To be fair, the UK had the option to buy it from the US but choose not to because of budget constraint. So the reason they have VSTOL on the QE class is relly a money thing
Not really... the Americans have not got it working yet so there was nothing to buy and no honest prospect of it being ready in time for their two QE class ships to use it.
The Brits didn't limit their new carriers to VSTOL versions of the F-35 for fun... the most expensive to buy and expensive to operate and most fragile version of the F-35 is going to have problems... well we know it has lots of problems already which are not even being fixed... it seems they just lower the bar... can't operate the after burner for more than 90 seconds? Well that is a new feature... not a problem... but that means it can't go supersonic.... that is another feature... we don't want it to go supersonic any more...
Modern 4++gen fighters generally have good thrust to weight ratios and should be able to get airborne with a ramp and a decent headwind.
Apples and oranges. India never developed BRAHMOS. After the First Gulf War, the Indian armed forces realized that they need cruise missiles immediately. In 1998, India & Russia decided to set up a company called BrahMos Aerospace Limited that will be jointly owned by the governments of India & Russia.
Russia used the P-800 Oniks to develop BRAHMOS-1. The ramjet and seekers were all provided by Russia.
After India signed the MTCR treaty, India & Russia decided to develop a new generation of BRAHMOS with a range of 600 kms.
The Brahmos is like an Su-30MKI... it is a Russian product modified to Indian requirements and needs.... the Brahmos is based on Yakhont.... the export model of the Onyx, and Su-30MKI is based on the Su-30MK export version of the Su-30M... the main difference is that Brahmos is basically a software and electronics upgrade of Onyx allowing land attack roles... a change the Russians applied to all their anti ship missiles by the way, while the Su-30MK was just a two seat Su-27UB trainer, but with massive upgrades of pretty much everything with a lot of foreign components. I don't think foreign components would be used in the Brahmos.
The point is that this Chinese copy of this British EMALS system is bullshit... the British don't have any EMALS system to sell... claiming the Chinese bought EMALS from the UK would be like claiming the US bought the SR-71 and most of their current fighter aircraft that use titanium components from the Soviet Union and Russia because that is where most of it comes from... and is BS too.
Neither India, nor Russia did anything that is illegal. Whereas the entire deal between UK and China for the sale of EMALS was illegal because there is currently an arms embargo that has been imposed on China by NATO member states that includes U.K.
The UK doesn't have any EMALS system to sell... if they did they would be putting it on their own carriers to make them rather more effective and cheaper because the cats version of the F-35 is cheaper than the VSTOL model... to buy and to operate.
When U.K's lie was exposed they said that they had no idea that the company they sold to China had the ability to develop EMALS.
It didn't, or it would be selling that technology to the Americans and would not need to sell anything to the Chinese.
China, has a long history of stealing military tech and that includes their latest effort of stealing military tech from the head of Russia’s Arctic Academy of Sciences.
The west got powerful by stealing everything from everyone. In general the Chinese are like the Russians... normally they would prefer to buy the technology, but when they are under sanction or refused... why not steal it.... it is not like the west does not steal ideas and designs... that is why they lead in so many areas... if you come up with a good idea then the best way to make big money is to take that new idea or technology to the US and sell it and make lots of money.