As the second coming launch of HMS Queen Elizabeth approaches, the planned visit to the UK by the F35 and of course, the ever present arguments for and against this most studied of aircraft and the continued speculation about how many the UK will purchase* I thought a quick look back at some of the Think Defence articles on the subject might be in worthwhile;
A Four Part Series on the F35
Dredging up the Past; the history of the UK’s involvement with the project, background on the SDSR switch to the CV variant and the reversion a few years later. Click Here
Future Promise; what glimpse into the future that the F35 provides, a look at range, bring back, payloads, sensors and weapons, click here
Down to Earth with a Bump; To say the F35 is ‘troubled’ would be an understatement of somewhat huge proportions, tempering the promise with the reality of complex engineering developments and cost and time inflation, click here
By Sea by Land; how the UK’s F35B’s might be operated, deployed and used in complex environments with a look at the history of the Harrier austere operational locations, expeditionary airfields, the joys of AM-2 matting and joint operations with the RAF and FAA, click here
Others
Lots more in the archive
https://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/tag/fast-jets/
https://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/tag/carrierstrike/
And a handful of specifics
and my all time favourite rantathon
* I don’t think we should be buying any more than 60