Message from @RMS_Gigantic
Discord ID: 636254413895368725
Which to an extent is happening
When you look at origional unit costs compared to today
But there were too many requirements from the US military on the aircraft
Developing our own planes would be stupidly expensive
It's *too* multirole.
The only countries that are buying F-35 are those that want to earn US good boy points.
Sadly true @Dubdogelmo
Well, the UK is developing its own new multirole aircraft
War Plan Red notes that the only things the UK home islands were self-sufficient in in the 1930's were fish, coal, iron, and some vegetables. Everything else required imports from the empire or abroad, and I don't think that situation has changed much
The Tempest program
Turkey pretty much bankrupted themselves trying to design their own fighter jet
But the UK has a pretty good arms industry atm
except the UK, I guess, who in their infinite wisdom built a CV that couldn't be used with anything other than F-35
before it turned out how shit F-35 is
A
FUCKING
RAMP
Ramps are maximum aesthetic
None of this flat yankee doodle shite
It makes sense, if lockheed didn't fuck up so massively
You got me there
Or just get some swordfishes, surely Queen Elizabeth class can support those (:
Too bad the QE doesn't have the even flight deck or the steam catapults to use them properly
As for the fates of the British carriers with those traits,
```Completed: 4
Scrapped: 4```
```Fate: Sold for scrap in 1955
Status: Scrapped```
```Completed: 2
Scrapped: 2```
Nah, they could just take of backwards.
Not enough headwind
```Fate: Scrapped 1978```
It's a fucking biplane, how much headwind do you need?
I suggest the Sopwith Camel as a low cost alternative
Anything positive, which isn't what you'll get if you keep moving the ship forward but take off backwards. ```Fate: Scrapped 1980```
```Planned: 4
Cancelled: 4```
```Planned: 2
Cancelled: 2```
```Completed: 3
Scrapped: 3```
Better scrapped than blown up, like most US non-Essex main battle WW2 carriers
At least that's a warrior's death. Enterprise got scrapped, but other than that we bothered to actually save ships.
Or, in the case of USS Constitution, keep it in active commission in the US Navy and keep the ship sailing under her own power 200+ years later
Somehow I don't think the military planners are of the same opinion