Mr Gaylard,
I understand you are a self-confessed Naval Aviation journalist and therefore you write with bias. This is evident from your last post so I shall refrain from 'biting' too much...
The RN does indeed have a significantly higher footprint in the US currently flying on or training to fly on large decks - if they didn't the FW aspect of the FAA would now certainly be almost gone if not completely gone. I respect the Naval Service's approach to maintaining the history, sacrifice and tradition of the FAA and doing its very utmost to preserve it for the future and for F-35B. You do, however, do yourself a disservice by intimating that the RAF had 'better up their game'. Why? Because it continues to fuel the fire that has plagued Pprune for nearly 200 pages on another thread (F-35...) and, frankly, second hand opinions from single sources don't reflect the complete truth. IF the RAF have a long way to go on developing maritime TTPs then I'm sure it will be done in a collaborative way with the SMEs - I'll tell you as a light blue pilot that yes, we have much fewer SMEs flying from US large decks but they are there as seed corn for F-35. We cannot put more out there as the money doesn't exist to do so but mainly because we have 2 other Front Line types to 'man' until F-35 comes into service; one is engaged on permanent ops and has been since 1991; the other is expanding rapidly as a multi-role force to be reckoned with.
When the time is right you'll find the RAF will expand its experience accordingly, will unlikely try to throw around its weight and will learn to conduct blue water carrier-enabled ops in collaboration with its RN brothers and sisters. Politics aside, I enjoyed my own time aboard immensely and had (and still have) a deep and profound respect for my SHar colleagues at sea and in the desert on GR9 when we were there.
I'll respectfully suggest to you that a few comments based on one particular Ex that you probably didn't observe first-hand is no evidence base to inflame a debate that should just go away.
Last edited by MSOCS; 4th August 2013 at 10:26.