Clarke attributes part of the preference for the F-35B and STOVL carriers to the aircraft's distinct role beside the RAF's conventional fighters. In this interpretation, the F-35C's range and capability would have made it a closer competitor to Eurofighter and the emerging Tempest project. Identifying one aircraft as STOVL made the two procurement cases easier to distinguish. A separate prediction favors CATOBAR or a mixed arrangement for Britain's eventual next generation of carriers because of the additional capability it could provide. That forecast is qualified by the reminder that replacement-carrier decisions lie decades away and the future threat environment is unknown.
Notable Point · 1:21:41-1:23:38
F-35 variant choice and competing British aviation programs
An interpretation of the F-35B purchase connects aircraft-role distinctions with competing aviation programs, followed by a qualified forecast about Britain's distant carrier replacements.