Can we really be looking at retiring Typhoons many of which are only a third of the way into their planned fatigue lives?
Or should we be encouraged by the way in which politicians have actually started talking about mass? By the way in which No.12 Squadron was retained and then extended? Should we expect a modest increase in squadron or aircraft numbers in SDSR? (Keeping T1 Typhoons would seem to be the simplest, cheapest and politically expedient method of boosting numbers, surely?).
I think this is probably a big question on the minds of many conducting the SDSR. Upgrading them would require a relatively modest up front investment, but would buy a lot of bang for our bucks; it would also fulfil what looks like a capability gap that will open up before the F35 reaches its ever delayed operational status. Personally, I'm very interested to see the total number of F35s we will settle on...I'm virtually certain it won't ever be abandoned because it's a political impossibility, but the buy could be scaled back so drastically that it is, to all intents and purposes, ditched.