via Sky News.
Britain risks reducing the fighting power of two new aircraft carriers and damaging ties with the United States because of a row over jets, defence sources have warned.Story here.
Two sources, who are close to the Royal Navy, accused senior Royal Air Force officers of privately pushing for a version of a supersonic warplane that can only fly from the land to be included in an initial purchase of 48 F-35 Lightning II jets, instead of them all being able to operate from ships at sea.
They said any cut in the number of next generation F-35 aircraft that can take off and land from HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales would be a huge mistake, shrinking the size of the squadrons each £3bn carrier will be equipped to carry in the coming years.
WOW!
This is crazy on two counts. Obviously the Joint Harrier Force idea wasn't as great for the Royal Air Force as I thought it was and then the next is that the Royal Air Force is trying to make the RN's carriers into HUGE HELICOPTER CARRIERS!
This is inter service rivalry at it's most vile and tells a different story.
This is a fight for funds, not just supremacy.
The Brits are in a major hurt locker so this bears watching (especially cause after 2020 we'll be in one too).
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