Thanks for the info, guys. All fascinating stuff.

My lingering thought on the subject is that a Blackbird intercept mission would have been about as far from the classical concept of a ‘fighter’ as you could get: 1. Take off 2. Accelerate to cruise 3. Press buttons 4. Return to base (if base survived)…

Welcome to the world of the interceptor.;)

Ps. The F-108 Rapier in Mockup form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:F-108_mockup.jpg

+ some history. http://www.alexstoll.com/AircraftOfTheMonth/7-01.html

So, you believe that cost has no factor in the selection of the F-35B. Further, that the F-35B is more capable and a better solution than a purely CTOL (CV) F-35C?????:confused:

When the V/STOL selection was first announced the only real reason given was ‘the RN’s unique experience in operating V/STOL types.’ Something which neglects the fact that that unique experience was brought about becouse CTOL was not regarded as affordable.:(

Since the US military has been caught rigging tests of failing weapons to make them seem to work, when trying to stop programmes being axed (e.g. the Sergeant York AA gun), I’d hesitate before dismissing an accusation that it still happens as a “tin pot conspiracy theory”.

That was two decades ago.:rolleyes:

The reasons have been explained to you, several times, on this occasion & others. Whether the reasons are good is a legitimate matter for debate, but repeating the question, over and over again, long after receiving full & detailed answers, is pointless.

That was a bit harsh swerve. Scooter has a point, the CVF’s are intended as all out power projection ships, but instead of them being used to their full potential they will have to operate the less capable V/STOL F-35 and wont be able to use fixed wing AEW. All for the saving of a few pennys. What is truly frustrating is that the french will be building a very similar design with catapults.:(

Flying where at what speeds?!

Generic and hypothetical cruise missiles.

What could have been, the gorgeous F-108 Rapier. The entire Mach-3 interceptor thing appeared in the mid to late 1950s with both the British and the Americans believing that the Soviets were going to be deploying a Mach-3 bomber in the sixties (the reason for this assumption seems to have been that the west was working on them- B-70 and Avro-730 respectively, therefore the Soviets must be as well). The result was the F-108 and YF-12A in the US and the F-155T requirement in the UK, ultimately none of these projects got anywhere. I must admit to having a particular fetish for the F-108 and an argument can be made that it would have been good for intercepting cruise missiles. I wonder how usable it would have been as a SEAD aircraft using the ARM version of the AIM-47?