The article in the Times cites risk of no carrier strike capability until 2023 as the biggest driving force behind the decision, along with up front cost...am I missing something when I say that the F18E seems like the perfect solution to this, in more ways than one?? I'm sure the 100 unnecessary trainee pilots in the pipeline would be thrilled to hear that there is suddenly going to be cockpits available for them, the cost of catapults is mitigated by the peanut price of the F18 and the lack of F35 is completely acceptable because the US Navy are on the same time frame?? Who knows, we may even have been able to eek out a deal with the Americans for a discount as compensation for having to buy them in the first place.
