The thing is that, sadly nowadays, it seems what the FAA wants and what the Government is willing to provide seems to be at odds with each other in a ridiculously extreme way.

Sad state for a once relevant and impressive force, but I think taking old F-5E’s would be a better option short term at least to give the pilots some flying time. I’m not sure how long can a fleet of vintage Mirage III/V/Fingers/Mara can hold

I have been saying the same for a long time, what the FAA wants doesn’t gel with what the Argentine government is prepared to fund or even afford!

Don’t get me wrong upgraded F-5 armed with Derby would be an excellent affordable upgrade to their capabilities. There are several companies who offer complete airframe life extension programs for the type and the J85 is a cheap engine still supported by the manufacturer. But it doesn’t match the ambitions of the FAA. As Tempest414 points out the best new build fit is the JF-17 but it would be over the dead bodies of many FAA officers. A respected Argentine poster Beutriux said as much a few years back.

As for Mirage-III airframe life, I believe a number time expire in 2013 and that is already after an extension beyond what is the normal accepted service life for the type. Without gutting and rebuilding them they are effectively entering into twilight zone when it comes to safe operations of the type. Many an aircraft has had its life extended beyond its planned service life but you reach a point where it is questionable when it comes to safety.

Also I think Argentina wouldn’t accept the gift of F-5 from Brazil regardless how good a deal it is. It would involve too much loss of face…

I find SlowMan and Tigershark’s participation in the forum a fascinating insight into how South Korean and Chinese people perceive each other Deino. All we need is a Japanese poster to get the hat-trick! 😀 My parents went on holiday to China last year and the hatred of Japanese people really surprised them!

Kind of like this episode of South Park:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7xP5EFThh0
Apparently it really was like that sometimes…

So it has some use to the forum, even if it is just the comedy value. It is even funnier when JSR throws his Russian nationalistic view into play as well.

You can bet we will see alot of cross decking between the F-35B Squadrons operated by the UK, US, Spain, and Italy. With likely more down the road….(can’t wait to see the pics)

Well technically Spain hasn’t expressed interest in the F-35B yet. I am sure it is in their plans and the San Carlos can handle the type. My guess is they will be the last AV8B operator purchasing F-35B late next decade.

what is special about typhoon aesa over j10 aesa?

Quite simple, the AESA radar on Typhoon comes from a series of countries and companies that have been building fighter radars for decades. The technology being used is well established and reported on. On the other hand China has only just started to make radars that match the state of the art twenty years ago, we know virtually nothing about their AESA radar technology.

I’m putting my money on the radar in Typhoon.

I am fairly confident QE class will exceed 25 knots anyway, due to the super-block construction method a less hydrodynamic hull form has to be used. The Type-45 which also used super-block construction also had a conservative top speed estimate which it exceeded. The UK has got the super-block construction method nailed for complex warships so a bit closer to 30 knots will not surprise me especially with those electric motors directly connected to the shafts.

What the UK is doing in respect of QE class is amazing, building the ship in complete salami sliced sections weighing thousands of tons all around the country in different yards owned by different companies! That they are then fitting together spot on shows a supreme confidence in British ship building techniques! Pity that it is a niche industry in the UK now…

Academic as she will try and be economic as possible but in times of need it should be interesting if they have to press pedal to metal!

It should also be pointed out that there is a fair amount of scepticism about that 220 sortie number for Gerald R Ford class. 140 to 160 is more realistic and the figure more often quoted for the class.

Respectfully, just because the UK hasn’t operated a Tanker based aircraft since the demise of it’s Convential Carriers. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t require one today. Also, as for not operating at the same tempo as US Carriers. I believe one of the reasons the F-35B was selected. Was because of its high sortie rates compared to other Naval Types.

Indeed F-35B/STOVL was selected for the higher sortie rate which on the face of it conflicts with what I said about the higher tempo of operations on a USN super carrier. Thing is that 136 sortie in a day rate is in a maximum crisis situation with a full set of Lightning on deck – in other words diplomacy has failed and the RN are going to war! Somebody correct me if I am wrong but that figure was generated from a theoretical compliment of 36 F-35B. That isn’t a sustained sortie rate, a QE class will be able to sustain that for a few days maybe a couple of weeks. In a Falklands type war all the spares will be with the carrier and stores ships. Now compare that to the USN super carrier. A Nimitz class carrier will carry an airgroup of 65 to 130 aircraft year round and sustain flight operations with them during peace time. So on the one hand we have the RN operating 36 jets in a one off maximum effect campaign vs normal year round USN global flight operations on eleven carriers with thousands of aircraft. That is why the USN needs a COD whilst the RN doesn’t. To sustain that tempo of operation with that many aircraft on 11 carriers the USN needs a COD. The RN will in peacetime probably operate no more then 6 F-35B off a carrier to maintain deck experience.

The RN are not operating fleet carriers, if we are actually flying 136 sorties a day then my country is at war and the QE class carrier will be in a strike group with stores ships carrying every spare airframe and part that can be scratched together.

When Harrier was operated off the Invincible class during peace time and an airframe became unavailable due to lack of a particular spare it was parked up until the carrier docked at a harbour where the spare could be flown in. Just one of those things and no great threat to national security. The USN likes to maintain availability and is prepared to operate COD aircraft to keep their fleet that way.