Wrong mate. The RAF wanted Typhoon into KAF to take over from the Harrier. As no money was forthcoming to bring it up to a usable TES they had to use Tornado once the decision to remove Harrier from KAF was taken.Pseudo wrote: That accounts for less than 1bn on upgrades over a decade, which doesn't seem a particularly large amount for a brand new aircraft with only initial operating capabilities. Obviously, the slow pace of upgrades was driven by the unwillingness of the partner nations to fund them, but I can't help but feel that the RAF were more willing to keep the air-to-ground capabilities as spartan as possible and rely on Tornado for as long as possible because a fully air-to-ground capable Typhoon would undermine the case for a full order of F-35's.
Now we've spent millions keeping Tornado in operation beyond its ideal lifespan and are no doubt spending more than would otherwise have been necessary for faster Brimstone and Storm Shadow integration because the F-35 is still years away from operational RAF service and Tornado can't keep going.
When I put it that way it seems a lot like the usual MoD story of defence politics trumping operational needs resulting in increased costs.
Furthermore tornado could go on for a lot longer with minimal cost if they wanted it to, it has in no way gone "beyond it's ideal lifespan".
There is no link whatsover in typhoons lack of A2G and possible F35 orders. Unless you wear tinfoil.