Defence procurement bungles and wins

[LP]

Spain's Amphibious Assault Ship, Jaun Carlos, is equipped with the AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft and/or the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft making it a far more potent defence asset. That doesn't bode well for operations in a hostile environment.

Wouldn't the LHD's be capable of launching the F-35B, if we procure some?

Interestingly, it seems the F-35B is the only variant that seems to be delivering any sort of service reliability, but I suspect we'd be going down the Loyal Wingman drone route for air cover, these drowns aren't just for air combat but can be flown from any CAC platform, but of course they are some way off.

Flying in combat against a drone is bound to be a little unnerving, you usually expect an opponent to have some degree of self-preservation, but you can think of drones basically as the autonomous version of a Kamikaze pilot. Then the battle comes down to whoever has the biggest budget!