In May, the coalition said it was changing from its proposed "catapult and trap" planes to jump jets.

BBC: Joint Strike Fighter planes (file pic)

The government decided to retire the HMS Ark Royal and its fleet of Harrier jump jets in 2011, five years early.

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The Navy's Harrier jump jets are also being retired.

BBC: Queen bids farewell to carrier Ark Royal

The strategic defence review included plans to scrap Harrier jump jets, the Navy's flagship HMS Ark Royal and Nimrod spy planes, as well as 42, 000 Ministry of Defence and armed forces jobs.

BBC: An aircraft lands at RAF Northolt

He said the government should never have scrapped its Harrier jump jets, which he said had been "sold off to America for a fraction of their value" - a decision he said risked "international ridicule".

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And it saw the cancellation of equipment including Nimrod MRA4 reconnaissance planes and the early withdrawal of HMS Ark Royal and Harrier jump-jets.

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They would carry short-take-off and vertical-landing versions of the Joint Strike Fighter, stealthy planes that are being developed jointly with America to replace the Harrier jump-jets.

ECONOMIST: Defence procurement

With one exception: since the review's publication there has been simmering rage over a plan to scrap 80 Harrier jump-jets and Ark Royal, an aircraft-carrier, and to keep the RAF's Tornado fleet.

ECONOMIST: Why scrapping the Harrier aircraft looks like a mistake

The program allows controllers to fly in the cockpit "jump seat" of commercial jets so they can become acquainted with the pilots' workloads and responsibilities, and ultimately become better at their own.

CNN: Program will put air traffic controllers back in the skies