UK Defence Forum

I do. I am impressed with your optimism. Keep the faith :thumbup: I can see many good places a ship as armed as a modern corvette can work. How many places could a T23 GP potentially operate where a T31 won't be able to? These are far more important than making T31 a tier-1 escorts. If the UK wants...

What the heck are you talking about? They've just signed a contract with Babcocks for 5 ships at an average 250 mill each. You want to rip up that contract that's a mere two days old? No. Not at all. Do you really believe the five T31's are going to be built for £1.25bn? I don't and I suspect other...

I think the £2bn budget is simply a realistic estimate of what the programme will cost. An average price of £400m for each of the five T31's is still good value especially if they are configured at a credible level. With the contract for the first five signed, I would like to see HMG now commit to a...

Great news! Wasn't expecting this to be confirmed before the election is done and dusted. If £1.25bn is going to Babcock where is the other £750m going? This might just be a misprint (like the picture) but Forces Network is reporting that the T31 will have a 4D radar. Could this be NS200? https://ww...

Common sense prevails.... https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/1192714622614290434?s=20 Here is the quote in full: ‘I’m working with a number of organisations, from Britannia (Maritime) Aid to Cammell Laird and to others in the maritime sector to really look at how we turbo-charge shipbuil...

three Vessel types that can act independently, but combined to give greater (probably Cdo level) effect. It would be a great outcome if the LSG structure was to be this ambitious. A FLSS, Wave and Bay would be ideal plus whatever escorts that were deemed necessary. Efficient, scalable and affordabl...

Like currently on RFA Argus - though historically I believe Argus had 5 spots. Maybe, but Argus is a totally different proposition to the Prevail MRV. It all depends on how RN want to structure the LSG and at present this is far from clear. One thing is for sure, new vessels will need to be procure...

- three Chinooks does not translate to 3 such spots - e.g. in the Points conversion, a lift under the superstructure could feed them to that spot, while from the forward "ramp" as it is today... more likely to become a shelter or the upper end of a smaller lift, a Wildcat (mentioned!) cou...

shark bait wrote:The guy says he wants to lift 120 commandos, the solution is 4-6 Merlin.

If so, where does that leave the FLSS concept?

up to six helicopters, possibly three “heavy lift” Chinooks, a Wildcat and two Apache gunships. The Prevail Partners concept has no hope of embarking a force as described above, unless the Chinooks gain powered folding rotors and/or a lift is installed like Argus. However, switch the Chinooks for M...

The potential of introducing Point based FLSS's at a modest cost is obvious. Regardless of the outcome of the FLSS programme, modified or adapted next generation Points would seem like a sensible way to proceed when the current vessels decommission. https://twitter.com/BritishArmy/status/11877921876...

Easy to draw comparisons with the 'lightning carrier' concept and the future role of HMS PWLS. https://news.usni.org/2019/10/23/marines-test-lightning-carrier-concept-control-13-f-35bs-from-multiple-amphibs Being vastly larger it is reasonable to expect a CVF to perform even better in this role than...

Doesn't sound like a bad deal on paper, commonality with the tide class, British engineered, British blocks, and assembled by an experienced yard. If the BMT/Navantia design is preferred over the UK consortium option, why not just build the BMT design in the UK? Politically, sending this contract a...

Slow progress but progress nonetheless.

Are they necessarily exclusive though. They aren't and I don't disagree with your reasoning but it really all comes down to RN's view of the future. If MCM is to be performed by a small number of 150m+ vessels then the entire auxiliary fleet will get a shake-up as it will be a major doctrinal shift...

Repulse wrote:Looks like 12 SeaCeptor VLS tubes to me...the let down begins.

I know some are pinning their hopes on spiral development......lets hope the spiral begins developing rapidly.

Your wanting to keep the role but just don’t want a bay to do it. I find this odd because a bay IMO is ideally suited to the fwd presence role. And doesn’t negate the requirement. What if the medium term requirement for the Bay's is to move across to a MCM role? Replacement vessels would need to be...

As for the OPV's he needs to go away look at a RB2 and be told how limited a wildcat is to this class of ship Agreed but the clear inference is that a River class OPV, with a Wildcat, is a potent asset. It's a reoccurring theme and could be indicating a direction of travel. However, having a Wildca...

Interesting exchange here but possibly not good news for those hoping for extra Frigates. Pity the statement about the potency of the River Batch 2 with a Wildcat helicopter was cut short but possibly another signal that some in the MOD believe that the RB2's are capable of a lot more than EEZ patro...

Looks like the two DFID HADR vessels could still be under consideration.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/20 ... ace-royal/

Won't the FTI's cost about $800 million each? How much of the total cost is due to the FTI's AAW capability with the 16x ASTER 15/30 as opposed to the KingKlip and CAPTAS 4 Compact? If the ASTER was dropped for Mica, the price would probably reduce considerably. Perhaps a more even comparison with ...

Not clear that this has any impact on the T31 programme but good news nonetheless.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49889573

Good 3D radar Good CMS Good HMS Good decoy system 1 x 76mm , 2 x 40mm , 24 CAMM , 4 x HMG/ Miniguns plus the ability to bolt on 2 x Phalanx and I-SSGW if needed I think we will be in a really good place Leaving the 57/76mm debate to one side, I think what you propose is eminently realistic. Unless ...

I agree the sweet spot is 350m but I think type 31 will end up at 310 per ship by the time a few extras are added I will be amazed if can be built as claimed for £250m but Babcock are certain they can. Time will tell. What are you identifying as priorities for the extra £60m? That amount would supp...

As i have said for 100 million pounds each we could get 2 new 160 meter Makassars LPD's configured how we want given the Tarlac class ( a sub class of Makassar class ) cost 45 million dollars and is 125 meters by 22 meters has a hangar for 2 medium helicopters and a well dock it could also be a goo...