SSSETOWTF,
Thanks for the reply. Let's see if this part of the thread gets picked up - I hope it does, because it's a key issue for the Future carrier - are we moving the right way to generate a real maritime strike capability in the RN?
Shortage of RN pilots is not, IMHO, down to 'pesky crabs'. The RN SHAR pipeline was pretty inefficient, and has picked up considerably since the RAF took charge. And by the way, the intention was never to 'pull a rabbit out of a hat and fully man two RAF-sized sqns', - it was always intended to have the JFH squadrons 'light blue heavy' and 'dark blue heavy', and that the RN pilot numbers would take a while to get there.
There is, I believe, a retention issue going on, and I don't believe it's because 'the silk-scarved ones had to move house once in their careers, swap roles to doing the Lord's work and move some mud, and get involved with some Ops where there wasn't a cocktail party and a port call to Sydney on the horizon... '. Cheap shot, that. The SHARs were just the latest chapter in the FAAs tradition of 'first to the fight' - WW1, WW2, Korea, Suez, etc. The RN pilots on JFH are upholding that, I'm sure.
The issue might be what sort of career prospects a JFH pilot has in the RN after he's done his stint at on JFH - these guys are Naval Officers, and they should be moving on up into the higher reaches of the RN to build the necessary knowledge and appreciation of maritime strike. If the RN can't keep them in, that is not good news. See my earlier post. And let's not forget the many other skill sets (engineers, met., intel, targetting, etc.) that need to be specially honed for maritime ops.
What JFH should be doing is balancing todays's operational demands with building the skills and knowledge base that the UK will need to get JSF and CVF working together in a few years time. I have a real concern that this is not happening. Thoughts, anyone?
Engines