Is there any chance a cheaper mass produced design such as the uh-60/mi-17 could be leased in the short term for say the next 5-10 years so a proper replacement program could be looked into to work out best capabilities? I know few of us like leasing aircraft, but it gives time for aw-149/super lynx to come online and the aircraft could definatly be sold on after

There are those Mils hanging around Bos Down at the moment. I haven’t heard a concrete, official explananation so far of why they were purchased.

Not sure leasing will be good though. I know the need is great but its always so expensive and muddies the waters of type selection. I would hate to see some old knackered UH60s or Mils being purchased outright after the lease terms becasue its judged to be the cheapest option.

All three services need to push for new types hard. If they could ring another dozen Wildcat out of the Treasury that would be a start.

I wonder if the C2 should be something in the vain of the French Floreal class patrol frigate. Very flexible little platform that packs a 100mm gun, exocet, light AA, room for a reinforced platoon and a hanger and deck capable of taking medium sized helicopters. Range of 13,000 miles.

An RN version in 2009 would be perfect for constabulary jobs and still have enough punch to support the ‘ships of the line’ in a traditional frigate role.

There is a school of thought that says ASAC7 is better than Hawkeye in the littorial environment. Yanks v.impressed with system in GW2.

Well, I’d agree but only if you can show me a prior aircraft that combines VSTOL, Stealth and supersonic performance, not to mention the best sensor suite/situational awareness available.

I think as I said before, F35 etc are like “Box Set” dvds, all the features in one great package, but you can find the capabilities in other platforms. Stealth while not done to the degree of F35 has been tinkered with in the RAF since the 50s with V-bombers etc.

The question is the single biggest leap for the RAF. I would still say Canberra is the largest technical and capability change, based on what the RAF operated before it.

I would have thought F111K would still use Martel for Anti-ship, followed in the 1980s by Sea Eagle.

As for AD the other contenders considered against Tonka ADV were Eagle, Falcon, Hornet and Tomcat…if AFVG had come to fruition then F14 would have seen 3 VG types! there are also the various projects like Hawker P1207 etc

Would the RAF had gone with V bomber sized squadrons for F111k? eg 9 aircraft.

What tanker equipment if any would the RAF had used?

I would have thought much of the recce equipment the was put on phanton/jaguar in the 1970s would have ended up on an RF111k.

What about the early 1930s generation aircraft? Hawker Fury anyone?

A far better idea would be to take the Tornado avionics and fit them into new build Buccaneer airframes. The Bucc was already a successful naval aircraft, and theonly advantage the Tornado had over it was it’s avionics. Transfer them over (the prototype Tornado radars were flown in a trials Buccaneer anyway) and the FAA has a superior strike aircraft. The F-3 is a dog as a fighter (against the SHAR FRS1 I don’t think it ever won a dogfight, it was designed to shoot down TU-95s, big, slow, and an easy target), and again fitting an upgraded radar system to the F-4Ks would produce a better naval fighter at much lower cost then navalising the F-3 from scratch. That would extend the useful life of the Phantom through the 90s until both it and the Buccs could be replaced by something ‘off the shelf’, such as the Super Hornet…

Mid-late 80s, the RN with 2-3 large carriers and a fighter/strike force of 6-7 squadrons would have probably made a navalised GR1/F3 afordable and a full functional F3 would have been similar to a Tomcat, while the GR1 is a superior platform to a Bucc what ever the old guard say, its supersonic for a start. By the mid-late 90s Buccs and Phans would have been out of hours after 2-3 decades of punishing north atlantic sea landings.

And given a Falklands scenario i would much rather an F3 than a SHAR….. would be a BVR turkey shoot.