It's quite likely that the first squadron of fighters to operate from the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier will belong to the US Marines rather than Britain, naval insiders have told me.Asked about such a scenario on Newsnight, General Lord David Richards, until earlier this year the UK's top serviceman, said it "would make good sense".
Under current plans there will be a gap in 2019-2020 in which HMS Queen Elizabeth will be ready but not its British air squadron, whereas the Americans are taking delivery of more aircraft and doing so more quickly.
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One would almost think that the BBC with it's patently left wing leanings, had a specific agenda to rubbish the new carriers. The only thing emotive about this article, is the twisting and judicious editing of it.
ReplyDeleteFor goodness sake how many times does the MOD have to keep repeating that the first aircraft and pilots to fly off her will be UK owned and manned. 2018 is also the date this will happen
The BBC has published an untold number of untruths about the carriers over the years, this is just another one.
From the MOD once more:-
'An MoD spokesman said: "The Lightning II [F-35B] Force will be manned by Royal Navy and RAF pilots and we can be clear that aircraft used for the first Class Flying Trials in 2018 will be UK F35Bs, flown by UK pilots.'
Is that clear enough !