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For the UK, the F-35 procurement deal has utterly crippled their force projection ability. For some inexplicable reason, the decision was made in 2011 to "sell"
by dTal 8y ago
For the UK, the F-35 procurement deal has utterly crippled their force projection ability. For some inexplicable reason, the decision was made in 2011 to "sell" all 72 of the UK's (newly refurbished at great expense) Harrier jump jets to the US Marine Corps, for the tiny sum of 180 million dollars. This left them completely without carrier-capable aircraft for many years, despite investing billions in a new aircraft carrier. As of this moment, the UK has a grand total of... 9 ops ready F-35 lightnings.
So forgive me if I doubt that allied readiness is in any way a priority for the F-35 program.
- AWildC182 8y agoMaybe the F-35 wasn't the best example. There was intent, and then there was execution and I guess we can both agree that the execution was...lacking?
- dTal 8y agoAs I understand it, a major reason for the F-35's existence in the first place was that the F-22 was considered too good to export; the F-35 is deliberately inferior. So I'm still not convinced about the intent.
- dragonwriter 8y ago> For the UK, the F-35 procurement deal has utterly crippled their force projection ability. The UK's force projection capability was utterly crippled by the role they accepted in NATO, and hebway they structured their military around that, long before the F-35 was ever considered.