Having been abandoned by Airbus after the Brexit vote as a partner for the next generation of fighter jets, BAE Systems put on a brave face at the Farnborough Air Show on Monday. It unveiled a full-size model of what its planned Tempest fighter may look like in 20 years, and a UK government pledge of ￡2bn.
Given that the programme for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fifth-generation fighter, built with BAE as a partner, is costing $400bn, that will not go far. “Capable, flexible, upgradeable, connected, affordable,” declared the slogan behind the model aircraft. The last is the biggest stretch.
After a post-cold war decline and the squeeze that followed the 2008 crisis, this is a bountiful moment for defence contractors. Not only has Donald Trump raised the US defence budget but he spent last week berating its allies for missing Nato’s spending targets.