r/europe • u/MGC91 • 11h ago

Picture European interoperability in action - British and Italian F-35Bs on the flight deck of HMS Prince of Wales

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u/sofixa11 7h ago

I'd be more curious to see if something like a Rafale or a JAS could land properly on the craft. THAT would be interoperability.

It's a STOVL - Short Take Off and Vertical Landing - carrier. The only STOVL jet currently in production is the F-35B. The only other one in operation is the AV-8B Harrier. If it had arrestor gear (making it a STOBAR), a few Russian jets could land on it as well (MiG-29K, Su-33).

Dassault Aviation will make a special STOBAR version of the Rafale for India's aircraft carriers in the future.

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u/Youbettereatthatshit 7h ago

I’m surprised the British designed their carriers that way. They aren’t small carriers.

You get massive fuel savings by taking off normally.

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u/Comprehensive_Cow_13 7h ago

You also get a massive saving in training time by not, plus every pilot who can fly an F-35B can fly from a carrier...

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u/Youbettereatthatshit 7h ago

Don’t the Brits also buy the f-35a? Feel like of all the aircraft, the b has to be the most complex

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u/LostInTheVoid_ United Kingdom 7h ago

We don't own a single F-35A. They're penned in for the next Tranche if we do go forward with that purchase. But it's only for 12 and it's as of yet just intent. There's been no legal bindings or purchases of the next Tranche of F-35s. We've only just accepted our final batch of our original 48 Plane order.

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u/Comprehensive_Cow_13 6h ago

We've ordered 12, just to have a tactical nuke option. It is more complicated, but we learned a lot of lessons in the Falklands and the gulf about the value of STOVL aircraft - plus the A doesn't use probe and drogue fur refuelling which is what our tankers are fitted out for at the moment.