Originally Posted by
Vortex Hoop
How dare you. RAF and Joint roles through and through! Pray tell me how much UK CAS came from a carrier...?
I do apologise. Your post was on a Monday. I wasn't aware the experiment functioned during "the weekend", so naturally assumed Perce. As for how much UK CAS came from a carrier, you'll be aware of a couple of teensy little issues.
1. The Harrier didn't really have the legs to get there from the IO - although both the USN and MN aircraft did. Nor did it need to, given the GR7/GR9 and subsequent GR4 det at KAF.
2. We had a thing called a "carrier gap" from 2010. So fairly obviously, UK couldn't do that over the second half of Herrick.
Originally Posted by
Vortex Hoop
Who's talking BS now?! My Cottesmore and KAF based Harrier sqn didn't operate from a carrier IIRC...!
Just because your squadron didn't do an embarkation during your posting doesn't mean other GR7/GR9 aircrew didn't. Or the Baggers. That the Defence main effort was identified as Herrick also meant that a very small force was essentially dedicated to providing a 6 ship det at KAF for the last four years of the Harrier force. At the expense of the maritime role.