Originally Posted by
Ascend Charlie
Wasn't it intended (at one stage) to be an all-through trainer? From clean logbook to operational squadron?
No, it was originally intended to be an advanced trainer replacing the Gnat at 4 FTS and the Hunter at what became TWU.
This became just far too expensive both to purchase and to operate and so the percentage of single seat strike attack variants was increased.
Under the original plan of an AFTS and TWU 2 seater, the single seat variant would have been a small quantity sufficient only to re-equip the two 38 Group Hunter squadrons.
When the NATO switch to flexible response and perceived prolonged period of conventional warfare was introduced Royal Air Force Germany was faced with the problem of being a nuclear only strike attack force with no conventional capability whatsoever (the BI8 and BI6 squadrons trained on conventional weapons delivery purely for out of area deployments)
the Jaguar was seen as a way of significantly increasing strike attack capability quantity by replacing the interim F-4M Phantom FGR2 squadrons that had always been intended as a Lightning replacement.
Thus a two seat radar equipped all weather strike attack jet was replaced by an under powered single seat non radar equipped adapted advanced trainer.
This was hastily rectified when the RAFG Jaguars were replaced by Tornado IDS originally intended as 1 Group Vulcan replacements, thus reintroducing a 2 seat radar equipped all weather day/night capability.
Milk anyone?