Re: Still not too late
'RATO Typhoon
the technology exists from Buccaneer days, though it wasn't used for ship launches'
AIUI the problem with a marinised Typhoon is less the launching and more the landing back on again. Essentially the landing attitude is such that on finals you wouldn't be able to see the aircraft carrier, added to that the landing gear (and airframe) isn't designed to take the impact of a no-flare landing*. Strengthening the aircraft to take a no-flare landing gets you half way to a new aircraft, so you're probably looking at a decade long development programme with no guarantee of success.
*Land based aircraft flare just above the runway to cushion the impact, carrier aircraft don't because they're aiming for a small area of the deck to ensure the hook catches on a cable. The flare introduces sufficient ambiguity into the landing area that the rate of go-rounds would be unacceptable.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
