Retiring Trident

Retiring Trident
US Air Force (USAF), US Navy (USN) and US Marine Corps (USMC). These
comprise the USAF’s F-35A land-based variant, the USMC’s F-35B Short
Take-Off / Vertical Landing (STOVL) “jump jet” variant for shipboard and
improvised runway use, and the USN’s F-35C Catapult Assisted Take-Off
But Arrested Landing (CATOBAR) aircraft carrier variant. Cost savings will
come from the large numbers ordered, and the high degree of commonality
between the three variants.
Both the RAF and the Royal Navy’s (RN) Fleet Air Arm (FAA) will operate
F-35s in UK service. Unlike the USA, the UK will use a single JSF variant
from both land-bases and from the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft
carriers. This decision should reduce the UK’s through-life costs when
compared to operating more than one variant, but it means that the JSF
variant choice is driven by the design of the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers.
The Queen Elizabeth-class carrier design itself is flexible, capable of
configuration as either a conventional CATOBAR carrier with an angled
flight deck, catapults and arrestor gear, or with a ramp for STOVL operations
without catapults or arrestor gear. However, in STOVL configuration,
Queen Elizabeth-class is limited to operating STOVL aircraft and
helicopters only.
When initially ordered in July 2007, 167 both Queen Elizabeth-class carriers
were configured for STOVL operations with the UK purchasing the F-35B
for the RAF and the FAA. SDSR10 opted to convert the second ship to
CATOBAR configuration carriers to operate the cheaper but more capable
F-35C 168 and constructing and immediately mothballing the first ship,
which was too late in-build to for easy conversion to CATOBAR configuration.
This was also driven by the SDSR10 decision that the UK would only
operate one of the two Queen Elizabeth-class carriers.
In an embarrassing May 2012 volte-face, the UK Ministry of Defence
(MoD) concluded that converting the second carrier to operate the F-35C
would prove unaffordable at a cost of £2bn, and instead it would construct
both carriers in STOVL configuration. 169 Concurrently, the UK MoD
changed the JSF order back from the F-35C to the less capable but more
expensive F-35B. These decisions unnecessarily increased the Queen
Elizabeth-class carrier programme cost by at least £74m. 170
F-35 Stealth Characteristics
Lockheed Martin, the F-35’s manufacturer defines LO (“stealth”) capability
as “the ability to evade detection by radar, infrared (IR) sensors or
emission interception... [s]tealth provides greater survivability and access.”
171 Interviewed in 2014, the USAF Chief of Staff opined that stealth
38