Lord Jim wrote:Regarding the Falklands, the Sidewinder "Lima" was just one of the things the US provided to the UK, otherwise the Sea Harriers would have been using the old "Charlie" version.
The AIM-9C was a radar guided version that never went anywhere. The UK had AIM-9B and AIM-9G in stock. The UK also owned some AIM-9L.
What and how 9L was supplied by the US is a little unclear. Basically there are 3 versions. 1 - The UK used its own new AIM-9L stockpile that had been recently delivered to Wattisham, the US released some missiles from its own domestic stockpile to replenish the declared NATO war reserve stockpile after the UK missiles were removed. 2 - The US diverted an order for Israel (with their blessing) to the UK. This doesn't sound credible given Menachem Begin's declared hostility to the UK, and the fact that Israel actively supplied Argentina with the aim of causing UK casualties (and we should never forget that one...), 3 - US missiles were flown in by C-141 to Ascension and transferred to the Task Force.
Whats certain is there was a US supply of missiles, but whether any of them actually went south is another thing. It made little difference in practice as every single Sidewinder kill was a rear hemisphere shot in perfect IR homing missile conditions (no countermeasures, no RWR on targets, cold background, little sun, targets running at speed with hot exhausts, pursuing fighters usually having speed advantage, comparatively short range). It's likely that the 9B's and 9G's would have performed just as well as the 9L's. No 'all aspect' shots were taken.
Lord Jim wrote:Why doesn't the Rn use the 2021 cruise to get acquainted with what the USMC brings along as part of its baggage? At least them if the balloon went up we would have some experience in using these weapons systems and could therefore tap into US stocks if we were operating together.
They will be using the CSG21 to get acquainted. The question about how the USMC works onboard QE is an interesting one. Where does ammunitioning occur? The USMC has a negligible footprint in the UK. Will the UK have a stockpile of munitions that will be held for the USMC and embarked as necessary or will QE have to dock elsewhere and embark kit and stores for the US contingent?
But in terms of munitions that the USMC will initially bring along, there really isn't any point in the RN doing anything other than familiarising themselves with how they move them to USMC weapons prep teams from the magazine and then load/unload on aircraft. Because the USMC is in the same boat that we are:
25mm gun pod - They have them, but don't seem to carry them much. We're never going to have them, and gunnery isn't just a thing you pick up briefly.
AIM-9X - We've got lots of Asraam, so no real point.
Amraam - Already in use with UK
GBU-12 - UK is already familiar with this as its used on UK Reaper, very similar to Paveway IV
JDAM - Possibly, but if the UK runs out of Paveway IV we've got bigger problems..
No SDB1 or JSOW for the USMC on F-35B. And thats it for USMC weapons at present.
But realistically there is enough going on setting up and training the carrier capability for the next 5+ years without getting diverted on a scenario that is unlikely to be ever needed. Whilst the F-35's software allows other users to purchase a weapon that has been integrated by another customer thats only part of the story. Training to use the munition, developing procedures, tactics etc. takes a whole lot more time. And there's little point doing that unless you're actually going to use the munition on a regular basis. You could practice the capability, but are the crew who have practiced it actually going to be around in 10, 15 or 20 years when you might need to do it? Probably not. On the RN's list of things to do I suspect that would be near the bottom of a very, very long list.