USMC plan on IOC in 2014 - while this is not strictly a date set in the type of stone that won't get shattered as we near it, it means that the good ole' Grunts (so lovingly referred to by LO) will be the first military force in the World to deploy 5th Gen airpower from sea with their F-35Bs. That is a powerful tool and could offer an opportunity for UK Defence to learn about JSF at sea much earlier than our flying F-18s and awaiting our ships. It is also relevant because while the USMC F-35B CONUSE is different the CONOP of [what is now] our common platform is broadly the same.
I am struggling to remember an RAF det (since Oman Feb 05, IV Sqn) which was longer than a couple of weeks and purely there to gain quals rather than actually be involved in larger scale exercises.
Yes, and as you know, in Aug 04 the Harrier took up their Op HERRICK commitment and that alone pushed CVS qual to the bare minimum required - another debate for another thread... Before HERRICK there were plenty of large exercises both around the UK and abroad to train our men and women though...