Must every carrier be a super carrier.

Ultimate Ratio Reg has written a FANTASTIC article for the USNI Blog.  It's a  must read and I hope you do.

For some reason, most bloggers (they're all part of a click I guess) have a hate on for the F-35.  In particular the F-35B.  Why this is, I don't know...but they do.

Galrahn wrote an article that shows that blindspot to full effect.  Check this part out.

I know I am in a minority, but I am still very skeptical the US Navy will ever field the F-35C - so I obviously do not believe the Royal Navy should be committed to the platform. The damage the costs of the F-35C program is doing to naval aviation is bigger than anyone in Washington wishes to admit publicly - YET, but when the US Navy starts planning the early retirement of multiple aircraft carriers (potentially as soon as the FY14 budget cycle) I think people are going to wake up pretty quickly to how much damage F-35C is doing to naval aviation, and what the cost of a single strike fighter has been to naval aviation as a whole.

That goes double if a debate ever breaks out regarding the lack of relevance the future CVW has to the 21st century threat environment at sea - because anyone who thinks the CVN is better off with today's CVW with JSFs instead of F-18s is fooling themselves - ignoring the capabilities that aren't being fielded because the cost of the F-35C sucked all the $$ out of the naval aviation community. When considering this is the decade that naval aviation should be innovating the most due to the US Navy enjoying a substantial lead on competitors, I am convinced naval aviators will look back at 2011-2020 as the lost decade of their community.

And for the record, during the next US Presidential term (2013-2016) the safest bet any navalist can make is that the world will observe 2 brand new aircraft carriers being built in China, and I'm not counting Varyag. If you don't expect 5 aircraft carriers in use by China by 2025, then you are the 1936 IJN Admiral who casually dismissed Isoruku Yamamoto's concerns of American industrial capacity.

Galrahn is usually spot on, but on the F-35 the guy has a weak spot.  He's views have been corrupted, his writing makes no sense and the arrogance oozing from every pore of his essence on this subject is beyond understanding.

How he can make such blanket statements and not delve into the real cause of carrier aviation's problems is beyond me, but he does.

Two writers.  Both respected.  Both come to opposite conclusions.

Only one is right and its the guy that isn't part of the anti F-35 cabal.

Trust me bat fans...the e-mails swirl throughout the nite.

Calls are made.

Plans formulated.

Articles are planned in attempts to nullify every press release Lockheed Martin and the Program Office make in order to keep any positive news off the front pages.

The story isn't yet finished but Ultimate Ratio Reg is right.  The F-35 in general and the F-35B WILL be war winners.  It will transform the way that our Navy and Marine Corps do business.