That’s the good news. The bad news is that these admirable little planes won’t be flying for Britain. Navy Times (and others) report that the United States Marine Corps plans to purchase the whole of the United Kingdom’s Harrier force. The spare parts will apparently cost the cousins some $50m and a price for the airframes will, apparently, be agreed soon.
This is good news for the Harriers and for the US Marines who, as one Harrier expert told Navy Times, “We’re taking advantage of all the money the Brits have spent on them. It’s like we’re buying a car with maybe 15,000 miles on it.” Gee, ya think?
Yeah, we think. Granted, the Americans and the UK have different needs and the age when the UK’s armed forces were all-court players ended some time ago.
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