Where to start:
Firstly I maybe slightly biased but a carrier (x2) that we are thinking of spending x billions on vs Eurofighter.
Well, I for one would vote whole heartedly for a full complement of Eurofighters. Who thinks seriously that we could take two carriers and park them off someones coastline and sustain any sort of campaign/operation.
Those that do are living in a dream world. With the weapon systems available on the open arms market nowadays the anti-ship threat could be huge. Political embarrasment?!!
Could we provide a carrier group capable of defending these carriers and carry out worthwhile strikes against johnny foreigner? Come on, we are not the USA after all.
When was the last time we took the fight to someone on our own? With carrier support I would suggest it was the Falklands. Now I have full respect for everyone involved in that campaign dont get me wrong but we cannot do that anymore. If we are to go on ops in the future it will be with the US. Now they have the money, equipment and people to support, protect and employ these "floating airfields" succesfully. We dont!
Let them do the carrier bit and why dont we do what we do best. Stage out of foreign airfields and schwack the bad guys with an aircraft capable of mixing it up with anything out there apart from maybe F-22.
The F-3 is coming to an end, although it has a very good capability at the moment and is employed in its role very well by guys very good at their job. Bring on eurofighter and let us do it even better! If we scrap the Eurofighter or cut the numbers back drastically, what are we going to do with all those commitments we have at the minute? Scrap QRA maybe, not in the present climate I would suggest? Bin the Falklands defence? Maybe back out of Southern watch and let the yanks and GR4 guys soak up all the deployments? Hmmmm.
Also coming back to a numbers thing without surfing back to quote the 137ish that are proposed as a better number than 230ish. Bollox. Have you guys taken into account the scrapping of the Jaguar in the not to distant future. There are 4 sqns at least that need to be replaced in the recce/gnd attack role by something. Or do you propose that the already overworked GR4 and Harrier guys take this on too!?
The GR4 has been lifed till about 2015-2020. I cant see Eurofighter filling their ramps to soon before that. As for the GR7/9 guys I think they would prefer JSF probably. I would imagine a lack of time on the boat wouldnt bother them too much either.
Screw spending money on carriers and let us have a CAPABLE FIGHTER that begrudgingly could be used in a muddy role in a few years! Instead of a political mantlepiece ornament to float about the channel.
You guys need to stop being so cynical and see Typhoon for the breath of fresh air that it is!
Us young guys in the fighter community cant wait for it!
Throw money at it and get it in quicker i say!
RANT OVER.
