Originally Posted by
George K Lee
Originally Posted by
WE Branch Fanatic
...,So will the "no aircraft for the carrier" types have the good grace to pipe down?...
When there are aircraft for the UK carriers, we will. The Marine aircraft in the story are part of a small batch of Block 2B aircraft with the now-superseded TR1 processor, a configuration which was never available for anyone except the USMC and that has not undergone formal IOT&E. The UK and other partners have to wait for the Block 3F/TR2 to be tested...
It's not a question of QNLZ not 'having' any (fixed wing) aircraft. The UK 'has' 14 F-35Bs to date and I'm sure the ship could 'have' any of them if she were ready to accept and operate them. However, she isn't due to achieve IOC (Initial Operating Capability) for Carrier Strike until 2020 and FOC (Full Operational Capability) until 2023 although her first operational deployment is programmed for 2021. It's almost as though things have been planned this way.
Originally Posted by UK Defence Journal 29 Nov 2017
...The next phase between 2017 and 2020 will be critical to establishing carrier strike capability. The MoD must bring together the carriers, Lightning jets, and Crowsnest with trained crews and supporting infrastructure, logistics, communications and surveillance capabilities...
