Aardvark II.

This is coolbert:

Conclusion!

From a prior blog entry:

"JFK at that exact instant watching aircraft carrier take-offs and landings as is the prerogative of the commander-in-chief in the process gaining a better understanding of American military prowess and capabilities, the duties of the President almost mandating such knowledge!"

President Roosevelt in 1939 also witnessing US Navy aircraft carrier take-offs and landings would have seen as well a variety of types of warplanes as found in the navy inventory at the time. Each and every type having a specific role and function, task-tailored for maximum performance as was understood at the time. Types [1939] to include:

* Fighter/interceptor.
* Bomber.
* Torpedo plane.
* Scout.

1. That bomber able to deliver ordnance in either the horizontal or dive role.
2. That torpedo plane with torpedo slung underneath the fuselage and not contained internally.
3. That scout being a two-man warplane having very limited combat ability, the back-seater being trained as a spotter/radio operator.

President Kennedy in 1961 witnessing carrier take-offs and landings observing an EVEN GREATER ARRAY OF TYPES AND VARIETIES OF COMBAT AIRCRAFT! As launched and recovered to include:

* Fighter/inteceptor.
* Light bomber. [single engine]
* Heavy bomber. [dual engine]
* Early Warning. [radar]
* Tanker.
* Electronic warfare [EW].
* Attack.

1. Early warning a radar-carrying warplane performing picket duty, able to spot surface and aerial targets a long distance off.
2. Attack a warplane propeller-driven with a close air support [CAS] mission in mind.
3. No more scout plane that reconnaissance mission now normally performed by a fighter/interceptor with a camera pod mounted.
4. Torpedo planes as that term understood no longer in the inventory.
5. EW aircraft having the mission of jamming enemy radars while on mission over enemy targets.

[am not taking into consideration ANY rotary wing aircraft - - only fixed wing.]

Presumably the FTX [F-111] with modification from the basic model might very well be able to function in all roles except Early Warning? This is what Robert S. Mac Namara had in mind?

That variable-gemometry swept-wing design of the F-111 from an engineering stand-point precluded the folded wings as found on many carrier aircraft? That too constituted a problem for which there was no amelioration? I cannot say.

To what extent the US Navy will find the F-35 to be a success as a jack-of-a-trades, not in all categories meeting their criteria as perceived [the lack of two-engines from the start felt to be a drawback] we shall see!

coolbert.