As military jets go, few are as ambi-tious as America's $256 billion (£144 billion) Joint Strike Fighter (jsf). Not only is it the largest defence contract ever signed, but it has grandiose political ambitions to boot. Rudy de Leon, America's former deputy defence secretary, was so taken with the moment in 2001 when Britain committed $2 billion to help develop the jet that he evoked the memory of Winston Churchill. "Today we once again fulfil his optimism for our two nations and find as constant as the sun our partnerships," he declared. Clouds have since appeared. Last week, Tony Blair reportedly contacted the White House for the third time in almost as many weeks to lobby against the cancellation of a $2.4 billion contract awarded to a British firm, Rolls-Royce, along with America's General Electric, to develop a second engine for the fighter. Underlying British disappointment over that contract, awarded only last August, is a deeper resentment over access to key technologies on the jet.
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机译：随着军用飞机的普及，很少有人能像美国的2560亿美元（1440亿英镑）联合攻击战斗机（jsf）一样雄心勃勃。它不仅是有史以来最大的国防合同，而且具有雄心勃勃的政治野心。美国前副国防部长鲁迪·德莱昂（Rudy de Leon）在2001年当英国投入20亿美元帮助研制喷气机时被如此吸引，以致他唤起了温斯顿·丘吉尔的记忆。他说：“今天，我们再次实现了他对我们两国的乐观态度，并发现我们的伙伴关系像太阳一样持续不断。”此后出现了乌云。据报道，上周，托尼·布莱尔（Tony Blair）在近几个星期内第三次联系白宫，游说反对取消授予英国劳斯莱斯公司（Rolls-Royce）与美国通用电气（General Electric）的24亿美元合同，以开发第二台发动机为战斗机。直到去年八月才使英国人对该合同感到失望，这是对获得喷气式飞机关键技术的不满。
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