I first heard of Harmony in regard to the Harrier/Tornado issue when it was raised some years ago, in parliamentary records of debates.
My curiosity was pricked regarding F-35B after thumbing more parliamentary records below on the Harrier/Tornado issue:
Defence Committee - Additional (Unprinted) Written Evidence
The Strategic Defence and Security Review and the National Security Strategy
(2011)
https://publications.parliament.uk/p...61/761vw01.htm
This is a treasure trove of information on the Harrier/Tornado and Nimrod issues (the later study acknowledges they were both the wrong decision and derides the manner in which the decisions were taken).
Looking at Appendix 1, parts near the bottom are very interesting, especially regarding the Harrier/Tornado decision.
Annex C: What is Lost by Withdrawing the Harrier?
Annex D: Retention in Service Cost Comparison—Tornado v. Harrier
Annex B: JOINT FORCE HARRIER—MIGRATION TO FUTURE JOINT COMBAT AIRCRAFT
Annex D makes specific reference to Harmony policy differences and acknowkedges this will have a significant impact on operations and strategy.
I was curious as to how this would affect carrier F-35B force and if there would be impact on normal peace time carrier operations. Concerns raised were that there would be more inconvenience and cost caused by the difference in harmony policy. 'Blooded' crews would be replaced by 'newbies', which would dilute effectiveness of the crews for a period, plus the cost and effort to replace crews mid-cruise.
I know the F-35 simulator has been praised highly, but I assumed it would still take a new crew time to qualify and acclimatise to carrier operations. I was also curious as to normal non-combat peace time cruises; would RAF crews rotate mid-cruise?
The concerns raised seemed sound, especially when considered over the life-time of carrier cruises, where the cumulative additional cost of replacing crews mid-cruise could be a significant sum.
How will this be handled in peace time and in combat; will RAF F-35B pilots be rotated mid-cruise?