Britain's Rolls-Royce LiftSystem ready for F-35B world-wide deployment.

[mike2000 is back]

And we all forgot to answer @Jai Bharat 's query!

Essentially, the decision to go for the B came through the conflation of politics and logistics.
If one looks at military affairs in big democracies, this is a rather regular occurrence simply
because the timelines of both domains are different in aims and goals.

If the material concerned is in existence already, decisions are no more difficult to make than
usual ( sic ) for the politicos. If however we are talking of a future program, all hell breaks loose.

If the program is to be decided, opinions abound as few are qualified and debate rages as it
would for any ideological difference. National preference hurts a lot too if it's international.
Once the program is decided upon, it shifts to local interests with each MP fighting to get the
main plant for his circumscription or at least for the material to be deployed there.
Then the accountants get in the fray with MPs translating tax calculations into fairy tales since
they usually understand nothing about basic maths and likely wouldn't care if they did anyhow.
And as time drags on, the discussions get muddled by changes in government and shifting economy.

Meanwhile, the armed forces do a bit of the same. A consideration for a future weapon is usually
pretty basic : that the thing works well, i.e. kills enemies and saves your own soldiers' lives.
But high brass with more time than dirt on their hands begin day-dreaming : why couldn't a tank
do CAS, it only needs to fly in order to do so after all? They often disregard troop level opinions
about simplifying equipment but ensuring quality, functionality and maintenance. Their requirement
sheets end up looking like a Christmas wish list by young kids ( not very bright ones, at that ) : no care of cost!

And of course, that far away from induction, neither of them is held back by the toy making elves
AKA competing manufacturers who'll promise literally anything to be selected.
- A Cappuccino machine in a fast jet cockpit? Sure! Do you want one on the missiles too?

The more time the above have to ponder, wonder & wander, the less realistic completion becomes!
Then slowly, very slowly, reality creeps in :

The program may not fit in the budget that year.
Heck, having ballooned into pharaonic proportions, it may not fit in any budget ever!
Besides, the economy took a plunge.
And no, dear MP, we can't have a high grade explosive manufacturing plant in Soho, sorry!

How about forgetting CAS and just getting a new tank …
before the ones we have in service serve both on the battlefield & in museums.
( That's concurrency for you, huh? )

Jets envisioned to make that tank do CAS are behind development schedule.
And the Cappuccino cup fitting for the oxygen mask is more tricky than envisioned.
And parliament is balking at additional funds required for the adjustments.
​

At which point, the MPs ( by then the sons of those that started the whole thing ) get drastic.
Keep the revolutionary CAS capacity and just forget that tank's ability to fight on the ground!
Buy less, when not forget the whole thing altogether ( think Nimrod MRA4 d/evolution ).

The brass answers by accepting the reduced numbers even though they won't allow for all
units to be equipped, blaming the troops for the upcoming logistical nightmare of multiple high
maintenance small series and cooking up a surrealistic tactics book to compensate.

The selected maker swears that every thing can still be fixed, provided the money envelope is
multiplied by 2,000 ( Inflation, you know? ) and induction slightly pushed back ( Say 50 years! ).

At which point …

- the politicos decide any which way in a hurry blaming the result on their predecessors;
- the high brass defends its position as a strategic error by recently retired generals ... ;
- the maker runs an ad campaign to make it clear that they're still number one worldwide.​

Let it be noted that if the tank won't fly, programs costs however go stratospheric with ease.
​

One of the many poor options left available is selected : politicos usually opting to cut troops
since there won't be that many units of the material to be manned which makes sense ,
the brass eschews blame by re-instating the lone guy that got fired a few years back for noticing
out loud that there is no pilot in a missile to drink from that Cappuccino machine so that they can
court-martial him and the manufacturer starts dissing fully working competing products.

If you then take my very generic overlook above and apply it to the F-35 UK buy, you find that :
building the QE class carriers dragged on along the lines of yes/ no/ maybe with slowing of the
decisional process for possible cooperation, which also raised costs, until the change back to
Catobar was discovered to be, if not impossible, at least impractical cash-wise at which point the
"powerless that maybe" decided to miss-equip the legendary RAF to save pennies on logistics!
Completely oblivious to the fact that the whole mess was of their own doing, I may add!

Considering how it might infuriate the average British tax-payer and how those people are too proper
and well-mannered to cry in public ( the logical result to this whole mess ), you turn to world famous
humour and get this brilliant piece :

In fact, to close somewhat more on topic, London should send Nelson's column to Washington so it
may be erected smack in the middle of the Pentagon as a thankful reminder that … with the help of
Lock-Mart, the incredibly late FOC of the Lightning II may be used as an excuse for the parliament
members to cover their sorry azzes!

The only assuaging thing in that being that most modern programs fail along the same lines
and that, thank Shiva, things could be worst as looking at an ex-colony in Asia will confirm!

Sarcasm out, Tay.

​

True talk. That's western politics for you.

Your last point made me laugh. Lol

 

[Taygibay]

Your last point made me laugh. Lol

Hush mate, hush! That's actually the only really sarcastic part ( the rest being nearly factual ).
But we wouldn't want to start a flame war, now would we?

Good night my friend, Tay.