If it gets really really nasty, what are chances of UN intervention?

The worst the UN can do unfortunately is write Gaddafi a nasty letter and hope for the off chance he doesn’t chuck it in the trash. They have no power, considering they great those genocidal dictators pretty much as equals.

What can be done? Good question. Italy could deploy fighter from tarpani for CAP, but that might be unlikely given economic ties with Gaddafi. Same deal with the French. Personally, I’d order Vinson and Enterprise to the med and Lincoln back into the gulf.

Wonder they training with the Marines and not the Navy?

VMFAT-101 has more experience transition pilots STOVL back to CATOBAR.

Would a Sea Gripen be substantially cheaper compared to the funding still to be used on F-35?

Might be cheaper than the F-35, but given economies of scale, probably not all that much cheaper than the more capable rafale or super hornet. The Sea Gripen’s potential is that because of its small size and weight, it could operate off of much smaller ships in the 25-40k range while still having a respectable payload.

The engineering tasks do not sound particular difficult (no new technology required).

They’re a lot easier than to navalize say the typhoon, but it would still require a lot of the services of NAVAIR in lakehurst in both engineering and testing.

Will there be any major software changes? Can’t see why, really.

Current software isn’t designed for a moving, pitching ship.

I never thought I would ever see a group that would make Gordon Brown like preferable. These idiots make him look like a genius.

This brings up a number of points.

Considering the RAF intended a 2025ish OSD for GR4 I wonder whats going on?!

Firstly: do they feel they have enough trained WSO for the next ten to fifteen years, that is a big question mark as it does depend on the good will and future plans of the current WSO.

Secondly: or do they intend to start using pilots on the back seat role. Not as crazy as it first seems a number of other air forces do that (and the RAF for that matter have done it), its happened before so I don’t see why they couldn’t do it again. It would also retain more trained pilots in anticipation of a future single seater only fleet.

Thirdly: or do they intend to start drawing down the GR4 fleet from 2015. In that by offering it as a sacrifice at the next SDSR they get more F35C or a more controlling part of that pie.

Fourthly: A mix of all of the above…!

Food for thought.

With this Government, I don’t think I even want to know. Too heartbreaking to watch HM armed forces dismantled like this.

I’d require both EADS and Boeing to submit a plane for a flyoff to drag it on for a little while longer and negotiate for a split buy. Its the only way it will never end.

I don’t know what the RAF does, but when a USAF aircraft uses the hook, the aircraft is temporarily taken out of service in put through a pretty extensive inspection.

Navy and Marine crews just figure out what the hell happened to the brakes.

thanks scorpion.

i find the apparent relationship between export of Typhoon and the UK quite interesting. For example the CFTs which apparently the UK are interested in, are now tied to the naval options being publicised. The UK seems to be the one partner nation that is actively pursuing the potential of the design now.

The UK needs AESA, India needs AESA, and potentially japan needs AESA.

I also think CFTs benefit countries that want to operate Typhoon from a Carrier (or from an island like Japan or the UK).

The Sea Typhoon was a lot more successful in showcasing upgrades for the land typhoon than fooling anyone into thinking this will ever see the deck of the ship.

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.estadao.com.br%2Fnoticias%2Fnacional%2Cbrasil-pretende-criar-base-sul-americana-para-ter-voz-no-mundo%2C679744%2C0.htm

Sounds strange to me — another funny move by Jobim (without the blessing of the new president) or is this for real?

Anyway Jobim’s reference to “independence” seem to me to indicate that he is still pushing the Rafale. On verra!

I’m missing something here. Independence equates to “Buy french” how exactly?

I have draw the same conclusion as you Fedaykin, and I am not entirely sure why they are pushing it.

If they view MRCA as to being tied to a future carrier fighter, they have to have some sort of proposal even if its completely half assed. Just look at the wording basically if you buy the air force version, the Indians can create a carrier version with the skills learned from the Naval LCA program (which has serious problems because creating a naval aircraft from an air force one wasn’t near as easy as they thought it would be)