But if the standard load out in the role is going to be with two tanks, then the centreline would either be empty or carrying an unnecessary third tank. Might as well put the LDP in the optimum position in those circs.

ARSA?

13 hardpoints. One dedicated to an LDP.

Still allows 4+2, two tanks, and four EPWII.

Or 4+2 and six EPWII if you’re not going far!

And that’s only on the one jet in the pair or four ship that’s carrying the pod…..

Looks like a standard five point harness quick release box, to me.

A 92 Squadron F-4M XV422 flown by Roy Lawrence with nav Alistair Inverarity shot down Jaguar XX963 of 14 Squadron, flown by Steve Griggs. Griggs ejected twice within a five-month period; the first after being shot down by the F-4 Phantom; the second after a catastrophic engine fire over Northeast Scotland. Last I heard he was OC 41 with an AFC for NVG work.

The PC-21 might well be an excellent replacement for Tucano, and might well allow some of the present Valley syllabus to be ‘downloaded’ to BFTS. I think M311 would fit that bill very well, too. But it’s not really a suitable platform for AFTS.

Whereas Hawk 128 is optimised as an advanced trainer for the next generation of fast jets and will allow some OCU tasks to be downloaded to Valley, with immense cost savings.

Unit price is an irrelevance (and you need to be careful about what is and isn’t included – unit flyaway is far lower than the cheapest F-16), Hawk scores on its phenomenally low hourly flying costs and very low costs of ownership, and far from sticking with the ancient and costly T-38, the USAF would be well advised to follow the RAF’s lead and go for a Hawk/T-45 version.

I’ve seen much better suggestions……

The Prescott – because it’s a completely compromised, overweight, very expensive, overpriced penetrator that*makes a lot of noise as it goes up and down, has only a tiny weapon (-load),*has already cost us far more than it’s worth, while no-one is quite sure what it’s for, or whether it can do anything useful, but anyone with any sense would expect it to be ****-canned.
Moreover, nobody wants it in their backyard (hence the reason it is going to Lossie).*It does the work of 2 Jags.*It’s very noisy to little efect.

Battle (after the Fairley one).
They were chronically under-powered bomb trucks too, with an undersized internal weapons bay and with just one engine.

F-35 “Martmite” – you either love it, or you hate it
F-35 Sodomite. Only a pervert would love it……

JOATMON, simply meaning:
Jack of all trades, master of none, which it surely will be by the time it arrives.

‘MENSTRUAL’ as I suspect this will bleed the RAF for years.

The YF-35 (Why F-35). Because that’s what everyone is already saying!

My favorite is ‘Blenheim II’ -*another aircraft with great promise and unequalled hype on launch, but over-reliant on a single technological advantage, and handicapped by inadequate performance, and by a too-small internal weapons bay.

But “Don’t get too excited, I doubt if the US will allow foreign ‘partners’ to be allowed access* to the F-35’s name.*However, strictly for these 4 walls, MI5 sources suggest that it’ll be called the F-35 SECRET NOFORN.”

Lark*
The name has to be suitable for fighter pilots so how about the ‘Lark’?*
Just like its feathered relative, it makes a noise totally out of proportion to its size; when it is in the overhead, you’ll know it is there but you cannot see it. It gets airborne when it likes and spends the whole time aloft yelling at the top of its voice: ‘me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me’.

There also seems to be a groundswell for Dave, Kevin, or Gary…….