I have no doubt what so ever that Merlin is a first class state of the art aircraft - When it is servicable !!! When is it going to be serviceable BTW?
I have just one dit to mention. During the visit of a Very senior FAA Officer to a ship he asked ...
"how is the Merlin/Lynx co-op going?"
Reply....
"Its going great Sir, There U/S, we fly ashore to get spares for them, bring the stores back, there still U/S. Thats the Co-Op" !
Enuff said.
I'm sorry but if I had paid that amount of money for an aircraft I'd want the bloomin thing servicable!
If you have Carriers you need big maritme aircraft to support and protect it- Merlin does this job.
Yeah, Right. So which weapon does it use to take out the asymetric threat?