Posted on 05/14/2011 9:34:22 AM PDT by george76
Navy will not get fleet of US joint strike fighters until 2023, three years after carrier due to enter service.
The Ministry of Defence has still not decided how many planes should be assigned to the navy's long-delayed and increasingly expensive aircraft carrier programme, but whatever the number they will not be available for more than a decade, it has emerged.
Confusion over the carrier project was compounded on Friday when the MoD said in its "business plan" that the navy will not get its fleet of US joint strike fighters (JSFs) until 2023, three years after HMS Prince of Wales, the carrier to be equipped with the aircraft, is due to enter service.
...
The MoD originally planned to buy more than 130 of the fighters, a figure which will be drastically reduced.
...
In evidence to the Commons defence committee he said he wished he could revisit the government's last-minute decision in the defence review to scrap the Ark Royal and its Harrier jumpjets. He said that if the navy still had a carrier it would be deployed on the operations in Libya. "If we had a carrier it would be there."
Stanhope said the decision to scrap the Ark Royal before the Prince of Wales was ready in 2020 could limit Britain's ability to provide air support for British forces. He said that could leave the UK without a carrier for around three out of every eight years due to the need for periodic refits.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
.....because their refrigerators are made in britain
delayed aircraft carrier,,,will lack jets for the first three years.
Wellll,, that about says it all. So what if the carrier had have been ON TIME? And we want to let the bozo British be in command of American assets in Libya? Insanity,,,
The F-35 JSF fiasco is on US.
Lockheed and America would look even more incompetent than they already do?
Am I understanding correctly that they were intending to buy 130 of these fighters, only to scale them back... in addition to getting rid of their current Harrier force? What air capabilities does this leave them with?
What good are allies if they can’t be with you in a fight? I’m more than a little concerned.
So far as I know, the Ark Royal isn’t scrapped yet and probably hasn’t been seriously de-mil’d. There’s time enough to bring her back.
Same thing with the Harrier GR.9s. The RN/RAF could recall the pilots and send them off to the Italians, Spanish or Marines and have them start getting re-qualified using AV-8Bs (which are similar enough to the GR.9s for that purpose).
If the Brits don’t want to go that route, they could follow in the Aussie’s footsteps and buy some F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to operate off their carriers until the F-35s arrive. The Aussies are being particularly smart with their Super Hornet purchase: the “F”s they’re buying are prewired for upgrade to “G” model (the Electronic Warfare “Growler” variant that’s replacing the EA-6B Prowlers in USN service). The Brits could do the same, and enough “F”s to fill out a single carrier airwing would be enough to not only fill out the “G” role in TWO airwings, but also have some left over for land-based deployments.
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
The only requirement for inclusion in the Navair Pinglist is an interest in Naval Aviation.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.