Read the rubbish that lot put on line. Much of it is easily demonstrated to be false, e.g. Sharkey Ward makes claims about the performance of Tornado in the 1990-91 Gulf War which contradict not only the official accounts, but those of the Tornado crews, ground crews, journalists who were on the spot, & everyone else who (unlike him) actually had first hand knowledge. According to him, Tornado crews were incompetent & cowardly, & that combination caused the majority of their losses. To draw this conclusion, he has to change the dates, places, & causes of losses. There’s exactly one (a ‘ladder’ explosion of bombs dropped too low for their fusing) he’s right about, & IIRC he blames that on the air crew, because that fits his argument, when it from what I’ve read it could have been a fusing mistake or fuse fault.
The rest of their garbage is of similar (low) quality. Evidence is selectively & misleadingly reported. Apples are compared with oranges. Often, outright untruths are told (though I think the authors don’t realise it – they’re too blinkered). As someone who is pro-Navy, I find the Phoenix Think Tank embarrassing. The RAF thinks it’s wonderful, because it discredits the pro-Navy lobby. The RAF can point to it & say “See? This is the sort of rubbish that admirals put out. How can you take any notice of them?”
Agreed I am also pro navy (actually pro all services) and see the problems with the Phoenix Think Tank…actually they make Carlo Kopp’s Air Power Australia think tank look balanced and reasonable.
To add to your post, Sharkey is pretty much Persona non Grata within the Royal Navy as well. He has attacked other (often better) pilots in the service, the admiralty and highly criticised 800 NAS during the Falklands war (ignoring the minor fact that 800 NAS got more kills!). His temper tantrum at an RAF base on his return to the UK is legendary! After the war he is regarded as an arch bull$hitter especially in respect of Harrier performance and capabilities, his contempt for the RAF is well known and high ups in the MOD regarded him as “somebody not to trust national secrets with”!
I actually linked his article about RAF GW1 Tornado operations on the eGoat website…to say that he will probably need a stab vest if he ventures anywhere near an RAF base now is in no doubt!
I have no problem with critics of the RAF, Typhoon and decisions made by the powers that be…on the other hand I have little time for people who have an axe to grind due to petty light vs dark blue bias.
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