IT'S OFFICIAL. THE UK HAS ANNOUNCED A RETURN TO THE F-35B... NAH, NOT REALLY.

Hours ago Daily Mail and The Scotsman reported that David Cameron and his government have officially announced a u-turn back to the STVOL F-35B. This, however, has been confirmed bollocks by the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence:
Defence in the Media: 17 April 2012

The Scotsman (and Daily Mail) today incorrectly reports that it has been decided which variant of Joint Strike Fighter will be flown from the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers. The paper claims that a Royal Navy press release confirms that the MOD will opt for the short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, but no such decision has been made.
An article on the Royal Navy website yesterday merely reported on the maiden flight of one of the trial versions of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft, which was purchased years ago by the previous government and happens to be a STOVL variant. The Royal Navy article said 'there has been intense media speculation about the F-35 and the variant which may - or may not - fly from the decks of the HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales'.
The article also made clear that while Britain did originally opt for the 'jump jet' version, known as F-35B, following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review a decision was made to instead purchase the traditional carrier version, the F-35C.
The intention to move to a 'cats and traps' based carrier strike capability was always subject to a detailed piece of work to assess the costs and risks involved in converting a Queen Elizabeth Class carrier and that work is ongoing. The Defence Secretary will announce the outcome of this process to Parliament in due course.

How typical of Daily Mail. I guess this just goes to show how piss-poor they are at reporting defence-related issues. I'd advise everyone to veer well away from Daily Mail for anything defence or military-related. I'd say the same for The Scotsman, too.