Usefulness of FA2 vs GR7
Jacko said:
When, since 1990, would it have been more useful for the RN to despatch an all-SHar air wing than an all GR7/9 air wing?
Well lest take a look at the facts:
1) The GR7 is a flying target for any fighter. It simply cannot conduct its business if there is the slightest hint of enemy fighters. It cannot fight its way in or out. It cannot defend itself or its ship. It is naive in the extreme to assume that your enemy will just sit still and watch you attack him.
2) The FA2 can fight its way in and out and a mixed fighter/bomber mix of FA2s is much more capable in a high threat environment. Granted its weapons delivery systems are not as good, but at least it stands a chance of getting there to use them.
What the ill-informed tend to forget is that with an all-Shar force, you can sanistise the area of enemy fighters with one of the best radar AMRAAM combinations available and then switch to a mixed fighter/bomber force to acheive your objective AND get back in one piece.
This has been standard naval doctrine since WW2.
I note the USMC and the Italian and Spanish navies have decided that a plane without radar has had its day and are busy re-equipping them with radar, we on the other hand are willing sacrifice our pilots lives and take them off.
Surely a good compromise would be to by a dozen Harrier II+ airframes to give our pilots some protection.