Islamic State: Charles de Gaulle carrier triples French firepower

[Lonewolf_50]

Originally Posted by RAFEngO74to09

There would be no "spare" US AV-8B available to lease anyway until FY21 at the earliest and then you're back to bearing the unacceptable total cost of operation of aircraft that the US would otherwise store as attrition replacements ..

Not to mention that the ones the USMC do have aren't getting any younger, fatigue life wise. As that airframe/system gets older, all kinds of bits and pieces and kit won't be made any longer ... which further drives up the cost of keeping a few squadrons of them flying. Suppliers need a certain volume to stay in business, or a certain price point.