Originally Posted by
FODPlod
With that one statement, you have managed to destroy the credibility of anything else you say. I suspect you believe the F-35B's characteristics are inferior to the Harrier's, too.
Notwithstanding the fact that the carriers would need extensive (and expensive) modification to accommodate CTOL aircraft, beefing up the airframe and undercarriage of the Typhoon (first flown in March 1994) and incorporating more robust materials to withstand the repeated stresses and strains of violent catapult launch, sudden arrested recovery on a pitching deck and prolonged survival in a salt-laden marine environment, not to mention the addition of an arrestor hook and other intrinsic systems, would involve so much extra design, development and production work and result in so much weight gain and reduced performance that you might as well start from scratch.
Well we are all allowed an opinion. Notwithstanding, it is fair to say, those who decry the project have nothing to gain from it's continuance.