to the fighter’s stealth technology under US rules governing non-proliferation of weapons that could end up in terrorist hands. In an effort to resolve the growing crisis in US-British relations, American executives have told the White House to agree to a compromise.

One told a recent conference that Nato could provide an inspectorate to monitor any transfer of technology to countries friendly to the US while another said the body should engage in a permanent dialogue on the issue. —Dawn/The Guardian News Service