His plan B is what, is the Eurofighter carrier capable, buy used F14's, what is he gonna fly off a carrier?? LOL a French plane!!! anyone?
His plan B is what, is the Eurofighter carrier capable, buy used F14's, what is he gonna fly off a carrier?? LOL a French plane!!! anyone?
This is the exact truth.
The current UK plan is to build two new carriers, proper ones, to replace the baby Invincible carriers we have now. The plan was to use the JSF as the main strike plane from them. We ARE buying Eurofighter (largely because we have put so much into it and are building part of them) but Eurofighter is not designed for carrier operations.
If we cannot acquire JSF from our loyal allies, then we will have to buy RAFALE-M (French) because it would take too long and cost too much to design our own. If we buy Rafale, we will have to redesign the carriers because the size, landing characteristics etc of Rafale are different from JSF. This will delay the project, and increase its cost, (and enable the French to build a carrier themselves cheaply off the back of our order).
As for the gung-ho attitudes expressed by the Yanks on this post, have you not figured out that you are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy? You complain that your "allies" don't back you (in spite of Britains heroic efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan) and you will be able to do so again in ten years time when the next war pops up, because Britain wont have the capacity to help, due to the fact that its existing carrier fleet will have been scrapped and the replacements wont be in service cos we wont have any planes to fly off them. Good plan. Well done.
Alliances work both ways, or they dont work at all. Perhaps it isnt so strange you have so many enemies in the world - I mean look how you treat your friends.
However there is talk of the Rafale-M being chosen as a substitute fighter should the JSF program fall apart (which it will not, at least not for political reasons. The Brits are only using the Rafale-M as a bargaining tool, but they WILL get the JSF .....the only way they wouldn't get the F-35 would be due to the program falling apart due to other constraints, and the STOV/L version that the Brits/US MArines are getting is facing SIGNIFICANT weight issues). However, even though the Rafale-M is a bargaining chip, it is still technically possible to make it into a Brit carrier fighter at a cost that is significantly lower than that for a 'navalized' Eurofighter Typhoon. It is a viable solution. And while the Rafale-M may not be as effective as what the JSF promises to be, it would still be far more effective than ANYTHING the Brits would find themselves steaming after (and for the truly potent adversaries you can be certain that the Brits will have the backing of Uncle Sam ....for instance there is virtually no chance of the Brits sending their carriers off the coast of China solo). Hence the Rafale-M would be a very capable fighter for them (and the Rafale is a very very good plane even though it usually garners guffaws and the like since it is built by the French ....who by the way are quite good at building things. What they lack is the will to fight not the brains for invention).
Anyways, the Brits will get the JSF, the US will give them the codes (and of all our allies Britain and Australia are the ones who can be trusted the most with those codes .....allies like Israel are the ones who should be at the bottom of the list since that nation tends to 'lose' our tech to China with abundant ease. I love Israel, but they apparently love selling stuff to China just as much).
Thus, the Brits get the codes (and the JSF), we give it to them (goodness, they are the only country we share our Trident SLBMs nukes with), and everyone is happy. Talk of the Rafale-M is rapidly forgotten and the next 'crisis' soon emerges.
The only way they are not getting the F-35 JSF is if the problems affecting the STOV/L version continue. However political reasons will not kill the Brit JSF unless some REALLY STUPUID political mumbo-jumbo occurs (which is, sadly, always possible).
However when it comes to allies our closest are the Brits and the Aussies (and add to that the Canadians, although they always grumble before actually helping ....but help they do once they finish complaining. They are like the teen who always makes noise about chores, but then after the tantrum picks up the sickle and heads out into the field). Every other ally is questionable.
India's going to use MiG 29s. The French use Rafales. The Chinese are reportedly looking at Su variants.
No, it'll be an excuse not to build the carriers.