The BPE is US style, it is basically a modified Sea Control Ship.

Err, what? I thought it was an LHD….

And if it comes down to it, a company is going to have to borrow money to purchase the assets to fullfill the contract, a government is going to be able to borrow the money with a lower interest rate then any company.

On top of that increased cost, the company still has to make a profit so they can provide a dividend to their investors. This is two ways that a PFI would be more costly then an RAF owned fleet, and you can add on top of this the fact that executives in this company will be earning more then any Civill Servant or Military officer ever would.

Mostly because the only STOL fighter available is the F-35B and at it’s current stage of development and with the current economic climate it is hard to see how the Government will find the cash for the capital outlay for them unless the price and in service dates do not firm up soon. I accept over the life of the fighter/carrier CATOBAR costs more than STOL, but I think that if the more pessimistic cost estimates are true the Government will find it hard to pay $130 million a plane, especially if they are forking out a small fortune to keep the Harrier’s flying.

I just wish there was another STOL choice – a new generation Harrier, with AESA radar, new and improved engines, maybe a little bigger, able to land on the carrier with a full payload in hot climate, built with lots of composites and improved IR signature and reduce radar cross section.

They will find the cash for them because they are not being paid for here and now, but rather 5 or 6 years from now when the financial situation is likely to be MUCH improved over the current situation.

Besides, I don’t think Superhornet would be much cheaper to purchase, plus by the time you add in the cost of modifying the carriers it would probably even out. Cost of operation is much more important then cost of purchase on items that will be in service for more then a couple of years.

Edit: Oh, and current LRIP F-35 airframes are currently being produced for much less then the original projected cost (some reports saying 20% less).

Firstly I should say (if it is not clear from my posts on various threads) that I think post SDSR that the UK will move from STOL carriers to CATOBAR carriers – this gives them four realistic choices for fighters – F-35C, Super Hornet, Rafale, and Gripen (you could also argue Tejas N and Mig-29K, but I think their are political reasons against those two)

Why? Its much more expensive then STOVL and would require the Acquision of a dedicated fleet of aircraft for the RN rather then a Joint Force due to the increased training requirement for operating CATOBAR aircraft from a carrier..

I think it’ll have been reduced somewhat as well, the only think to really disguise is the control towers and radar masts, the hull is already shaped to deflect waves. So it might look more like a fleet of fishing boats around a larger boat, or if the enemy has sense, some minor war vessels and a frigate – that’d be a nasty surprise in the making at least.

But keep in mind the CVF would be a lot further away with pickets some distance between the enemy and it, so it might be hard for them to pick it up, because land based radar would be too far away and aircraft would stumble on the “fishing boat” picket with Sea Viper instead of nets.

Whaling fleet? 😉

Honestly though, Whatever AEW is being used, it would hopefully be far enough out along the threat axis to detect any incoming aircraft before they could get a definate fix on the Carriers location.

That thing isnt a battleship, its an accident waiting to happen. 😀

Is’n the RuAF Su-33 in a upgrade program these days?

Not sure if the Russian Navy is upgrading their Su-33’s, but they are ordering Mig-29K’s to supplement/replace them.