FB11
Good to hear from you. Yes, this thread is a bit like watching a train crash again and again; surreal, bizzare and yet ultimately oddly captivating.....
Anyway, back to the matter at hand.
WEBF
Good, we agree that we both require input from the full time sharp end for a fully formed view. And I agree that the posts of Nozzles / JF / FB11 et al have been very interesting.
But...
The retirement of the SHar is about money vs capability. You suggest that there are scenarios where a UK Task Force (nb, pls, a purple organisation, even in 1982 - albeit very dk purple) would be unable to defend itself against air attacks without SHars, and that the GR9/9As would be hard pressed to stop a credible red air threat.
Well, I'm sure you're right.
Moreover, as the T42s are both increasingly rare and obsolete, the capability gap is probably greater than the planners would have expected had T45 / Aster been on time, and had CVF / JSF been in for 2012.
Yep, that's all probably true as well.
But these two statements only answers part of the question: is this capaibility something that we need if the cost of keeping SHar in service is met by cutting something else, (where that something else is more useful).
So, it is a realistic question to ask MoD what else they chose to keep to make chopping SHar an attractive option (and though I don't defintively know, I suspect that there's probably slightly more to it than light blue anti-SHar "not invented here syndrome" if indeed such a syndrome exists). Has this questioned been asked (probably?); does anyone remember the answer (no idea) and has it been put on PPrune (haven't trawled through nearly 70 pages to look for it).
But these are the questions that have to be answered; and when they have, we accept it and move on. As FB11 points out:
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Anyway, I'm off to help be a positive part of the next few decades of fixed wing naval aviation; utilising the airframe I have at my disposal.
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Which certainly looks like the right answer!
(And look on the bright side - after 800 stands up at Cottesmore, Harrier Force can look forward to lots of funny Navy mess nights, (more) weird salutes and "different" ways of working!!
)
S41
(PS, where's the "Save the Canberra" thread?!!)