Originally Posted by
Obi Wan Russell
Congratulations, you win a subscription to the Daily Fail, for repeating their nonsense. We currently have 14 F-35Bs as of this month and more on the way. 617sqn stands up next year, will you and the others still be spouting that nonsense then?
How about a historical parallel, when the previous generation of RN Carriers arrived on the scene it was the same. HMS Invincible started her builders trials in 1979, but there were no active Sea Harrier sqns ready to fly from her deck. Just a trials unit (700A NAS) with a handful of airframes (less than the number of F-35Bs we have now.
Calamity Calamity! We have no planes to fly from our new carrier! Said nobody actually. People had a bit more sense back then apparently.
Invincible commissioned in 1980 along with the first Sea Harrier frontline sqn (800NAS) and all was well.
We [I]did[I] have a force of aircraft ready to fly from the QECs decks, Joint Force Harrier. We spent a £Billion upgrading the 74 airframes to GR9 standard to see them through to the early 2020s if needed, and just as the last few emerged from the factory with the paint still wet, the Disaster Twins Cameron and Osbourne threw them away for scrap value. If you want to point fingers, there you go.
Those F35 are among the 250 odd with the manufacturing defect and good for the airshow circuit then?