Orca,
No I mean hijacked.
Why for example, do they have priority for IOC? Why are they making the second largest purchase on the planet...for the most expensive aircraft? Why has the ability to hover been allowed to compromise the performance of the aircraft?
I couldn't agree more with cokecan, the role of close air support provided off LHDs should at the most, be filled by simple, sub-sonic aircraft that can go into austere environments and operate with as little support as possible.
More to the point, why does a branch of the navy - which already has its own air force - need its own air force with more 5th generation fighters than the rest of the world's air forces combined??...it doesn't.
The net result has been an expensive clusterf**k.