Originally Posted by
SASless
Beags,
I would think the aircraft could be either landed or craned aboard one of the new carriers and transported to close proximity of the USA or Canada and then be flown off to continue on their merry way as a legitimate option.
Using an aircraft carrier to take 5 jets across the pond is surely doable, but not really an easy or cheap option. The bunkering, crewing, provisioning, impact on scheduling with say 2 weeks of sailing time, loss of the ship and aircraft for training times, etc would be enormous.
I also note the Spanish P-3 borrowed for long range SAR support.....as Beagle noted, another capability gap until P-8 comes on line.