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Número 3 - 2012
Tecnologia e indústr ia
some London analysts said. Instead of
the expected £400 million, it is believed
the conversion would cost somewhere
around £1.8 billion. Meanwhile, to make
the carriers interoperable with French
fghters, further expensive technological
adjustments (beyond the catapult and
trap fxtures) would have to be made.
After weeks of speculation, Mr Came-
ron announced the switch back to the B
variant – which can land vertically and
only needs a short runway to take of – to
parliament. The decision was taken just
as the frst UK Joint Strike Fighter took
to the Texas skies on 13 April 2012 on its
inaugural fight.
MP Jim Murphy, Labour’s shadow
defence secretary, said serious issues
around cost, capability and timescale
needed to be resolved.
“The government
acted without strategy and in haste. The
aircraft carrier programme goes to the
heart of our ability to act in the world but
is now confused and incoherent,”
he insis-
ted. In the light of Mr Cameron’s decision
to shelve the British Harrier force, two
months before the start of the Libyan
campaign of 2012, not much can be said
about the Conservatives true ability to
deal with current defence matters…
Yet some British think-tanks, say the
B variant may be the UK’s best option,
noting squeezed fnances, the maturing
development of the air-
craft and uncertainties
over the technology
needed for a C variant
to land on a carrier.
For the nonce, fo-
reign interest for the ex-
pensive F-35B remains
limited: only Italy (22)
and Turkey (16) have
ordered this model so
far. Even though there
exists some poten-
tial additional buyers
in those very navies
which use today Har-
riers or Sea Harriers, or
which plan to purchase
LPH-type vessels at one
time in the future like
Spain, Thailand or even
India.
ta-aviões e comprar a variante F-35C
do caça de ataque. Na época, ele feroz-
mente criticou o governo trabalhista an-
terior pela escolha da variante F-35B!
Permitir que a França e o Reino Unido
pudessem dividir a dispendiosa tarefa de
manter a capacidade embarcada inin-
terrupta foi uma importante razão para
a mudança, a SDSR observou na época.
Mas acredita-se que David Cameron
tenha mudado de ideia porque seu go-
verno subestimou o custo de conversão
dos porta-aviões, disseram alguns analis-
tas de Londres. Em vez dos esperados £
400 milhòes, acredita-se que a conversão
custaria em torno de £ 1,8 bilhões. Além
Um AV-8B Harrier II durante a decolagem
permite uma interessante comparação com o
F-35B Lightning II ilustrado na página oposta.
An AV-8B Harrier II on take-off makes an inte-
resting comparison with the F-35B Lightning II
illustrated on the opposite page.
© US Navy
Um AV-8B Harrier II do U.S. Marine Corps em
operação no convés de um LHD (Landing Heli-
copter Dock) da U.S. Navy. The ‘‘Leathernecks’’
tem registrado um bom histórico em combate
com este caça STOVL ao longo dos anos.
U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II in operation
on the deck of a U.S. Navy LHD. The “Leather-
necks” have logged a good combat record with
this STOVL fighter over the years.
© US Navy
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