Unless we're effectively going to defer out F35 purchase to a later date (2020-2025), and buy something that we can afford, train on, and use now until the F35 comes on stream? Obsolecense then ceases to be a problem. I mean surely 2015 looks optimistic anyway?
Maybe we will be cutting our noses off to spite our face, but frankly a massive proportion of the cuts across ALL departments will involve cutting our noses off to spite our face! Probably to a point where in a normal economy the amount of cuts talked about would result in me paying hardly any tax, so I now wonder exactly what my tax money will be paying for in 5 years time cos I guarantee I wont see my tax decrease!!
As for Ocean, excuse my civvy ignorance, but I thought Ocean wasn't that old?! How can it be end of life already?? and what problems has it been encountering? I seem to think it wasn't built as a hardened warship as such, and built to commercial specification, but I don't know if I remember rightly there!