The Type 45s and Type 23s boast modern air-defense systems. The fleet’s surface combatants-six Type 45 destroyers and 12 Type 23 frigates-partially lack anti-ship missiles and entirely lack land-attack ones. “The department must provide clarity on how it intends to operate the F-35 fleet before then.”Īircraft-less aircraft carriers aren’t the Royal Navy’s only problem. But that’s “too long to wait to know the size of the planned F-35 fleet and how it could be used,” the committee warned. The ministry has promised to clarify its F-35 plan by 2025. defense ministry for years has declined to commit to a larger F-35 purchase, despite 48 planes clearly being inadequate in every serious analysis. The crash reduced the RAF and Royal Navy’s combined F-35 fleet to 20 planes, of 48 on order. The authors clearly were spooked when, in the final days of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s deployment this year, one of the vessel’s British F-35s crashed on takeoff. “We believe the actual number required to be higher, as it must allow for a greater attrition rate than is probably expected.” The committee considers the Lockheed estimate too low. Forty-eight planes at sea, with the balance for training or the maintenance pool.
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