Program risk at two levels: One being that the B would simply not work, and the other that the US would can it anyway, because it's very expensive for a jet that operates in small numbers (without tanker, EA or AEW) off multi-use ships.
And presumably the UK was aware of what was going on inside the program - and three months after all the SDSR decisions were being taken, Gates put the B on two years' probation. All well and good for Uncle Sam, aside from dealing with the Marines throwing their toys out of the pram, but that would have made any SDSR that included STOVL look majorly silly.
Re ship size: I had the same experience when I sat down for a briefing and learned why the QEs had to be Forrestal-sized and why that was a relatively small cost driver. It left training as the only real potential advantage for the B.
And that meant that the UK, unlike the Marines, had an option to go CATOBAR.
Last edited by LowObservable; 29th Nov 2011 at 14:14.