Quote:
Originally Posted by andy97
The flat deck option required steam catapults and arrestor wires, and conventional take off and landing version if the F35. It was a design/ procurement option.
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Yep - if we'd gone flat deck we could have used the better version of the F35 (the cheaper, longer ranged, higher payload version) and also any Nato carrier aircraft could have used the decks (Hornet, Rafale etc.). By going Ski jump it's the crap F35 and helicopters only.
Quote:
Originally Posted by andy97
In my view we cant afford these ships and the 2 x Amphibious Landing Platform Dock ships (HMS Albion and Bulwark) and would have been better off buying 3 x hybrid ships capable of supporting amphibious ops and F35 ops like the USS Wasp class.
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Agreed - if we weren't going flat deck then something like this would have made more sense.