Originally Posted by
Asturias56
W The RN also didn't fancy developing their own CATOBAR system from scratch (god forbid they'd buy one from France - what would BAe do for profits?) so really they defaulted to what they knew - STOVL. They were lucky there was version of the F-35 available otherwise it would probably have had to have been EMALS but only one ship.
Not sure this is very true. Had F35 been canned there would definately have been an issue. But the carriers were designed around F35B. Asice fromit not been cancelled, there was no luck around F35B.
The French do not have an EM Catapult. The choice, when Cats and traps was being considered, was complete development of the UK system, or buy EMALS. The cost of conversion of one carrier was almost £2 billion so was canned. I am also led to belive that within both the RN and RAF there was a preference for the B as it allows better sharing of resources. (People and equipment - Had we gone Cats, maintining carrier quals would have led to a smaller ship focussed capability.)