THE FUTURE OF UK CARRIER STRIKE: THE STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE F-35 VARIANT DECISION

摘要

The British government's decision to re-adopt the short take-off, vertical landing variant of the F-35 Lightning II (the F-35B) was justified on the basis that it would provide sufficient capability and a through-life cost saving over the other variants. Fresh analysis of the evidence reveals that, in fact, the adoption of the F-35B carries with it significant risks of increased lifetime costs, decreased capability, operational difficulties and, in the long term, saddling the Royal Navy with an obsolete deck configuration for its carriers. Most worryingly, it may be that the government's decision in 2012 was at odds with its own advice.