Abandon the F35B Joint Strike Fighter and build more Harriers.

It seems the new F35B Joint Strike Fighter Lightning 2, on order for the Fleet Air Arm and RAF, has been outmanoeuvred by an F16.  The manufacturers of the F35 claim that when its weapons systems are fully developed and operational it will be able to engage and destroy hostile aircraft at long range without having to outfly them.  For the sake of future RAF and FAA pilots lets hope they are right.

The only active "enemies" we have at the moment are travelling around Iraq and Syria mostly in pick-up tricks armed mainly with little more than machine guns and RPGs.  Will they ever need to be engaged by a cutting edge technology 21st century stealth aircraft like the £87 million pound F35B which in any case will not be fully operational until 2023?  It would be more sensible, and cheaper, to continue using drones and ageing Tornados.  A 1960s vintage Canberra or V-bomber or even a Lancaster could operate against an enemy with no air force or air defence system.

Presumably the RAF's Typhoons and drones will carry on alone when the Tornado is retired in 2019.  As for the Fleet Air Arm, what, if anything, will be flying from the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers while it waits until 2023 for its F35Bs to reach full operational capability?

My view is reflected in this letter to the Western Daily Press published on July 10th 2015.

The time is right for rethink on Harriers

In their recent letters Greg Heathcliffe and Joe West have commented on the relative merits of the 1940s vintage Spitfire, Hurricane and Me109. However, of more immediate interest is a report in The Daily Telegraph stating that the F35B Joint Strike Fighter, still years away from operational service with the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers, can be outmanoeuvred by the F16, an aircraft which first entered US Air Force service in 1980. Evidence, it appears, that late 20th century fighters can still match the performance of their most modern counterparts.In such circumstances the British Government should abandon the hugely expensive F35B and place an order for Sea Harriers for the Fleet Air Arm and Harriers for the RAF. They are proven in combat and, as shown by the US Marine Corps’ decision to keep its remaining Harriers operational until 2025, still highly capable aircraft – and not prohibitively expensive to manufacture, maintain and operate.

Returning to 1940, I would venture the opinion that if, as Jo West states, the German fighter had been superior to both the Hurricane and Spitfire the RAF would have lost the Battle of Britain.

S.W.
Somerset