Impact of U.S. Export Control and Technology Transfer Regime on the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Project: A UK Perspective

Abstract

The research assessed the international impact of the U.S. export control and technology transfer regime with a focus on two specific areas: the UK experience with the U.S. requirements as they relate to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and the impact of U.S. regulations on logistical support for the worldwide JSF fleet. The goal of the research was to generate insights into the nature and extent of the impact of U.S. requirements and identify alternate approaches to the current regime. The overwhelming UK government and industry view is that even with the most generous perspective of the U.S. system, it is fundamentally flawed in its implementation. UK representatives working on the JSF indicated agreement with the goals of U.S. policy, skepticism regarding the impact of those policies on effective project management, and harsh criticism of the process by which the U.S. controls are implemented. The data indicated that interviewees found U.S. requirements generated significant delay, increased costs, dampened initiative to increase capability or efficiency, established critical and unnecessary restrictions on information sharing, and constructed barriers to effective supply chains. There was a sentiment that the U.S. process for obtaining approvals was so difficult, the default decision was to use the safest route, even if that precluded consideration of cheaper or more efficient suppliers, potentially valuable technologies, or alternatives that might have provided more value for money in the JSF. UK representatives thought U.S. requirements not only inconvenience non-U.S. participants, but do not serve U.S. goals in generating an effective project to produce the best equipment. There was recognition of the need to regulate sensitive technology, but a strong view that the focus on U.S. requirements is fundamentally wrong. The representatives believed that the U.S. has generated a complex system that attempts to regulate all items, and thereby fails to provide a focus on effective security for truly sensitive items. UK interviewees expressed frustration with the extent to which U.S. requirements come into play on non-U.S. military items, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon. With regard to the impact of U.S. requirements on the future JSF logistical support arrangements, it appeared that it was too early in the process of deliberation on this issue for UK interviewees to have solid views. On the question of whether the U.S. requirements are a major deterrent to participation in U.S.-led projects, the responses varied depending on the size of the UK firm involved and the potential business with the U.S. However, there was great sympathy for UK firms to design around U.S. requirements and avoid becoming enmeshed in the U.S. regime. Finally, there was strong support for the efforts of the Obama Administration to fundamentally reform the U.S. system, but substantial skepticism that it will be successful.