Originally Posted by
noflynomore
[QUOTEWe've bought a pair of awfully large boats, but are not investing in much to go on them.
S-D
Probably more accurate to say, "We've bought a couple of awfully large boats (sic), but are investing a fortune to put not much on them.[/QUOTE]
I'd agree there is an issue around whether the UK plans to invest sufficiently to utilise the carriers to their full potential. Current plans, as I mentioned above, are to have 2 front line F35 sqns operational in time for the carrier's planned FOC in 2023, plus OCU. That should be enough to field 12 on the ship for routine peacetime overseas deployments and surge to 24 in a crisis.
That's probably just about OK although it smacks of pitching things at the minimum we can get away with, bearing in mind that USMC assets will be deployed regularly too (although not in the event of any any UK-only undertaking). It also reflects no change in our "ambition" which is continuous availability of one carrier (only) and no provision to field additional FW assets on the second carrier concurrently. To that extent we're clearly not planning to invest in them to their full potential.
Then again, that same minimalist thinking is clearly applied across the board to UK forces generally, so nothing new there.
If we do end up with 4 sqns of F35B in the longer term things will be that much better, but that's a long time away in political terms...