Given the £12 Billion for St Athan which asks the question what is the money really being used for then how does it sit with the concept of Naval aviation in the future ?
Is the money better spent on the development of pilotless drones flown from anywhere....ok I guess this is really popular with Pilots.
If you look at Aircrew being the most important asset.........some will get big heads with statement like this.
Equipment can be replaced..eventually but air crew trained to that level cannot and while you can train others it uses up scare resources and can be delivered too late to make an impact when required.
Surely resources should be looking more at the development of pilotless aircraft / drones that can do the same thing i.e. eliminate an enemy. Bottom line whether eliminated by a JSF or Typhoon or Drone the impact is still the same.
Losing a £500k drone v a JSF with crew is an easy calculation to make but harder when you consider the impact of a Senior Defence Chief's ego.