UK Defence Forum

H I Sutton has lots of good stuff over at Covert Shores.

I really hope the author is wrong about the VLS. Without VLS there pretty much has to be a conventional torpedo room which adds cost, complexity and more crew which we all know the Royal Navy can do without.

we do not know if the next AAW ship will be capable of being accommodated on a T26 Hull It will. The Navy has committed to a carrier group, and unless naval tactics change significantly over the next decade that group will still need escorts that looks similar to escorts being built now. The direct...

Yep, the Brits absolutely need a Coastguard. Surely it has to be better to have a single organisation responsible for all the UK's maritime security instead of the mishmash we have at the moment? It also makes things better for the RN, enabling them to become a more streamlined organisation focused ...

immediately follow on from the Dreadnought class. I feel like the only way that will happen is making it a derivative of the SSBN's. Could work out well that way, take the Dreadnought reactor and crew compartments and then add some new sections for attack sub stuff; like a new sonar upfront and VLS...

Here's the plans BTW

The blue building is the module fabrication building, the same one that built carrier blocks.

The new building will be the assembly assembly hall where they can build two ships out of the terrible Scottish weather.

Does a multi role sonar, towed, hull mounted and so on exist that can be used for various missions from ASW to Mine warfare Nope, the sonars tend to be optimised around specific frequency bands that are different for different jobs. Doesn't mater because the sonar looks like this now; https://www.r...

This is my attempt at the same picture from a couple of weeks back, bit rude of BA to not fly a little closer!

Poiuytrewq wrote:Who said anything about decommissioning the T45's after 25 years?

2035 - 2009 = 26

Yeah right, the Navy will not be decommissioning these lightly worked destroyers after 25 years. There is plenty to time to execute the current T26 plan, then move to building the next gen destroyer. Even building at the steady pace of 0.5 units per year the first T4x will be finished when Daring is...

It's all good as long as the T32 doesn't become the default for mine clearance tasks.

There needs to be 5 + 5 ships, with the others being a utilitarian platform, probably something civilian derived.

An old, but still favourable configuration for the SSS. A bunch of these could deliver the SSS and LSS in one package. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/En1AAHzW8AARc3P?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/En1AAHFXIAI-LtA?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/En0_9...

There is some kind of mystique surrounding these cargo ships, and I'm not sure where it comes from. They are ships with segregated cargo holds, fitted with blast doors, and connected with wide roads for forklift trucks. Its nothing ground breaking. I think it probably comes from the air weapons stor...

https://ukdj.imgix.net/6b65ba5deb32add4e942ac2e1744a4fd_/moray2.jpg With the PM putting a focus on using defence spending to create technology and jobs now sounds like the perfect time for the RN to push through its XLUUV. The Royal Navy needs more subs, and that's never going to happen with nuke b...

MSNV concept is good and interesting, but many of the selling points are not applicable to SSS For sure. I only posted because that design of that vehicle deck could be used on the SSS, the rest is no good. The role of the SSS is to support the Carriers full stop. This guff has been repeated a coup...

They will be tied to the Carriers full time Nope. The old carriers never have a support ship tied to them, neither does Charles de Gaulle. The only time the carriers need a support ship tied to them is during high intensity ops a long way from home i.e. a fraction of the time. end up with two Nope....

A RoRo deck is cargo space, nothing is diluted.

Its to train the crew of their Military Sealift Command, they don't operate helicopters so didn't bother with a hangar.

The Littoral Strike Ship was notable by it's absence in last weeks flashy news, I assume this means the project is dead and gone. Instead some of those featured should be folded into the Future Solid Support Ship.

The US are building a training and disaster relief ship which has a nice feature that should work its way onto the future Royal Navy support ship. A mid-size RORO deck under the flight deck with a side ramp. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnqEOlsXUAI9DiP?format=png&name=360x360 https://pbs.twimg.co...

A multi-role T32 wouldn't be a dedicated MCM vessel or a Littoral ASW specialist or a AAW Frigate or a dedicated escort or a sea base for the FCF. However it could be capable of performing all of those roles up to a certain level if designed correctly. This is what the T26 is! The illusion of a che...

Failing to see that breaching is/ can be ' a combat operation' is quite an omission When has that ever been a thing? I do not have one example of any counter mine ops performed during a battle. Iraq is a real life case study: the enemy mined, so the Brits flew over the mines and came back to clear ...

Once you make the leap to designing a big, versatile and highly capable multi-role vessel in a Frigate configuration The Navy already have that, and they call it the Type 26! The Navy does not need a Frigate spec mine hunter for the very simple fact that 99% of mine clearance operations is not duri...

The Belgian/Dutch concept is classy stuff but massively limited IMO with very little growth margin Yes However, a 120m/140m vessel with a Venari layout would be a massively versatile proposition Yes constructed to an escort standard, it could be classed as an Frigate oooo so close. Now you only get...

The complete lack of aviation is the killer IMO. Of course adding hanger space to the LPD's is possible but it wouldn't be cheap It is killer, that's why the LSS was proposed to fix this on the cheap. That reasoning still stands, and can be still be fixed by making the upcoming solid support ships ...