Carrier strike capability
On a military aspect, if you want to have proper strike capability you have to go cats and traps (not ot mention AEW). Although history can provide with a few counter-examples (one..?) it is as simple as that.
On a power projection/diplomatic aspect, if you check the navies that have traditional carriers, if you check which way are going the countries seeking to have that capacity, you'll reach the same answer.
F-35
1- The whole program is pretty bonkers :
- financially : adding billions every couple of months for whatever good reason Lockheed puts up. And govts are slowly realising they are not willing to put up with it. IMHO I will not put a penny on the fact of seeing any operationnal F-35 launching from the deck of a carrier ever...
- technologically : it surely is the 8th wonder, no doubt about it (or is there...I seem to recall the F-22 was already supposed to be the 8th wonder...). However who needs this kind of technology? Surely you always want to stay ahead of the rest (especially for our friends from across the pond), but as someone put it in this thread what we are lacking today is more kalashnikov-style aircraft, able to operate with limited support from distant fobs... Surely we need to be ready for the old-fashioned BVR stuff, however again IMHO pouring all those billions in an aircraft which is going to be outdated by UAV technology during its lifetime, no matter how hard it is to accept it by the jet jockeys..., seems to be quite irresponsible.
- the b****y thing will not be operationnal (if ever) before loooong loong time. It is already late in many respects and checking recent history (Merlins, Rafales, NH90, Typhoon) ALL recent programs have been late by MANY years
2- Where do we go from here?
After all the above, the sensible solution seems to go for :
- F-18 : pretty good capabilities, pretty cheap (at least compared to the F-35), can last until 2030 (and probably beyond as is usual) plus you get to keep the "special relationship"...
- Rafale: same good capabilities, can last till 2040 and beyond, goes in the current strategic mood, you just need to get used to the garlic...
- forget about "navalising" Typhoon. It doesn't work (Jaguar...). Btw Rafale was designed as a naval aircraft and then adapted for the Air Force.
Dead simple isn't it...??
Enjoy xmas