er, excuse me, what work would rafale need? it already exists in naval version and is NATO compatible.. so, more or less any weapons integration in british arsenal would be about coding

besides, the fuss about the US “collaboration” is mostly because there’s not much in terms of collaboration, but rather US development with “partners” just paying and eventually buying what the US decide to let them buy… the F-35 is still considerd by the US as an export and even “privileged” partners like the UK won’t have access to the “full model with all options” like source codes of their own aircraft for example.

i’m talking about what i think will actually happen. I don’t believe the B will be cancelled (I actually think the fuss about it is largely because certain elements in the US are unused to the idea of an american vertical lift fighter), I do think the UK is wedded to the F35, and the UK elements of the aircraft are considerable. The source codes will be fine by the time its in service and the UK will have autonomy of operation.

Whilst I know France and the UK recently reafiirmed their commitment to develop and procure together, and it is possible they may even operate very similar aircraft carriers if things aren’t cancelled, I can’t see the RN operating a French aircraft with no UK content.

Therefore it needs work.

he doesn’t think he is, and the issue of colonialism has been woven into the fabric of South American national identity since the 1830s….

what might sound like a load of hyperbole to us can sound awfully exciting to some of these leaders.

In another time and place this issue flairing up before an election might have been an attractive distraction for an unpopular british PM, but Afghan seems to more than provide the UK with the chance to thump some tubs and “back our boys”.

This is the only option open to Argentina, they simply can’t deploy a meaningful force to the Falklands, they’ve been hobbled for too long.

anyway it looks like we are going to be pressurised into loosing the falklands by Venezuala and the like, so the FAA won’t have to worry about buying attack aircraft!

this is a debate that will keep coming back onto this forum until the F35 comes into service.

In a way i think a lot of the fuss is because the US are not as used to collaborating on fighter projects (between services let alone countries), and so we always get waves of criticism each time there is a delay or rise in cost (unlike the British who love a good delay or dilution of capability!;) )

I can’t see how Naval Gripen offers the UK the same capability as the F35, and the Rafale would need work to make it an acceptable buy….

Navalised Typhoon it is then!

But that won’t happen, too much work has gone into the JSF.

i wouldn’t put money on typhoon winning because if the RAF are taking 2 on exercise in India they are bound to get thumped 7-1 or something.

The RAF is not what it used to be after all!:rolleyes: