Re: F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Thread
In that roile, as I say, it is unequaled.
5th generation stealth. Supersonic VTOL/STOVL aircraft. Unparalled situational awareness and sesnor fusion which provides for local AWACS capabilities. Large weapons loadouts, either internally for steatlh missions, or externally for more traditional misisons. Air to air refueling capability. Very decent manueverability with very good high angle of attack, and intentional control departure capabilities, not to mention its off-bore attack capbailities.
The F-35B is going to be better at all of those things than the Harrier. And the Harrier was the only fixed wing, carrier-borne naval air arm the UK utilized for decades.
Really, Asif, your displeasure and anger is not with the F-35Bs. Your real issue, and I wholeheartedly agree with it, is the UK liberal administrations decision to do away with the CATOBAR carrier and choose the Jump-jet carrier configuration.
The CATOBAR would have brought the F-35C, F-18E/F, E-2D, etc., etc. Instead, the UK, in deciding to go with the Jump-jet version of the ships, limited the UK to the F-35B and helo/rotary AEW.
In that was indeed, IMHO, a tragic, shortsighted decision.
But this is the decision the UK government made and has not proceeded with through the launch of the QE, and the ongoing building of the PoW.
You are right. The UK will be living with the consequences of that decision for the next 50 years.
Having said all of that, the QE class with a full airwing of F-35Bs, and with a decent rotary AEW aircraft, and its Daring, Type 26, and Astute escorts, will still be a very formidable force to reckon with for any nation. Potential adversaries will not dare take those UK carrier strike groups for granted or underestimate them.
They could have been much better...but now? Well, it is what it is.
Oh, well, as the French would say...
"C'est la vie."
...or, in German,
"So ist das Leben."
Why not? As a VTOL and STOVL aircraft it is unequaled. It is not the "C" model, nor was it meant to be. It was specifically designed to replace the AV-8B Harriers in US Marine service (or to provide a similar capability to allied nations).
In that roile, as I say, it is unequaled.
5th generation stealth. Supersonic VTOL/STOVL aircraft. Unparalled situational awareness and sesnor fusion which provides for local AWACS capabilities. Large weapons loadouts, either internally for steatlh missions, or externally for more traditional misisons. Air to air refueling capability. Very decent manueverability with very good high angle of attack, and intentional control departure capabilities, not to mention its off-bore attack capbailities.
The F-35B is going to be better at all of those things than the Harrier. And the Harrier was the only fixed wing, carrier-borne naval air arm the UK utilized for decades.
No, it does not., but, as I say, it is not the "C" and was not meant to be.
Really, Asif, your displeasure and anger is not with the F-35Bs. Your real issue, and I wholeheartedly agree with it, is the UK liberal administrations decision to do away with the CATOBAR carrier and choose the Jump-jet carrier configuration.
The CATOBAR would have brought the F-35C, F-18E/F, E-2D, etc., etc. Instead, the UK, in deciding to go with the Jump-jet version of the ships, limited the UK to the F-35B and helo/rotary AEW.
In that was indeed, IMHO, a tragic, shortsighted decision.
Exactly.High tempo prolonged air opps from a flat tops really asks for a fully blown carrier a ski jump doesn't quite cut it
And this issue just isn't going to go away!!
But this is the decision the UK government made and has not proceeded with through the launch of the QE, and the ongoing building of the PoW.
You are right. The UK will be living with the consequences of that decision for the next 50 years.
Having said all of that, the QE class with a full airwing of F-35Bs, and with a decent rotary AEW aircraft, and its Daring, Type 26, and Astute escorts, will still be a very formidable force to reckon with for any nation. Potential adversaries will not dare take those UK carrier strike groups for granted or underestimate them.
They could have been much better...but now? Well, it is what it is.
Oh, well, as the French would say...
"C'est la vie."
...or, in German,
"So ist das Leben."
