Forum: Modern Military Aircraft

http://www.defencemanagement.com/news_s ... p?id=18662

This is an inevitable choice considering the uncertainty surrounding the F-35 project.

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It's not clear at this point that it is actually inevitable. However, if there really is that much delay in the UK getting the F-35C then the F/A-18E/F is the beyond obvious choice for an interim carrier based fighter. If they want to spend twice as much on Rafale, spend even more integrating weapons and systems on it, and have far less chance of selling them back (if it's really an interim aircraft), then sure they can always go with Rafale.

duplex wrote:

http://www.defencemanagement.com/news_story.asp?id=18662

This is an inevitable choice considering the uncertainty surrounding the F-35 project.

Yeah, at this point, there's not a whole lot of certainty on the PoW's IOC either.

Either way, the UK will be without carrier-based fighter capability for quite some time. I'm thinking it is also premature to judge the F-35. It should hopefully make it to production and just in time for the PoW's IOC.

lb wrote:

It's not clear at this point that it is actually inevitable. However, if there really is that much delay in the UK getting the F-35C then the F/A-18E/F is the beyond obvious choice for an interim carrier based fighter. If they want to spend twice as much on Rafale, spend even more integrating weapons and systems on it, and have far less chance of selling them back (if it's really an interim aircraft), then sure they can always go with Rafale.

The Rafale could have advantages if they intend to go through with the carrier sharing plan.

What exactly is the advantage? All they plan to do is allow training on each others carriers and perhaps try and coordinate things so between them they always have one operational carrier. The whole notion that the French are going to sail their carrier down to the Falklands if needed is ridiculous. Sure they might operate squadrons together on one carrier for a given operation but it's far more likely one will not be interested.

It's a bit of political theater and cover given the UK won't have any carriers operational this decade and France has no plans to build a 2nd. Both nations are as or more likely to operate with USN carriers. In any case if the UK intends to operate the F-35C eventually then it makes far more sense to use the F/A-18E/F as an interim aircraft. It's far cheaper and a deal could be reached where eventually they go the USN. Not to mention the significant costs of integration. The UK is not going to drop out of the F-35 after all this time given their investment and loss of work share leaving aside the huge capability cap between Rafale and the F-35.

I cannot fathom the Brits buying a French fighter...EVER! Anyone ever cracked a history book?!? LMAO

They (RN) might as well share decks with the USN. I've seen plenty of pictures of USN and USMC Phantoms sitting on the deck of the Ark Royal and have noticed many RN Phantoms on US carriers.

One big advantage going with the Superbug is the availability of the Growler. Even if the F-35 turns out to be all that it is claimed to be and more I still think a Growler or two on the deck would be very useful on occasion.

It would reduce the odds of an F-35 being detected from 1% to nil

Jaguar was a joint venture as is the Adour engine. If anything France is to blame for limiting the program when Dassault took over Breguet they ended up pushing the Mirage and Super Etendard over the Jaguar since those aircraft were all French. In any case history is less of an issue than price and capability assuming the delays in the F-35C are so significant the UK needing an interim fighter is actually a real issue.

weez wrote:

I cannot fathom the Brits buying a French fighter...EVER! Anyone ever cracked a history book?!? LMAO

I'll just side with the SH. The UK will be performing more ops with the US anyway so using the fighter that the US Navy's infrastructure was built to handle would be logistically desirable to maintain good interoperability between the forces.

lb wrote:

Jaguar was a joint venture as is the Adour engine. If anything France is to blame for limiting the program when Dassault took over Breguet they ended up pushing the Mirage and Super Etendard over the Jaguar since those aircraft were all French. In any case history is less of an issue than price and capability assuming the delays in the F-35C are so significant the UK needing an interim fighter is actually a real issue.

weez wrote:

I cannot fathom the Brits buying a French fighter...EVER! Anyone ever cracked a history book?!? LMAO

Collaborating on airplanes and engines is an entirely different matter than Britain ever purchasing a purely FRENCH fighter. The Brits have too much pride for that, come on!

But not enough pride to stop them buying USA?

The Brits already use a lot of US stuff anyway as well as several other countries so buying American would be cheaper as the user base is larger.

Forum: Modern Military Aircraft

Rafale or Super Hornet for the Royal Navy ?