What are the pros and cons of canards anyway?

As long as it’s the most expensive cellphone money can buy.

Are ALARMs really that much bigger than AMRAAM? Does this mean that Meteor won’t be able to be mounted where the AMRAAMs are?

Perhaps a couple of ALARMs instead of AMRAAMs to partially compensate for its lack of stealth … maybe an ECM pod too (what’s its onboard ECM capability like?).

3 fuel tanks? They really should hurry up with those conformal fuel tanks …

i guess americans always likes to be different could be the true reason… :p

LOL, yes, sometimes people just take a dislike to something, take bullpup rifles for example.

aerodynamics configuration is not a major factor in the stealth compatibility of the plane, but rather the shaping of the surfaces of the plane, materials used, heat reduction and all sorts of shielding for internal aircraft components… especially the engine… are the key aspects of stealth.

Surely all of that has an influence on the aerodynamics configuration.

Why not tie the cancellation of the CV-F to the cancellation of the F-35B.

The sad truth is that a navalized Eurofighter would require a far longer timescale than the JSF and would been even more costly on a per unit basis. It is also likely that a navalized Eurofighter couldn’t entire until several years after the retirement of the GR.9 fleet. In short, the RN would have two brand new carriers for several years before they would have any fighters in service. Even after the wait, the end product would be spectacularly expensive and obsolete.

It is even sadder that the CV-F cannot be readily adapted to CTOL operations – despite all of the many claims to the contrary. EMALS catapults are far from proven, and it is hard to imagine the integration of steam catapults, along with the requisite boilers and accumulators, into the CV-F design.

Am I right in thinking you’re not very impressed with the idea of the CVF? Do you think the UK should do without carriers?

UK: let’s face it. Harrier is no longer needed. It’s a great aircraft, but a V/STOL jet fighter is no longer really important in modern-day war since the prospects of Russia blowing up airfields all over Europe is very very slim, no matter how many NMD sites that can’t hit SS-25s are put in Poland. So, the UK can fix it’s problems through the EF-2000 by speeding up the Tranche 3 program. That fixes the RAF. The RN? They have two options. Developing a naval Typhoon, or doing the smart thing and collaborating with France on the new carrier, making it CTOL, and buying Rafales. Problems solved.

Why is modifying the carriers and buying Rafales smarter than modifying the Typhoon?