I’d qualify that with ‘financial sense’.

Jon, I genuinely don’t hate electric cars. They are the future. We all know this and I’m not a ‘rawwr V8 or death’ kind of person. I’m British - a 3.0 V6 is a unicorn here, and most people buy cars in the 1.2 to 1.6 litre range.

You sure you’ll be able to get one in 2026 for your 2016 Leaf when battery technology has long since moved on and that model is just a vague memory in Nissan’s catalogue?

Spot on I think. Until the manufacturers offer battery leasing, this doesn’t make financial sense. That won’t matter to some people, but if EVs are go to mainstream, as technology stands the battery element really has to be leased separately from the purchase of the car.

It was down to carrier capability. We (British and other allies) wanted a heavier aircraft, the French wanted it to deploy from their carriers. We had no QE class in the pipeline at this point.

Perhaps the combined stupidity of the MoD and the Pentagon could actually come up with a halfway decent procurement strategy? More likely that the bureaucracy would become so dense it would collapse back in on itself like a damn neutron star.

And here we hit the nail on the head. This is precisely why the QE class will, currently, never deploy for combat or a serious deterrent role, unless as part of an American task force if a FOB is not available for AWACS.

Indeed - being a regular visitor to the USA I’m aware of how the lobbying works. What is common practice in the States is illegal in Europe - we don’t allow companies or ‘money’ to directly lobby for policies.

When I left the airforce I held the fairly junior rank of Flt. Lt. I had no interest in desks, service writing (worth a Google for the sheer British lunacy of it), or staff college. What I did leave with was 20 years’ experience of loadmaster’s coffee wisdom and general mutterings from all ranks.

We’re level 1 - the F35 is now crucial to the economic and technological development of the combat aviation program in the UK. We’ve built our carriers around it and, although the whole thing sounds suspiciously like a tabletop role playing game from the 1980s, the partnerships are now incredibly important.

Sure. I completely understand the politics but, from a purely procurement point of view, the F15 and F18 would have done the job and retained operational commonality with the States.

Absolutely. I know *why* we have the Typhoon, but I’m not convinced it was the greatest procurement decision to have wormed its way through the Ministry of Defense. The F22 was never something that would have met the UK’s requirements anyway, but the F15 and F18 - definitely.

I have to say, I’ve always wondered why the Royal Air Force didn’t just go down the more obvious route and buy a mix of F15s and F18s over the years instead of engaging in horrifically expensive home-grown Euro aircraft - the Tornado and, latterly, the Typhoon.

This is how far back I have to go to remember when F1 was properly exciting for me:

Hehe. I come from a long line of people who served in the armed forces and it was only my great-great grandfather’s generation, and me, who ever actually saw conflict. We signed up to do things that you can’t do in civvie street - fly fighters, drive tanks, shoot machine guns, that kind of thing. Also, we got nice…

I actually can’t disagree, but from my point of view I’m watching what is potentially the most moderate Iranian govt. drive down the road that alienated them previously, without any backward glance. It’s nonsensical.

I have no doubt your analysis is absolutely correct. Look at the timing of this in relation to the shipping of radioactive material to Russia for safe-keeping. One loss of face here, one saving of face there. It’s so childish it makes you want to scream when educated adults are making these decisions...

Really good call from the commander of the Truman on this one. Although the rocket landed less than a mile away, hotter heads have, in the past, led to awful decisions.

I completely agree with your assessment. The UK’s naval strategy for the last five years or so has moved much closer to the US Marines’ rapid deployment, multi-role doctrine and away from traditional naval power projection.

I guess you won’t be taking your summer vacation in the UK then?!