Okay, my eyes start to glaze-over when I try to work-out just what Typhoons are being bought, which are going for export, which are replacements for exports and so on. However, I believe the final total of aircraft for the RAF is around 140 or so, is it not?
If this is indeed the case, what is going to be done with them all? Surely, it's significantly more than the current re-equipment plans call for, so does this mean that aircraft will be placed into storage? It also raises the question of just how great the appetite is for F-35 when there's the option of "navalising" a batch of Typhoons, thereby saving a fortune and giving the Navy an aircraft which is probably just as useful as the F-35 (I still can't work-out why anyone thinks we need a single-engined STOVL warplane in 2009... or whenever it finally enters service should I say).
If our beloved politicians soldier-on (or is it sailor-on?) with F-35, maybe there might be more of an appetite to form additional RAF Typhoon squadrons? There still seems to be some politically-driven impetus behind Leeming's future so maybe more squadrons might be formed there eventually? If so, one assumes that it would have to be at the expense of other reductions... how safe is the Harrier force?