Really?Tempest414 wrote:There is also a deficit in all aircraft types that will be operated from them
- It's going to have the worlds best strike fighter in F-35
- UK F-35B with Asraam CSP and Meteor will be the best fleet interceptor ever fielded by any nation
- Merlin HM.2 the best shipborne ASW on earth
- Merlin Crowsnest - A very good AEW solution, maybe not as good as E-2D, but still up there
- Merlin HC.4 - A very good naval utility helicopter and TRAP platform
- Apache E - The best helicopter gunship on earth
- Wildcat - The best naval strike helicopter on earth
- Chinook - De-facto the best western medium/large transport helo
- It's missing a dedicated COD and AAR platform, thats it. With FSS and Heavy-RAS it doesn't need a COD solution, Chinook and Merlin can provide a capability if required for a reasonable range, Chinook can undersling or carry more internally than a CMV-22.
- As to AAR, realistically the capability provided by shipborne AAR is anaemic and not as critical on a STOVL carrier as a CATOBAR carrier, no bolters on STOVL. Besides, the QE Class will pretty much always be operating within range of Voyager which is vastly more capable than any shipborne AAR capability.
- You could claim she's missing a dedicated EW aircraft, but with a fully LO fighter-bomber complement its not as necessary as with a mixed airwing. The USN is also struggling to field the full EA-18G capability...
The real gaps for QE are number of available escorts, timely arrival of FSS, numbers of P-8 available to support, numbers of Merlin available to cover ASW and AEW simultaneously (You really need a minimum of 12 Merlin HM.2 on-board to cover both in full), T45's ability to defend against ballistic missiles, self defence capability, EW fit-out and most crucially....the range of weapons carried by it's principal weapon, the F-35B.
Until 2025 we're limited to legacy Asraam, Amraam C-5 until the Amraam D's arrive c2021 and PWIV. Not bad at this stage. By 2025/6 it should be carrying Asraam CSP, Amraam D, Meteor, PWIV standard and PWIV Penetrator, Spear and possibly Spear EW and SmartGlider Light....we might even actually order some gun pods...
Gaps will remain of a dedicated AShM, long range strike missile (no Storm Shadow, JSM could partially cover this area and AShM), ARM (covered in part by Spear) and a heavyweight, gliding weapon (like JSOW, this may get covered by MBDA's SmartGlider Heavy if we buy in to it).