Agreed.

On balance I’d rather have a carrier with Bs available 365 days a year rather than Cs with huge time gaps.

Factor in the carrier qualifications that would be needed and the comparatively small number of FAA pilots that would take them, Bs give us much more flexibility, at the cost of some capability.

One thing I’m struggling to find hard figures for, what is the combat radius of the F-35B? I’ve seen numbers ranging from about 400nm to 1000nm!

Looks like the cats and traps are well and truly canceled, back to the original plan!

What a farce this is turning into, I half expect to see Cameron and the MoD mandarins with big red noses, floppy shoes and colourful wigs 😀

I’m 25, does that count as ‘youngster?’ 😀

Actually I find most TV inane rubbish, especially any of the talent shows, big brother and the like. I usually only dip in for documentaries, comedies, and watch drama series such as The Wire and Dexter on DVD.

I probably listen to the radio just as much, if not more, Radio 4, Radio 5 and the World Service are all I will listen to.

Note that the supplier of the buddy store would be British.

Doesn’t the contract with the company that owns the Voyagers give them exclusive rights to UK in flight refueling? I had heard that we aren’t permitted so much as refueling pods on the Hercs etc.

Thanks, you clearly have an eye for detail!

More on the Sabre engine:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17864782

But it does give you options.

They needn’t fly with external stores in the first few days of operations when stealth is most important, once the threat is lifted then external stores can be used.

Also, stealthy external weapons pods have already started developments for legacy aircraft to make them harder to detect.