That raised a question, if anyone can help. Obviously the choice would depend greatly on circumstances, but would it be better for a B to take a barrier with weapons on or bolt, dump stores, etc and VL if it were able to? Waste the stores or make a (possibly slow speed) engagement? I wonder what the top load strap would do to the doors and stuff or foul the canopy.
I remember in the early days of the Hawk T1 there was a lot of resistance to taking the barrier because on the long canopy, the worry being that the top load strap would prevent crew egress.