Now we have decided that the future is F35B and STOVL, not F35C and CTOL. If F35B had been the selected version all along, how would that have changed the SDSR decision making?
My thoughts are here in the
"No cats and flaps ...... back to F35B?" thread.
I always thought that having no embarked fixed wing aviation on RN decks for a decade, and then picking up the baton and going for Gold was going to be risky. I still think there are many basics common to both STOVL and CTOL deck operations - including the mechanics of working with live jets on a moving deck, getting the ship on the right course and speed, and various other things that have to be done.
I wonder if the decision have anything to do with feasibility issues (remember the A in SMART stands for Attainable), or even the issue of capability this decade? If we had known the future was STOVL - would the same SDSR decisions have been made? Presumably the things put in place to train RN Pilots and others in CTOL operations will have to change now? This latest decision gives us the opportunity to recover the capability earlier - possibly very soon. Also we can embark (US/Italian/Spanish) Harriers aboard
Lusty/
Queen Elizabeth.
I have offered my own ideas and suggestions, before this decision. They can be easily found in the thread - even from
page one. This decision could justifiably be portrayed as a win in terms of both new carriers being operational, and in being able to get back the carrier strike capability imminently.
I don't want to detract from the "No cats and flaps ...... back to F35B?" thread - but what do we need to do now?
BTW I have found an old briefing paper on CVF:
FLEET HEADQUARTERS CARRIER STRIKE BRIEFING