U.K. F-35 Switch

British defense minister Phillip Hammond is slated to announce Thursday that the United Kingdom will drop plans to buy the F-35C aircraft-carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter and opt instead for the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant, according to published reports. The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday that Hammond "will claim the decision will save hundreds of millions of pounds" and help the U.K. military. The potential for such a switch had been widely reported in recent weeks as British officials grew concerned about the cost of converting one of the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers to handle the F-35's carrier variant.