Originally Posted by
SASless
Spending Millions designing Cats.....dear boy they already exist in many forms.
Build them under license.....there....problem sorted. Same for the arresting gear.
Then you could operate F-35's, F-18's, COD's, Carrier AWACS Aircraft, UAV's.....aircraff from many NATO nations.
Lots more parking room for aircraft as well....then you could carry more than a half squadron.
But what price flexibility and capability.....when it really doesn't matter as your Carrier is not meant to be used anyway.
:-) Trust me these are designed to carry much more than 1/2 squadron, and they really should never deploy with 6 F35s! They are designed for 36, with surge capability for more at a very high sortie rate. If only we could afford the aircraft and have the RAF allow the planes to deploy to sea.
The bottom up design is facinating. Start from the target sortie rate and design the ships around that. I thik the USN were hoping to learn from the experience, but lack of aircarft may dilute the learnings.