On one of my journeys around the "Wacky-World-of-Wizardry", I came across this article on the BBC site, about the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
Joint Strike Fighter: Jet that's a 'spy in the sky'
I know it's a smidgen over budget, it's going past it's delivery date and there are questions on whether Britain needs it, but we still gotta have it!! It's so cool. The vertical landing or, in Britain's required version, short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) capability means that we'd have a replacement for the retiring Harrier.
(Thinks back with nostalgia, to the Rolls Royce and BAC open day at Filton airport in the early Eighties, when I witnessed close hand the vertical landing of a Harrier. The ground is still shaking under me even now! )
And, if you watch the first video on the BBC page, the heads-up-display and camera view the pilot has is ace! He can look around, as if the plane wasn't there.
It has stealth capabilities and can focus in on small things from miles away... (I'm sure there's a joke to be had there somewhere...
)
Aparantly, it's a lot easier to land than a Harrier, too!
As some-one who had family in the aero construction industry, I can also appreciate the benefit this project would bring to British companies involved and the added job security this would bring.
So, any defence review people reading this - go on, agree to buy! The RAF, Navy and many British companies would appreciate it.
Joint Strike Fighter: Jet that's a 'spy in the sky'
I know it's a smidgen over budget, it's going past it's delivery date and there are questions on whether Britain needs it, but we still gotta have it!! It's so cool. The vertical landing or, in Britain's required version, short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) capability means that we'd have a replacement for the retiring Harrier.
(Thinks back with nostalgia, to the Rolls Royce and BAC open day at Filton airport in the early Eighties, when I witnessed close hand the vertical landing of a Harrier. The ground is still shaking under me even now! )
And, if you watch the first video on the BBC page, the heads-up-display and camera view the pilot has is ace! He can look around, as if the plane wasn't there.

It has stealth capabilities and can focus in on small things from miles away... (I'm sure there's a joke to be had there somewhere...

Aparantly, it's a lot easier to land than a Harrier, too!

As some-one who had family in the aero construction industry, I can also appreciate the benefit this project would bring to British companies involved and the added job security this would bring.
So, any defence review people reading this - go on, agree to buy! The RAF, Navy and many British companies would appreciate it.