Have we asked what aircraft would ever replace the F-35B once it reaches its sell by date? The reason for this strange question is that a carrier is not a short term ship with a life span of just 10 or even twenty years.
I believe this year sees the retirement of the United States Navy Mighty 'E' a ship that was in service way back in the early 1960's. How many types of aircraft has that ship operated? We were operating sea Vixen and as the years went by these aircraft were superseded by better more modern hardware all capable of operating from that mobile airfield, but the Mighty E remained in service happily accepting these newer types of fast jet.
Is the F-35B the last in the line of STOVL aircraft and is there even a competitor that might encourage development?
When or if we ever get the F-35B and it retires, does that mean we are back to where we are now with an aircraft carrier totally incapable of operating fast jets? This is already more than embarrassing with a carrier pretending top be something it is not.
Why not STOP the build for the second carrier, take an even deeper breath and re-think this done deal. Am I guilty of just bringing previous arguments and if so what other aircraft will these carriers be capable of operating once the F-35B gets retired, what other Navies will be capable of cross decking (apart from the USA) Are we convinced Italy and Spain will stick with their master plan of buying this aircraft?
Today is not a good day and MUCH respect goes to ALL our brave service personnel that are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice
