Originally Posted by orca
Also - so long as these ratings that are hell bent on creating fatalities on deck only kill themselves then we should be good.
They are not the ones strapped into pointy things with jet engines and large amounts of fuel that may crash into things or fall over the side. Good luck!
Originally Posted by Courtney Mil
It seems to me that if the Navy lacks the skill sets to utilize the new carrier operationally, we may as well save the country a fortune and cancel it now.
Nice sophistry! I seem to remember being present during a briefing by the Fleet Air Arm Command Warrant Officer in late 2009, during which he stated that a priority task was to get more aircraft embarked at sea to build up skills and experience in preparation for CVF and F35. The loss of the Sea Harrier, and the commitment of Harrier to
Herrick, had meant that these skills had faded. Yet we did embark Harriers from time to time, and embarked American, Italian, and Spanish ones. Why are we not doing this now?
Pre SDSR regeneration of carriers skills was seen as a priority. SDSR axed Harrier. Therefore if we are losing these skills it is down to SDSR. However, SDSR said that in the longer term we need carriers. The decision to go back to a STOVL future means that the claims that skill involved were of no use is not just an excuse (based on assuming that nobody would think about it too deeply - as they might start wondering if basics would still be basics) to help justify a hasty decision, but is completely inapplicable. Yet the problem is solvable - see
points 9 to 12 here.
If we permitted ourselves to think outside of the SDSR box, we could probably devise a solution that gives UK based RN fixed wing pilots something to fly, AND provide an aircraft (even if it only a couple) to embark - in terms of preparing future carrier personnel is there any substitute for jets on deck?
The history of naval aviation is a history of courage and innovation. Yet none of out current political leaders (is this a clue where the problem is?) has the courage to admit a mistake, or to allow innovation. How many more wars do we want to lose, or needless losses to happen?