Spain opts out. F-35 Zombie Shuffle continues. ~ BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

Not happening for Spain anytime soon.

There aren't many options for STOVL fighters these days. No options at all, in fact. The only STOVL fighter aircraft currently in production is the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lighting II. Its predecessor, the AV-8 Harrier, was no different. The only other STOVL fighter to make production was the Soviet Yak-38 "Forger".

The F-35B is seen as the de facto choice for organizations operating Harriers. It is the only fighter with STOVL abilities, enabling it to operate from smaller aircraft carriers designed primarily for helicopter operations. This includes the Royal Navy, USMC, Indian Navy, Royal Thai Navy, Italian Navy, and Spanish Navy.

With a monopoly on making STOVL fighters, you'd think Lockheed-Martin's F-35B sales would be shoe-in. Unlike the "A" and "C" models, there are no alternatives to the F-35B, stealthy or no. Yet, F-35B sales are looking incredibly shaky lately.

Spanish AV-8B Harrier II.

Most recently, Spain has decided to forego the F-35B for now. Instead, it will continue to support its AV-8B Harrier II fleet until at least 2025. This isn't especially damning for the JSF program as a whole, as Spain had yet to sign on as a buyer or partner. The numbers are small enough to be inconsequential as well. Currently, the Spanish Navy operates only a single carrier, the Juan Carlo I, with a total fleet of 13 AV-8Bs.

Combine this, however, with Italy's proposed deep cuts to its purchase (45 instead of 90), and things start to look worse. Add the fact that the U.K is only committing to 48 (instead of 138), and it starts to look like the F-35B just isn't that much in demand.

Why is the F-35B looking like a hard sell? You'd think that a supersonic stealth fighter that can take off and land like a helicopter would be in high demand.

Maybe it's because the F-35B currently costs a quarter of a billion dollars each.

Perhaps it is because it needs specially prepared landing areas.

There's always the possibility that operating STOVL fighters from lightly defended forward operating bases makes them too tempting a target.

Whatever the reasons, Lockheed-Martin's case for "up to 5000 sales" just got a little weaker.

About Unknown

Hi, My Name is Hafeez. I am a webdesigner, blogspot developer and UI designer. I am a certified Themeforest top contributor and popular at JavaScript engineers. We have a team of professinal programmers, developers work together and make unique blogger templates.