F-35B weapon integration and Britain's carrier choices

Should Britain buy an off-the-shelf anti-ship missile for its F-35Bs or wait for Spear 3 integration?

Alex doubts the proposed five-year wait and attributes the integration delays to contractor incentives. He connects Britain's purchasing dilemma to its F-35B carrier and LHD plans without selecting a specific off-the-shelf missile.

Alex doubts that waiting five years would resolve Britain's anti-ship weapon problem on the F-35B. He attributes delays in integrating European weapons to American contractors' commercial incentives and contrasts their delivery with government interoperability promises. In his assessment, the missing weapons give Britain a reason to slow aircraft purchases. He also connects that problem to the earlier carrier choice: two strike carriers were supposed to be supplemented by two or three LHDs capable of operating F-35Bs. He argues that cancelling those additional flight decks weakened the plan, while a CATOBAR alternative would have required three carrier decks. The suggested contractor motives remain his interpretation.