The 2010 CATOBAR reversal and carrier-strike gap

The 2010 review reconsidered converting the carriers to CATOBAR, which could have allowed an interim F/A-18 purchase while delaying F-35 procurement. That option would also have created a third British fast-jet fleet and renewed competition with other aviation programmes. Retiring Harrier before its replacement was ready created a carrier-strike gap founded on the assumption that crises could be chosen or postponed, an assumption quickly challenged by Libya and subsequent events. Reopening one part of an integrated procurement compromise could therefore shift costs and rivalries across the whole force.