It'll all be done by holograms by the time they might be ready for use.

Well, that's the 48 JSFs taken care of. Tornado replacement what?

Just a thought, but by the time carrier 2 is operational, won't Typhoon be close to its out of service date? That would leave us with 48 JSF only......

Tranche 1 should all be gone by ~2020, the rest by 2030(+?).

One assumes BAES et al are hard at work on a replacement (with or without a person on board to feed the dog...)

...and to operate the landing gear.

Perhaps there is a cheaper alternative to the Carriers. It might take a bit of fiddling about but then that would be very British would it not?

Some high speed Tugs....some sleek barges.....

Probably foolhardy to attempt a straight bat reply amid the banter, but hey. The 48 have always been described as an initial uptake linked with the carriers, with further orders envisaged later but in the context of Typhoon OSD. So it does seem that we're looking at just 7 front line FJ sqns once Tornado is retired, with 5 Typhoon and 2 F35 units covering everything including Tornado replacement. Who'd have thought...

"Lack of numbers has a weakness all of its own":oh:

OAP

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1910470/th...-DRONE-570.jpg

Although I do wonder how the pilot is going to climb on board! :-)

AW&ST: Saab Gets A Toe In The Water

Two Swedish delegations have recently visited the Brazilian aircraft carrier Sao Paulo in support of plans to develop a naval version of the JAS 39E/F Gripen fighter. A government team toured the ship in August, followed by a Saab-Embraer technical/engineering group in September.

Informally known as the Gripen M (Maritime or Marinha), the carrier-based version has been under study in parallel with the E/F since the program's early years. In 2013, in the run-up to Brazil's selection of the JAS 39E/F as its next fighter (with a contract due at year-end), Saab said that its company-funded study had brought the Gripen M to the point where it could be offered as a fixed-price development program, costing $250 million and taking five years from launch to production deliveries.

Saab and Brazil have already agreed that Embraer will lead the development of the two-seat JAS 39F, subject to the final contract, and development of the Gripen M could broaden that partnership. Ownership of an operational aircraft carrier is clearly a prerequisite for a Gripen M partner, and both India and Brazil have been approached.

Brazil's Sao Paulo carrier, formerly the French navy's Foch, has taken a long time to upgrade and restore to operational condition, but the Brazilian navy has persisted both with the ship and its current air wing, including a major upgrade of its AF-1 Skyhawk fighters with a new Elta radar and glass cockpit. One report suggests that Brazil expects the ship and its air wing to be operational in time to support security for the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.

Unless the MoD enjoys expensive sounding splashes a few feet in front of the carrier I'm not sure of the relevancy of the Gripen. Nice looking aircraft though.

Well, yes, the MoD did rather foreclose that option.

Meanwhile over the pond, running over budget on a fixed contract price cap.... No probelm, accept it into the Navy incomplete, then chuck extra money at it to finish it.... One hopes BAe do not cotton on to that idea.

GAO: Navy carrier will be incomplete, cost more at delivery - Pacific - Stripes

well when you have another 9-10 in service it really doesn't matter

I was rather surprised that the second CVN21 is to be named JFK........ surely "Richard Milhouse Nixon" is overdue.

Carter has an SSN, no-one can name a boat after W J Clinton when his Mrs is still in politics and you can't really have two Bush's around at the same time....................

At least there's another Enterprise on the way. Sadly not NCC-1701 though...

Do you think they ever will after his inpeachment?

Though if they did, they could rename all the sea c*cks on board, Watergates

STEVE GEORGE in March 2014 Talks about F-35Bs and CVFs with F-35Cs thrown in....
 

A mixture of F-35 topics in this audio interview however the F-35B and CVF are mentioned most so it'll go here.

Sea Control 28 (East Atlantic) – The F-35 March 2014 By LT Matthew Hipple speaking to STEVE GEORGE
AUDIO: http://cimsec.org/wp-content/uploads...antic-F-35.mp3 (28Mb)

Source: USNI Blog » Blog Archive » Sea Control 28 (East Atlantic) ? The F-35

"Though if they did, they could rename all the sea c*cks on board, Watergates" :p:p:p

I enjoyed the joke if no one else did.:}

Technically he wasn't impeached. Although he almost certainly would have been had he not quit.

I dare say Clinton(s) will get something, perhaps a clittoral combat ship for the wife, a frigate for him?