British Carrier May Not Be Compatible With French, Echos Says

The British military may abandon plans to build aircraft carriers compatible with those of the French navy because the U.K. may change the type of launch system, Les Echos reported, without saying where it got the information.

Cost overruns on Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)’s F-35 fighter could lead the U.K. to abandon a catapult-launch version of the plane for the planned “Prince of Wales” carrier -- the same launch system in use on France’s “Charles de Gaulle” carrier. A decision will be taken before Easter, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net