Since Block 2B is the first block to have any claimed combat capability, that IOC—if and when it is declared—will be lacking required 2B “operationally-relevant … performance” combat capabilities, according to the DOT&E report. Those capabilities and their flight tests are now deferred to later Blocks 3i and 3F, which introduce an all-new computer but will not have “Full Operational Capability” (FOC). The first FOC system will be Block 4,
currently scheduled to be declared fully capable in 2022—assuming no further schedule slips in the intervening seven years.
Won't the QE Class be in mid life refit by then!!?
LJ
