UK Finally decides F-35 version (and gets it very wrong)

[Portsmouth Bill]

Perfectly correct Golly; democracies win more wars than totalitarian states. I've just finished reading Nemesis by Max Hastings, and what emerges is just how limited was the Japanese Military mindset. These idiots were in charge of the Empire, and ended up happy to see it sterilised by multiple nuclear attacks, rather than surrender.

[jabba]

...I've just finished reading Nemesis by Max Hastings...

Great Book, great author!

[Zephyr]

I don't really agree with giving the military free reign with the purse, but it would be a wonderful compromise to let them have some input on what it is they need instead of what appears to be the current system of "This is what you'll get because it is politically expedient for me to do this, now it is up to you to try and figure out what to do with it."

Or something like that.

[gordo8000]

Ok, I probably said that wrong, I don't believe in giving the military free access to the governments wallet, but giving them the ability to purchase what they think is right WITHIN REASON isn't a bad idea. Give them a budget and let THEM decide what to spend it on. Let the people who know what they're doing decide how the budget is used, not the people who will just make decisions based on how it will affect their political careers. And once they (the military) has made their decision, don't force them to change it or second guess their decision.

[Colosseum]

The Royal Navy should stop with the nonsense and resurrect the Grand Fleet.

Carriers are for fools. Only big gun battleships can win wars. Who needs cheesy F-35s when you can have Gloster Gladiators and blimps? A real man gets behind a Lewis gun in a Sopwith Camel and guns his enemies down with well-aimed .303. Missiles are for cowards.

[gordo8000]

Sopwith Camel, meet ESSM. I wonder who's gonna win this one?

[TimothyC]

Sopwith Camel, meet ESSM. I wonder who's gonna win this one?

Oddly enough, that would actually be a hard intercept. There is just so little metal that getting the missile to track would be hard. MANPADs on the deck would be your best bet. They outrange the attackers and can home in on the engine.

[Colosseum]

Sopwith Camel, meet ESSM. I wonder who's gonna win this one?

Clearly the Sopwith Camel pilot, who smokes a cigar while shooting down the ESSM with his .455-in revolver.

[Blackbuck]

Also of note, the RN doesn't use ESSM.

[Zephyr]

I remember reading a few years back about the Romanian Air Force and the obsolete Bloch MB-210 bombers they used early in the war. Very few were ever shot down despite being used alot, for both day and night missions, because they were so slow that the Soviet target tracking charts they used for their AA guns didn't cover their slow speeds.