Must be time for more inept MoD decisions

(F-35B - the most expensive way of getting half the bombload two-thirds the range of F-35C)

Those of you who read this regularly will know that the 2010 Strategic Defensive and Security Review (SDSR) made the sensible choice to replace the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35B) Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant with the carrier variant for use on the UK's new aircraft carriers. At the time, SDSR said of this (very welcome) decision:

"The last government committed to carriers that would have been unable to work properly with our closest military allies,"

and

"It will take time to rectify this error but we are determined to do so. We will fit a catapult to the operational carrier to enable it to fly a version of the JSF with a longer range and able to carry more weapons. Crucially, that will allow our carrier to operate in tandem with the US and French navies."

And now, it appears that in the Planning Round 12 (PR12) decisionmaking the MoD are going to reverse themselves.

Unbelievable.

But as we pointed out in CentreForum's "Dropping the Bomb" paper last week, there is no reason to do this if you were prepared to cancel Trident. Here's the table from page 52:

 I give up.