Originally Posted by
Eclectic
We could sell them one of ours.
We don't need two.
Wrong on so many levels. One carrier gives you half a carrier. When it's in dock for refit you have no carrier at all. THAT is why we have two, so one is always available to deploy at short notice
Perhaps we could sell them a job lot of Typhoons instead we only need the one squadron to cover UK AD, after all its only the occasional ancient 1950s vintage Tu-85 Bear that probes our airspace?
See it's easy to talk bolleaux on these matters. No European nation is buying F-35Bs apart from Italy and they'll only have enough for a single sqn on one of their baby carriers. The French are looking for the rest of the EU to finance the replacement of the CdG, and they'll insist on cat and trap to operate their Rafales. They'll also insist on a ship built in their shipyards, as the unions will raise merry hell if they even suggest buying in from abroad. So dream on, PoW is staying RN!