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Old 18th Feb 2009, 15:53
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tornadoken
 
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1948. RAF chose to leap-frog 2nd. generation fastjets (MiG-15/F-86) to favour Medium Bombers and their base defenders for 1955. RN chose to leave Majestic/Colossus classes as Reserve/sale and to seek budget for Light Fleets (Centaur class) and Fleet carriers, Victorious in protracted refit, Ark and Eagle in slow build. No budget. Pic. in ad. in Jane's 1950 of Eagle, Bulwark and Centaur (+ an abandoned) idle on stocks at Harland, labour on higher priority commercial exports. Orphan status for experimental Hawker+ Supermarine Nene/DH Ghost types, unwanted by RAF, unaffordable for RN. USN apace on Banshee, Cougar, Cutlass, Skyray.

6/48 Berlin Airlift, 8/49 founding of NATO, 6/50 Korean War. UK's Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement, 1/50: cascades of $ to build anything, pronto! Logically, as Dr.Jekyll implies, some of USN's flood should have operated off friendly flat-tops, and Banshee (RCN), A-4 did, off Majestics. But US/NATO declared some UK types as Standard, intended for many Forces. UK/France/Italy industrial capacity were seen as valued supplements to over-stretched US resources: so, Attacker, Sea Hawk, Sea Venom (some for RAN, others licenced as Sud Aquilon; many with US A.I). (To be) Buccaneer, Scimitar and Sea Vixen were all in design at Korean Armistice, July,1953; $-flow dried, so RN had no means of buying USN types. Crusaders, Skyhawks, Super Tigers sat in the desert while we tried to operate inferior kit.
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