UK Defence Forum

The role your describing is akin to the 101st airborne role biggest US bde (27.000, with all support counted in; 16X was also our biggest bde at one time, @ 8.000 bods) a discussion round the Paras heading toward a us rangers type role or switching back to a form of parachute delivery. that's the 8...

Lord Jim wrote:why they bought the Lynx AH9 back in the day.

Brought back? Was upgraded for rappelling (insertation) and convoy protection (side/ fwrd firing armament)
- why on earth did we retire them
... with the engine commonality and all that?

Agree with the points above, but I believe only the ASW ('frigate') version of the NH90 is navalised.

A good post, just to add: Is 16 air assault likely to remain in its current form Currently seen as a centre of excellence, retaining the critical mass to experiment, hone and train semi-specialist skills. This is reflected i.a. in - the fact that the Apache rgrmnts are pre-allocated between early-en...

BTW, what can Puma 2 and Merlin, respectively, lift? Just saw the Gurkhas driving around in LR WMIKs, which supposedly are on their way out - maybe their weight makes the fire power/ protection combo of those otherwise nearly obsolescent vehicles appealing (those Gurkha Rifles that are here, not in ...

wanting to replace them with modern type rather than upgrade way back when but cash was not forthcoming. Indeed wasn't, but Puma LEP can really be considered a UOR, as after the Iraq equipment debacle " the Treasury was trying to be "helpful" to the MoD, but there was no prospect of ...

clivestonehouse1 wrote: in high winds.

No such at sea...

Well the French use the puma of there amphibious ships. What else did they have, at that time? Our risk assessment: "As a result of its age, design ( narrow undercarriage, high centre of gravity and a nose wheel tricycle gear), outdated crashworthiness limitations and flying and handling chara...

A virtual pint? Done!

With GDP falling and a hole already in the budget we need to pair down what programmes we intend to seriously pursue, which can go either on hold or slow time and which we can remove from the EP. The RN needs CROWSNEST, the next five T-26 and the T-45 re-engine programmes to be kept on track at the...

30 are enough to equip a single AAC Regiment to generate exactly what capability? Puma fleet was LEpped to create space for a rethink of the medium helo needs (the heavy having been growing disproportionately under the influence of COIN-type of ops we were engaged in at the time). - good thinking, ...

reported that F/A-18E/F and EA-18G is being procured in limited numbers to replace Tornado ECR and Tornado's nuclear mission. Handelsblatt is the FT of Germany; so a serious source. - I've believed all along that it will go this way as the other options (other than F-35 that would not match the ind...

Keep any trawlers well away (as on their way to Tsusima, the Russian ships opened fire on "Japanese torpedo boats" in these same waters)

Edit : with 41 sqn's 10 jets that makes 116 of 140 jets in use A recent FOI question received this ratio in the answer... was going to post it, but as tables become a mess, I didn't - what I remember from it (a 2019 snap shot), not far off from the above Eurofighter EW suite employs a range of elec...

They are more handy, believed to be more accurate as they are less cumbersome and also means the launcher is not tied to one person. Not naming the country, but the marines were the first to go from 8 to 9 squad... and quess who carried the least: yes: the top guy, so he was tasked with one of thes...

Little J wrote: he is bolting it on... If they could find a push pin solution

True, but what at the start of this (long) thread was something to be done in armouries is now no longer far removed from the stages involved in cleaning your weapon (in the field).

If only we had had the foresight to keep [x, y or z] and not scrapped her after only 18 years of service There was going to be free beer in 2015/2016 again, so it seemed sensible at the time - our PM is talking about a sharp, V-shaped recovery - so surely defence will not be robbed twice, first by ...

a debate going on regarding the ASG, whether the capability needed is to get a force form A to B rather than how it gets ashore, and at what size. The theme not so different: we have had quite a different approach from, say, the French, who put everyting into the first wave. Admittedly, with a form...

There are more and more of these threads [ADMINS, PLS NOTE] where the highlighting of the text for a quote does not work, and when you have all of the ones that you want to comment on... start writing! Errr...will have to miss the bigger picture, and do it in bits Having said that, there are many mo...

If we drop the refuelling mission (see payload figure) then this TERN design is not far off: "According to Northrop Grumman, once fully functional, the VTOL UAV will have a range of 600 nautical miles and be able to carry 1,000 pounds of ordinance or surveillance payload. The Tern project comes...

As the £ 1bn did not buy more than one SSS (I think the 1.3 bn figure also floated reflected the thinking that paying some sort of reservation premium, the option for a third ship could be exercised later - at the same, fixed price) then clearly just one of them, aided by Ft Victoria (but only for a...

The current rigs on Fort Victoria do not meet the original requirement to lift an F-35 engine for transfer to the carriers. This I think is a luxury we can neither afford or justify with the numbers of Lightnings we are currently expected to buy. There will be plenty of hangar space to stack a few ...

Lord Jim wrote:should have looked at combining the tanker and FSS into one design

We got the tankers for a song; does not seem to be the case with (any flavour of?) FSS

Timmymagic wrote:Lot 14 - $101m

He-heh, the old trick of not including the engine in the price will not be needed anymore... to get under the 100 mln per piece magical price

muttbutt wrote:the LR are easier f

They can even make for a "radio car"... almost a command post
- but a Pinzgauer will make for a much better ambulance
- the biggest vehicle that a Herc drop platform can fit... there are no news if this can/ will change with the A400M