Maybe the larger crew is beacuse the US carriers normally deploy for longer, with a much bigger airwing(than any other navy in the world) and most importantly have to keep that airwing combat ready 24/7 as they are almost always in operational theatres carrying out combat missions or could be deployed if needed.Im not saying that other nations carriers are not in operational theatres also but it would obviously take a much bigger crew to keep 60-70 military aircraft on an US carrier operational than say 20-25 onboard the CdG and when you think about it the crew size doesnt seem to be too unproportional.CdG=1950 crew to keep 25aircraft flying compared to 5000 crew to keep 70 aircraft flying.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Deep within the proposed U.S. defense budget a war is raging.

Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., two of the military’s biggest suppliers, are fighting over billions of federal dollars to replace and retrofit the Air Force’s heavy airlift fleet. It’s a cash pot that’s not expected to grow much over the next 10 years, and it’s forcing Pentagon officials to make some tough decisions about what they choose to fund.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facing-a-tighter-budget-the-air-force-gets-choosy-2010-03-01?siteid=rss&rss=1

sorry Tango, haavarla, my bad.

It was most probably Alpha jets, 2 were in BAL this week also.The french could lend us a squadron if they want;)

2 x Vikrant-class Aircraft Carrier’s, total = £1billion

2 x Juan Carlos I Landing Helicopter Dock = £700mill

10 x F100 Alvaro de Bazan Air Defence Frigate’s = £5.8 billion

18 x Meko 200 Multipurpose Frigate’s = £3 billion

6 x type 214-class submarine’s, total=£1.5billion

6 x Type 702 Berlin class replenishment ships, total= £490million

Aviation

48 x F-35C, Cost= £3billion

24 x F-35B, Cost= £1.5billion

30 x Sikorsky Seahawk’s, total=£400million

30 x Mi-14 Haze’ , total=£360million

6 x E-2D Hawkeye’s, total=£300million

Ok i know this fleet was hard enough to pick, and the price’s are assumptions ,i.e i looked at the prices the particular ships cost their countries and rounded off the best i could.I mixed up the buy of JSF’s to the B and C’s as a contingency, should i need another carrier, then one of the Juan Carlos ship’s could deploy a near pure JSF B wing to compliment the “real” carrier.Also i did not include any Assault/transport helicopters as they will be army aviation helicopters and also no maritime patrol aircraft as they are under airforce command.Also a paramilitary coast guard exists in my scenario and they take care of coastal patrol, offshore patrol and mine sweeping and operate alongside my navy in the fashion the US navy and coastguard operate.

Picture from the side of the helicopter

It is from the Eurocopter Puma/Cougar family.Not sure which though, not much difference externally.

Point taken regarding if the X-32 had of won, but if Boeing cant come up with something that interests the Pentagon in the next decade then they could also be in trouble, as the SH line wont be open for eternity, i know they will still build Commerical aircraft, but in terms of their fighter division they could be in trouble.

But what North Korean Forces would they have to intercept, honestly apart from potential cruise missiles the F-4 Phantom is overkill for any aerial threat from North Korea.