RAF wins Tornado dogfight

Senior Tory MPs have been told that David Hart, the controversial adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Portillo, will be overruled on plans to lease F-16 jets from the US, instead of upgrading British-built Tornado F3s, writes Colin Brown.

The news emerged as the Ministry of Defence announced a shift of emphasis away from the strongly free-market approach preferred by Mr Hart, in favour of British industry. Mr Portillo accepted demands by the Commons Select Committee on Defence to give the Department of Trade and Industry a greater role in some procurement decisions.

Mr Hart's proposal to lease the F-16 jets from the US enraged the RAF board and caused stiff opposition from senior RAF officers, who have been lobbying hard for the RAF F3 Tornados to be upgraded, at a cost of pounds 120m, until the Eurofighter project bears fruit.

Michael Heseltine, the Deputy Prime Minister, has also lined up against the proposal to lease the US jets.