With the massive delays and cost overruns of the VTOL-model of the F-35, several prominent people in the Ministry of Defence have worked out that they can, in a stunning stroke of sane procurement, save money AND improve the product their buying.
Several interviews with bean-counters seem to suggest that the new Queen Elizabeth-class CVs which were originally not going to be CATOBAR capable though retaining the capacity to convert, are in fact going to be built not just with steam catapault technology, but with the new Electro-magnetic US Navy model replacement catapaults which will see their American debut in the Gerald Ford-class CVNs.
This'd mean cancelling the F-35B and plumping for the F-35C. Savings for that would amount to £25,000,000 / aircraft.
Unfortunately, this would also impact the USMC who would be left as the sole F-35B customer and face a vastly increased per-aircraft cost, as well as hitting Rolls Royce with an £8,000,000,000 order loss.
Still, from a defence point of view, it'd be great news and redress the travesty that the Royal Navy - who are responsible for a great number of the modern technologies which make carrying aircraft and launching them/recovering them at sea possible - have spent over two decades without true carrier capacity.
Several interviews with bean-counters seem to suggest that the new Queen Elizabeth-class CVs which were originally not going to be CATOBAR capable though retaining the capacity to convert, are in fact going to be built not just with steam catapault technology, but with the new Electro-magnetic US Navy model replacement catapaults which will see their American debut in the Gerald Ford-class CVNs.
This'd mean cancelling the F-35B and plumping for the F-35C. Savings for that would amount to £25,000,000 / aircraft.
Unfortunately, this would also impact the USMC who would be left as the sole F-35B customer and face a vastly increased per-aircraft cost, as well as hitting Rolls Royce with an £8,000,000,000 order loss.
Still, from a defence point of view, it'd be great news and redress the travesty that the Royal Navy - who are responsible for a great number of the modern technologies which make carrying aircraft and launching them/recovering them at sea possible - have spent over two decades without true carrier capacity.
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