From the editoral of
Janes Fighting Ships 2012-2013, edited by Commodore Stephen Saunders:
Order; counter-order: disorder! The ink was hardly dry on the US/UK Statement of Intent on Carrier Cooperation and Maritime Power Projection, signed by Secretaries Panetta and Hammond on 5 January 2012, when the UK Government decided to revert to the original plan to procure the F-35B STOVL (Short Take Off/Vertical Landing) variant of the Lockheed Martin Lightning II rather than to persevere with the decision of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review to procure the F-35C instead. The bilateral carrier accord was signed on the basis that one of the Queen Elizabeth class would be equipped with catapults and arrestor gear to operate the F-35C, and that the Royal Navy would benefit from assistance and training from the US Navy to regenerate the necessary skills. Not only does the decision to reinstate the F-35B run contrary to the rationale that underpinned the switch to F-35C, the ability to inter-operate with American and French allies, it also places the UK Government in the uncomfortable situation of being restricted to one aircraft solution. There is no alternative STOVL aircraft and, although the F-35B programme survived recent US budget cuts, concerns about the aircraft, and in particular, rising costs continue to be aired. An alternative option for the UK, apparently not considered, would have been to stick with 'cats and traps' but to abandon the F-35 in favour of the F-18 Super Hornet, a less advanced but well proven aircraft. Nevertheless, the Royal Navy will be quietly pleased that as plans gather pace for troops in Afghanistan to revert to a supporting role, the requirement for a future carrier-strike capability endures. In addition, the option of operating both carriers, rather than one, remains on the table for review in the 2015 SDSR. For this reason, the F-35B decision is probably right, despite suspicions of poor analysis and an embarrassing volte-face.
Perhaps MOD can think outside the box? We need to consider getting some sort of
V/STOL jet on the deck of
Lusty/
QE this decade - something which could be easily achieved. Some suggestions and comments (
such as those here from an earlier thread) may be of interest and worth looking at again.
BTW I have been away and missed the last few pages of this thread, but from a quick look at a magazine whilst passing through a newsagent I gather that the USMC is intending to operate the AV8B until 2025-2030, and that of the 72 Harriers the UK sold to the US, 16 are still intact and meant to be flown as such.
Now that the future is STOVL, STOVL aircraft already exist in service today, and we have ships capable of STOVL operations. We just need someone to join the dots, and make it all coherent. It could so easily be a success story, but you need politicians to bite the bullet and accept that things are currently messed up.