UK Defence Forum

What can the Mach 4 Starstreak hit that the Mach 1.5 LLM can't?

You'll find there is no difference because the guidance is the limiting effect, not the speed.

Why does a patrol vessel need a mach 4 missile?

So double the cost for a 20% increase in range. Is that really worth is for a patrol vessel?

I think the RN fear on that ( and rightly so ) is that if they let numbers slip now with the idea of expanding in the future they never get those numbers back That is a reasonable concern, and why the RN can't drop the T31 and buy an extra T26 in the 30's, that would likely create an unrecoverable ...

No need for Starstreak, LLM has a surface to air capability.

Do we really need 5 T31? No. The Navy has not has 19 escorts in use for years, it makes little sense to accept such low quality ships just to maintain an arbitrary figure decided by politicians in 2010. The Navy should focus on quality, and fixing its internal issues, after that it can consider exp...

SW1 wrote:I’m not sure why you are continuing to link this carrier requirement to drones.

Just as an example why the Navy can't build a crap ship then say it'll have drones to offset the capability drop.

What is needed is a new class of Warship that is designed to operate as part of the fleet and be able to launch, operate and recover drones and numerous types Kinda like a carrier for aircraft? Not wanting to go into fantasy but perhaps in the future asw drones may be launched via parachute from ai...

Using an aircraft carrier to operate aircraft is a waste now?

This all sounds like a solution in search of a problem. QE has plenty of space for UAV's and the T26 has plenty of space for boats. There is nothing on the horizon that doesn't fit into these categories. Dress it up however you want and the concepts touted over the last couple of days are a massive ...

There is no drone that can protect a moving carrier from missiles, and there is no drone that can protect a moving carrier from submarines. As long as the Royal navy are in the carrier business they have not lost the requirement for traditional escorts.

Drones do not turn a big patrol boat into a frigate replacement. No way can drones be used to offset such a massive capability climb down.

Avenger style ... would be a very capable vessel The marketing spin is clearly rubbing off on people. Either that or Poiuytrewq uses a new definition of 'capable'. This is a smaller, less powerful, and less robust hull than its predecessor designed 40 years earlier. The Royal Navy is on a capabilit...

May be better to offset the structure aft of the funnel & the crane to either Port or Starboard Sounds totally reasonable. The Navy should have expected better from this class, but since it was a politically driven rush job important little optimisations like this have gone unchecked. Its such ...

Cannot stop thinking extending the stern by ~2m or so, to Agree entirely. They came so close to creating a modern small naval ship, but missed the opportunity because the decision was such a rush job. The Russians have achieved this with their Project 22160 patrol boat, shame the Brits couldn't hav...

What on earth is a "real capability"? And what is so special about Venari that generates "real capability"?

I think Tempest has to challenge that view.

If the next gen continues on the trend set by its predecessors western air forces will consume themselves. Tempest has to buck this trend. I'd stamp “Perfect is the enemy of good” on the project office door.

I will clarify, I am referring to the mechanical stuff. The F22 has suffered and under-investment on the systems, and Tempest should obviously aim to surpass this. The good news is much of this work can be applied to the current generation, and Tempest has two different platforms (+revenue streams) ...

A future fighter really needs to get cost down and supportability up Yes, this needs to be front and centre. The Swedish nailed this on Gripen, hopefully they can bring a bit of that to Tempest. they would essentially be looking for a Gripen replacement and the RAF looking for a long range, stealth...

Something like the above in Donald's post would be suitable, and sharing the system between different sized platforms is a nice idea. Using Frigates for MCM tasks is a terrible approach. 99% of mine clearance work is performed in low threat environments, there is simply no need to dedicate such valu...

In other words there is no money so the MOD is playing its favourite card.

Beginning to look like Warrior, soon there will be no point in an upgrade.

That's a list you have made up. The MOD's list looks like this; https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DY-I5z3XkAIjL08?format=jpg&name=small Source; https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/645149/T31e_RFI.pdf I suggest a Bay can do all of the roles de...

I wouldn't be so sure. The Italians will have delivered a whole class of frigate in the time it take the Brits to finish a single T26.

It is definitely quicker to build quicker than currently planned.

Worth noting that the figures above are the total project cost at 2045 prices. The report gives an estate of £1.1 billion in 2017 prices. It also estimates FREMM is 20% cheaper and a Burke is 1% more expensive. https://pbo-dpb.gc.ca/web/default/files/Documents/Reports/2019/Canada-Surface-Combatants-...

Really clever concept, with some real utility in deep water ASW. It's the other way around. It's too small with too little endurance to operate across the huge search area in the open ocean. However a handful of these could easily be deployed from a pier to patrol a coastal region around sensitive ...