Originally Posted by andyy
3. JSF in its STOVL form may well not yet happen - the ships are initially planned to go to sea with the Harrier GR9 but as we have seen with current ops they are in very short supply. For the first few years of life the ships will have very limited utility without an Air Group and any plan for cats & traps will require another major rethink (I am led to believe that there is a contingency plan to fit cats & traps at the first major refit - more expense and probably very difficult to engineer in if the hull & systems have not been designed for it in the first place!!).
So little understanding in so many words.
A. "JSF in its STOVL form" absolutely WILL happen... for the USMC. The F-35B is the ONLY F-35 variant the USMC will buy, as it is specifically designed for them, and they won't buy either of the others. The -B is secure from that standpoint alone... but there is more.
Italy & Spain are also planning to order the -B... Spain for Juan Carlos I (and possibly the replacement for Asturias), and Italy for both Cavour (and possibly the replacement for Girabaldi) AND their Air Force, who has decided to buy both -A and -B versions for land use.
The only question is "will the
UK buy the F-35B? Probably, as they are to be purchased for BOTH carrier and RAF land-based use... less than half are earmarked for regular use on CVF.
B. CVF's hull & systems
have certainly been designed for fitting of catapults and arresting gear "at a later date"... that is a specific KUR in the design... "space & weight set aside for catapults and arresting gear"!
No "rethink" required... it is part of the plan & design from the start.