West Side Boys procure IADS?
Surely the 'lack of HNS' argument being used to underpin the purchase of CVF is flawed? Unless the carriers are equipped with awacs, aar etc, those aircraft will have to be based somewhere. The argument that some countries will not allow fighters to be based on their soil, but will allow basing of all associated enablers, does have historical precedent but is that a basis for spending £20 Billion+ (est cost of CVF and JSF) on building carriers that can only launch fighters. CVF has to be fully autonomous or the 'lack of HNS' argument is bollox.
Speaking of which, why buy JSF? If the US won't sell on favourable terms and if we're always going to go to war as part of a US-led coalition (an assumption that seems to underpin current UK defence policy) then why can't they do the stealthy thing for us? As far as National or European capabilities are concerned, are the peace-loving pygmies of the Upper Volta replacing their sharpened mangos with double-digit SAMs? If so, shouldn't we be buying more Stormshadow and TLAM (which will also allow us to meaningfully contribute to the early stages of a Coaltion campaign)?
Scrap JSF, navalise Typhoon, properly equip and outfit CVF, and let's do the whole Watusi village. . .
Thomas Power, General
Commander, Strategic Air Command
Restraint? Why are you so concerned with saving their lives? The whole idea is to kill the ba*tards. At the end of the war if there are two Americans and one Russian left alive, we win.