Now what, or who, could a fleet of Tornado bombers do that Harriers couldn't ?
Its perhaps worth wondering what changed the govt's mind, allegedly, late in the defence review. ( And perhaps who changed it - my guess the US ).
The Tornado GR4 is a strike weapon for serious inter state warfare ( yes you can deliver high explosives on the Hindu Kush - but so can DHL ), against a serious air defence system and air force you'll want something other than a mach 0.85 one engined Harrier.
Assuming we haven't lost leave of our senses and planning a suicidal war against Russia ( or even worse China ) - who else is left on the target list over the next few years ?
3 comments:
Yes but Harrier jets are still brilliant, to say it's such an old design and still in regular use by so many different countires.
...who else is left on the target list over the next few years ?
France, Germany, Italy, Turkey - take your pick.
There's an interesting Economist article this week suggesting there may be some NATO concern about a lack of nuclear capable aircraft going forward. This would give the US an incentive to push for Tornado's to be kept over Harriers ( though I don't know if UK Tornado's are capable of dropping US tactical Nukes ( but I believe some Dutch, Belgians and German aircraft are ).
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