BY : lep
The Lancashire-built Eurofighter Typhoon could be converted to operate off a pair of 65,000-ton aircraft carriers.
Defence giant BAE Systems has not ruled out the possibility of created a "navalised" version amid fears the F-35 Lightning II jets, proposed to fly off the £3.8 billion carriers, will not be ready in time for 2012, when they are proposed to be ready to set sail.
Reports have suggested the company has already started work converting Typhoon at its bases in Warton and Samlesbury, near Preston, which head up its Typhoon operations.
But the company has insisted it remains supportive of the F-35 programme, on which it works alongside American manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
A BAE spokesman said: "We have in the past done studies into a navalised Typhoon and such a development is feasible, our work was passed to the UK Ministry of Defence and is now its property.
"BAE Systems is fully committed to the F-35 programme and supports the government's desire for that project to succeed."