UK Defence Forum

jedibeeftrix wrote:Right, that ends that line of pointless speculation - we're getting the 40mm bofors.

Now, where else might it be useful to fit out vessels with 40mm (and 3P), as a baseline capability?

Very curious how much the contract is worth. I doubt if we will ever know.

Jensy wrote:Meanwhile on the other side of La Manche...

The worst two international partners ever (honorable mention to India), together, just the two of them, on a highly visible, highly political and very expensive program.

What possibly could go wrong?

The F35 had a good start but they've tempest is going to cut its budget, the writing is on the wall. Could you rewrite that? I don't understand what you are trying to say. He's trying to weasel his way out of saying UK Fighter manufacturing is a Bae monopoly after he belatedly realized that the F-3...

Defiance wrote:Team Tempest is a joint-BAE/MOD activity

Team Tempest is a lot more than just Bae.

Worth a read for the armchair generals. Perhaps Julian Nettlefold might even read it, or perhaps he'll just keep making stuff up :crazy: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/460/progress-in-delivering-the-british-armys-armoured-vehicle-capability/publications/written-evidence/ Thanks. I learned a ...

Pretty sure this was taking off from a gater. No words on how it landed or what with... https://www.pentapostagma.gr/sites/default/files/styles/main_full/public/2018/05/25/1049795687.jpg?itok=9TNEyUVj This I think was on QE but I don't think it flew in that configuration... https://pbs.twimg.com/med...

ArmChairCivvy wrote:Given that the combat radius of the Super Hornet is a little over 500 miles

You'll be lucky Try less than 400 with any kind of decent warload.

Are you aware of any operational limits on the tanks i.e are they all supersonic? I remember reading the smaller tanks would confer an approx 100 mile increase in ROA, have you any updates to that? A final design hasn't been presented to date. But they didn't look supersonic in their previous guise...

ArmChairCivvy wrote:

Ron5 wrote: Argentina is down there

Oh, you mean the armed pensions , at 0.85% of the GDP?

No doubt that's why the RAF keep Typhoons down there and the navy a ship.

Roders96 wrote:All these cost saving technologies are great.

I'll just be very surprised if any monopoly ever passes them onto the consumer in the form of lower prices.

What monopoly? UK aircraft are bought from half a dozen different manufacturers. Maybe you are referring to Sweden or France?

Here's one for Lord Jim .. New digital engineering technologies said to deliver up to 30% cost savings By Jon Hemmerdinger29 September 2020 Digital-engineering and -manufacturing processes have already revolutionized how aerospace products are designed and built. But aerospace companies are now work...

ArmChairCivvy wrote:t beats me who we might 'deter' in the Americas?

Pretty sure Argentina is down there someplace

I wonder how adding external fuel tanks to the f35b changes mode 4 operations or if there’s perhaps a reason the discussion of there development is predominantly associated with the A version :think: . External ordnance is Ok'ed for mode 4 so why wouldn't a drop tank? Of course it would require qua...

It would be useful to ferry out aircraft to the carriers, of course doing the usual thing and using the fuel in the underwing tanks first before going to internal tanks. Also if you were going to use the buddy system to have a F-35 tanker available to top up returning aircraft from a long range mis...

I wonder how adding external fuel tanks to the f35b changes mode 4 operations or if there’s perhaps a reason the discussion of there development is predominantly associated with the A version :think: . External ordnance is Ok'ed for mode 4 so why wouldn't a drop tank? Of course it would require qua...

Do the planes have plumbing for external tanks. Yes, different sizes have been proposed over the years. For F-35B it will be the inner wing tanks only as they're cleared for the weight and are plumbed. Yes and a tank is under development by LM. Might or might not be based on an Israeli design. Opin...

Both T45s should be arriving later today (Tuesday) or tomorrow with the T23s in on Thursday where photos of the full CSG are planned. Not sure about auxiliaries but I assume they will be present too. Foreign escorts should be arriving soon as well though I think the completely British CSG will form...

Max Jones wrote:when the UK should hopefully have a full fleet of F-35Bs so it could plausibly provide a full wartime load of 36+ jets on a carrier in addition to RAF assets

Be still my beating heart. That would be one heck of a sight.

RAF Air Marshall Richard Knighton says we are planning for the carriers to deploy with up to 24 British F-35s by 2023. 18 x F35s have been delivered with other 30 aircraft to come over the next five years. "We will need to buy more than 48 aircraft to sustain carrier capability over the long t...

.no-one mentioned the lack of an external tank solution yet, Do the planes have plumbing for external tanks. Yes and a tank is under development by LM. Might or might not be based on an Israeli design. Opinions vary. Then there is the question of qualification. Who would pay for it to be done on th...

The original plan was to embark 4 squadrons on each carrier therefore 138 were needed??? If carrier aircraft need refueling they can use Voyager or allied aircraft??? Oh come on. It's a misquote from Jonathan Beale. I saw the session. It was 4 squadrons if you want 2 carriers operational at the sam...

Perhaps to enforce this, a flight of UK F-35Bs could be placed on US LHAs or even CVNs alongside their F-35Cs as they begin to integrate fully operational stealth squadrons I'd have paid money to see the good Air Vice Marshall have to respond to that idea. He might have dropped dead on the spot :D ...

Not the white cliffs then? Learn something every day.

The original plan was to embark 4 squadrons on each carrier therefore 138 were needed???

If carrier aircraft need refueling they can use Voyager or allied aircraft???

Oh come on.

Might actually need a much smaller gun to shoot the virus.