Originally Posted by
sandiego89
Agree that we will see a variety of interesting aviation capable ships, and a few smaller carriers operating F-35B's. Beside the US and UK operating the B as STOVL, I would not be surprised with Japan getting a few B's for those nifty new "destroyers".
Will the ski jump on Canberra prove too tempting not to use?
They have said on a couple of occasions that the infrastucture on the ship would need to be completely redone to operate F35s. Whether they could operate on a one off basis is open to debate, but I'd imagine some changes needed (Deck coating for a start)
I was more commenting that the two South American countries that have operated carriers will likely be out of the fixed wing carrier borne business entirely. Doubt they could afford the F-35B, or a new or second hand carrier and air-wing of any type.
Unless the Chinese want to get into the carrier export business