F-35 Cancelled, then what ?

[ORAC]

Slightly tongue in cheek - but.....

You have a carrier, which needs an air wing to defend it, and subs and AD Frigates to defend it - plus all the support logistic ships. Then they have to do a lot of constant work/exercise to remain proficient.

Now a few years ago we could afford that - but now we struggle to deploy 6 jets inside Europe and have a FJ force in the handful - I mean, get realistic. Is it really best way of employing our assets?

I said many years ago that the RN was crazy going for the carriers, look at my history here - the RN was far, far better looking at the deployed frigate roles such as Far East/Med/Caribbean stations and support for SF roles rather than putting all the eggs in one basket.