The F18s are beasts! Nostalgia kicking in, but yes the F35 will be superior.
lockheed swimming in money
That’d pretty much be ~75% of the current yearly Spanish budget.
What got FCAS to do with it? That project is not in the cards for at least a decade without delays.
More likely current global security developments changes the timelines and a new fighter project like FCAS will take decades to become operational so Spain needs to buy now.
I don’t know, while the F-35B increases the capability of smaller navies by allowing them to have STOVL carriers we’re still to see any non-partner countries get that capability if it wasn’t planned in advance; Japan is getting closer and closer though. It would be a big commitment for Spain to convert Juan Carlos I and maintain an F-35 naval air wing, while the land-only variant seems a more achievable investment and a sort of “like to like replacement”.
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So long FCAS!
The F18s are beasts! Nostalgia kicking in, but yes the F35 will be superior.
lockheed swimming in money
That’d pretty much be ~75% of the current yearly Spanish budget.
What got FCAS to do with it? That project is not in the cards for at least a decade without delays.
More likely current global security developments changes the timelines and a new fighter project like FCAS will take decades to become operational so Spain needs to buy now.
I don’t know, while the F-35B increases the capability of smaller navies by allowing them to have STOVL carriers we’re still to see any non-partner countries get that capability if it wasn’t planned in advance; Japan is getting closer and closer though. It would be a big commitment for Spain to convert Juan Carlos I and maintain an F-35 naval air wing, while the land-only variant seems a more achievable investment and a sort of “like to like replacement”.
¿What about the modern F-16?