Catapult system among plans to cut cost of aircraft carriers

Defence chiefs are considering drastically scaling back plans to build two aircraft carriers, as part of the biggest squeeze on military spending since the cold war. The Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, due to enter naval service in 2016 and 2018, will cost an estimated £5bn. Plans to equip them with US Joint Strike Fighters will more than double the price. The Guardian has learned there is widespread scepticism among officials advising the National Security Council (NSC) about the need for such "force projection" as well as for a like-for-like replacement for the Trident nuclear missile system. Later this week, the NSC will examine for the first time detailed plans for the strategic defence and security review due to be completed by the end of October. It has already considered three broad strategic options facing the UK — "vigilant", ie concentrating on home defence; investing in agile or "adaptable" forces; or "committed" – focusing on being ready to intervene in any future overseas conflict. The NSC has chosen the "adaptable" option. Cost-cutting measures being considered for the carriers include slashing the number of strike aircraft to go on them and buying cheaper planes, which would be launched by catapult. This would have the added advantage of what officials call "interoperability" with France, whose navy aircraft all use catapults. David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, are expected to announce specific plans for defence co-operation at their summit in Britain in early November. Scottish MPs whose constituencies include the Clyde and Rosyth shipyards have seized on Ministry of Defence figures confirming that more than 100 construction contracts have been awarded for the carriers, to 68 companies across 60 UK constituencies, totalling £1.25bn. Thomas Docherty MP, who represents Rosyth, where the carriers are due to be assembled, said: "To rip up these contracts worth millions at this stage would not only be financial madness, but political suicide." The shadow Scottish secretary, Jim Murphy, Labour MP for East Renfrewshire, said: "If the Tories sink the boats they'll sink the prospects of thousands of families across the UK." Navy sources say cancelling the carriers would save less than £1bn. Other options to reduce the £30bn-plus black hole in the £37bn annual defence budget include: • delaying replacement of the four Trident submarines or placing nuclear warheads on smaller cruise missiles; • cutting the size of the 100,000-strong army by 20,000 and the navy and airforce by a further 20,000 personnel, and closing British bases in Germany; • getting rid of the RAF's fleet of Tornado fast jets and reducing the number of planned Eurofighter Typhoons; • cutting the number of the army's heavy tanks and long-range artillery.