I was in MOD 1989 to 1994 in a couple of posts seeing circulation papers when the RAF was offered the F-15E at a preferential price to extend production for a lot less than Harrier GR5 was costing at the time. Given that the main raison d'etre for Harrier GR5 and later models - forward field operations in Germany - had gone by then, there is no doubt in my mind which the better bang for the buck would have been in the long term.
That would have made 't Bungling Baron Waste O'Space spit his dummy!
Back in the early '80s, the RAF acquired the F-4J for 74 Sqn. Allegedly there was astonished amazement over at North Island and Miramar: "Those old things which were bouncing around in carriers in the South China Sea before being retired to the desert? Surely you mean the F-14?" But no, the old jets were salvaged from the desert, given a quick repaint and flown over to the UK on 5 separate
Tiger Trail trips... Which was great for the VC10K tanker crews; back then the pods hadn't been cleared for JP-4, so after uploading USN fuel at Miramar, we came back via civil airports rather than USAF bases.
The RAF should have bought B-52's by the way...
Good grief no! We should have persisted with Vulcan + Skybolt as the deterrent until TSR-2 was ready and let the fish heads carry on with their global cockers P warfare!