By Robert Farley
A big problem for selling carrier-based fighters is that there are simply too few carriers to go around.
Saab is trying to find customers in Asia. A recent report indicated that the Swedish defense firm is trying to find partners in Asia for the Sea Gripen, a carrier-launched version of its much-lauded, relatively inexpensive Generation 4.5 fighter.
The problem is that the market for fighter aircraft is tight, because there are several good competitors and not enough aircraft carriers to go around. Thus have culminated a pair of long-standing trends in naval and aviation acquisition: good aircraft are chasing decks that simply don’t exist. To see how we got here, it’s useful to trace a bit of the intertwined histories of carriers and airwings.
The first generation of small carriers were mostly Colossus and Majestic class light carriers, sold by the United Kingdom in the wake of World War II. These ships served a variety of navies around the world, including several in Asia. Their air wings varied a lot over time, from piston-engined fighters near the end of World War II to helicopters and small jets in the 1970s. Embarked aircraft included the A-4 Skyhawk, F9F Panther, Super Etendard, and Hawker Sea Hawk, among others. These ships (and most of the aircraft) began to leave service in the 1970s and 1980s.
The next generation of purpose-built ships includes such vessels as the Thai Chakri Naruebet, as well as a few small European carriers. These ships often carried variants of the AV-8 Harrier, along with a collection of helicopters. The Harrier is a notoriously difficult aircraft, however, especially for navies that considered aviation a luxury, rather than a necessity. For this kind of carrier the F-35B would fit the bill nicely, except for the expense. Most of these ships are still in service, although the Harrier is on its last legs.
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