RAF future fast jets

[Engines]

Bismark, PUG and others,

I really feel that this is now water under the bridge. I took the time to reply to PUG solely because I don't think that offering various partial views of what went on helps in any way now, as it just keeps polarised views going. What I really am sorry about is that the debate seems to force some people to question each others' professional capabilities.

The fact is that JFH, by any objective view, failed. Personally, (and I know it's a view that some will disagree with) I feel that the idea of putting a 'Joint' force into a single service HQ is basically flawed. There's no pressure or desire to develop new ways of doing things, nor to look at other ways of doing things. Shame, but true. And in my direct and informed experience, it didn't save the taxpayer a single penny - in fact, the growth in numbers of staff officers required to service 'Joint' HQs has been significant.

I'd propose capability elements that are clearly 'owned' by one service, using 'joint' arrangements (like training and logs support) to reduce costs where those arrangements can support the targets, which wil include reducing costs.

Let's try to agree that ownership of the capabilities, going forward, needs to be decided on a 'best athlete' basis. My put? If the RAF want to operate F-35s to replace GR4 as land based strike assets, just fine - they are the best qualified to do that. If the RN want to do the same for maritime aviation, let them go ahead and do that. I don't see why having separate duty holder chains would be a problem.

Commonality of aircraft, logs support and basic training can deliver the cost savings. Separation of command and organisation chains could generate 'virtuous competition' that the Centre could use to drive down costs. It's more likely, in my view, to deliver capabilities more efficiently than the failed 'Joint' model.

Best Regards as ever

Engines