FPDplod/andyy,
My post was made as a response to the criticism of the Gp Capt for saying that, "The ship is part of the F35 air system."
As you will note from the comments made from the RN procurement team, that was the promise/brief they gave the government at the time - regardless of their nefarious intentions (God forbid that they should lie!!).
I am equal sure that many of the subsequent, and even more to be discovered, shortcomings in the design will be traceable back to decisions made based on that premise, which subsequent changes way well have mitigated, but not alleviated.*
One wonders if the subsequent cost of the proposed fitting of a catapult system would have been so high if, as you say, the F-35 had been considered just another interchangeable weapons asset.
Hoisting and petards come to mind.........
*And undoubtedly blamed on underhand Machiavellian machinations and counter-briefings against the RN by the RAF within the MOD.
Last edited by ORAC; 28th Sep 2015 at 17:54.