I would support the idea of buying more Typhoons and having a long term policy of developing the aircraft and its weapon systems. In which case, we should consolidate its production in the UK.

You are most welcome to be as outspoken as you like :D

Look at the aim of the site, to get people talking.

Air power is an essential pre requisite of almost any operation. Even if one looks at the loads carried by aircraft in Afghanistan you will find air to air missiles because if the threat from Iran (think sailors and ipods)

Effective fighter designs are proliferating so the threat might be a bit less easier to define than in the Cold War but it is still out there.

The idea that by fighting them there we avoid fighting them here is a favourite of our current leader. Of course, the threat here is an internal security problem made worse by this policy.

Before an aircraft is purchased, a threat statement is concocted by the DIS. I was part of this process for Typhoon when it was called something else. All I am asking is – what is the threat now? The same as it was in 1981 when FIFA was growing into shape?

Aircraft such as these don’t only deal with threats in the traditional sense but also allow us to project power and influence, in an expeditionary sense this keeps the fighting away from our back door

The X47B is along the same lines as what I think we should aim to develop and produce although with a larger internal weapons load and for a land based version a longer range. Furthermore it should be capable of using a wide variety of weapons as well as using modular systems such as jamming pods and ISTAR pods. These should all be able to fit within bomb bays to ensure the low radar signature is maintained however external stores pylons should be easily added. Some may suggest buying the X-47B UCAV or joining the program but I would only think this wise if we are given full Transfer of Technology which I doubt would be granted. Therefore developing a UCAV within the UK would be the best way forward and would leverage the knowledge developed by BAE and the skills of UK companies. France could be a possible partner but they would no doubt cause the usual problems and are already invested in other programs so would unlikely to be interested.

Would save quite a bit of cash, plus the logistical, training and support benefits of a single type fleet – so maybe if we had the numbers it really would be affordable ???

In reality, its a big cut in all costs, both capital and ongoing compared to whats still the official plan (SDR) and the offical plan (what the MoD said most recently)
Although we lose some stealth and poor base capability, stealth is nice, but hardly essential, especialy if we have a decent S/DEAD platform, which if I understood Jed correctly, Meteor will have a 5 minute loiter, go a kilometer a second and 11 of them could be carried by a single Typhoon.
As for poor basing, well, tough, use a runway like normal plane, the UK has thousands of the things, if all the RAF ones are bombed, the ground staff will have to comandeer a few trucks and move to Top Gear Studios.
If your a foreigner and might want our help in the future, keep in mind it will require a proper strip of tarmac.

So a real decrease in numbers and capability with the money used for logistics, ISR and an accelerated UAV programme.