Before I go into detail Scooter, you have to understand the Royal Navy isn’t the United States Navy and it doesn’t operate in the same way.

Tanker: The main reason the USN operates a tanker off their carriers is not about increasing the range. It is to allow a returning aircraft to stay up or divert to a land field if the deck is fowled. This is not a problem for F-35B as it can pick any spot on deck within reason or another deck altogether. The RN didn’t buddy refuel when it operated the Harrier. As for range the F-35B can fly further carrying more then the Harrier can so for the RN it is a capability improvement.

AEW: Now the UK is going for STOVL there is no choice on the matter, it has to be helicopter based or next to nothing. V-22 has been investigated and it would offer greater range, endurance and altitude but it is unpressurised so it can’t get too high. The UK just doesn’t have the budget to introduce a whole new type when Merlin is adequate for the role.

COD: UK has done without a COD since the Gannet retired and even then she was a mail plane that didn’t have the ability to carry an engine. So in effect it is something the UK has never needed. If the situation is serious enough every spare part that can be found will be crammed onto the carrier and stores ships as was done in 1982. If it is a smaller part that is urgently needed then it will be para-dropped from a Hercules or A400M much as was done 1982. Also the UK will not permanently attach aircraft to one of our carriers the way the USN does. Aircraft will deploy with spares on an add-hoc basis. The reason the USN needs those COD aircraft is because the airgroup is permanently attached and the carrier is constantly at sea (as is the luxury of nuclear power). That intensity of operation requires a COD aircraft. The UK on the other hand in an emergency will surge aircraft onto the carrier along with the spares. Interestingly the French have not got over this issue which means the CdG rarely strays too far from Toulon. When they massively increased their operational tempo for Libya they had to borrow USN COD. What the UK will not do is buy V-22 to operate as a COD when peace time day to day operations don’t require it.

As I said at the beginning people mustn’t view RN flight operations with their USN goggles on.:D

Certainly does it can only receive Link 16 data and not transmit. For stealth reasons apparently.

Considering Link-16 has been shown to be a key force enabler and enhancer for NATO nations it could be seen as a mistake.

Interesting to note the much maligned F.3 Tornado in its final years of service with all the Radar and systems upgrades including Link-16 operating with RAF E-3D Sentry was a force to be reckoned with and sent many an F-15C home with its tail tucked between its legs. Link-16 was such a force enhancer when used effectively it turned a fighter that is seen as lacking and made it a winner.

Do you mean all of HMAS Choule’s toilets are being relabelled so Australian crewman understand what they are for?

for some country j10 not j17 is a better choice. i think argentina has some chance because they work with china on other military projects. if they can fix their economy they can maybe even get j31 by which time it is bye bye typhoon and falklands!

I don’t think 1435 will need to lose sleep any time soon 😉

Wow JSR! You managed to work that all out from a series of blurry pictures where you can barely make out the tail let alone anything else…:rolleyes:

Oh well have fun JSR and Tigershark trolling each other…worth some laughs for the rest of us…

I don’t see JF-17 as a pointless purchase if you are looking to replace F-16 A/B -Mirage 1/3/5/2000 or F-5 and don’t have a lot of money JF-17 dose have BVR is multi role and is comparable in the horizontal plan to early F-16. A multi role type will always have value.

Which is why it is aimed squarely at countries like Argentina and Columbia.

Actually the best international sales chance for JF-17 is Egypt but that is another story.

Owlcat hits it square in respect of Argentina, once someone different is in the presidential palace and they actually take a degree of responsibility over their economy rather then blame it on everybody else they might be in a better chance to do something. The Mirage III in Argentine service was meant to leave service next year.

How many Su-30MKI would that take them to now?