Search found 80 matches

by Max Jones
05 Feb 2024, 11:19
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

We could have build 4 vessels similar to the Italian cavour and crewed 3 of them with what we have spend and allocated crew to the cvf program or built 6 Canberra class and crewed 5. We made our bed. A larger number of smaller carriers would never have been practical. You have more carriers in serv...
by Max Jones
15 Nov 2022, 01:14
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

Falklands SHAR numbers were more based on what was available, at date of sailing, rather than any specific sqdn size. 20 were sent initially so 8/12 reflected carrier size more than anything. I recall a lot of talk prior to QE build, that she would operate 24 F35, 2 sqdns in peacetime. The 8-jet sq...
by Max Jones
14 Nov 2021, 13:15
Forum: Defence Elsewhere
Topic: CHINA
Replies: 379
Views: 30364
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

Just looking at the new Chinese 003 carrier , going to be a piece of kit tbh don't know how a qe carrier would stand up to one tbh with the tilt to Asia , with their heavily armed escort ships also supporting their carrier and I'm sure new Stealth aircraft operating from carrier ,in my view would b...
by Max Jones
13 Nov 2021, 13:24
Forum: Defence Elsewhere
Topic: CHINA
Replies: 379
Views: 30364
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

Just looking at the new Chinese 003 carrier , going to be a piece of kit tbh don't know how a qe carrier would stand up to one tbh with the tilt to Asia , with their heavily armed escort ships also supporting their carrier and I'm sure new Stealth aircraft operating from carrier ,in my view would b...
by Max Jones
01 Oct 2021, 17:11
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

I still have memories of when a theoretical third carrier was being spoken of semi-seriously under Blair but I suspect it was to ensure that two would be seen as the absolute minimum. Far too late now to gain any economies of scale from the QE Class. The Trieste seems like a perfect LHD solution, a...
by Max Jones
23 Sep 2021, 17:32
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

Pretty busy deck - 3 F-35Bs, 3 Wildcats, 2 Merlins and a Chinook. Not sure if there's others but if that's on all at once I'm guessing that's the most they've embarked so far?
by Max Jones
17 Jun 2021, 18:34
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

Enigmatically wrote:Is poorly worded, I've re-read it 3 times and I'm still no sure whether he was asking about missiles or aircraft
I would have thought VLS (i.e. missile launching systems) would have been implied by the term 'launch' instead of 'takeoff', but it could have been a bit clearer.
by Max Jones
05 Jun 2021, 10:11
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

Although I am not a fan of using the Carriers as LHAs, seeing HMS PoW with a full flight deck of Apaches, Chinooks, Merlins and both varieties of Wildcat would be good to see. Shame she couldn't have embarked a handful of aircraft for the meet with QE the other week. Just about a dozen helicopters ...
by Max Jones
02 May 2021, 22:38
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

Any update on those four F-35Bs? I'm guessing they haven't been flying around all afternoon.
by Max Jones
29 Apr 2021, 20:28
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

How much of the Carrier Strike Group is assembling off Scotland? If the full force is there - aircraft and allies include - it would be amazing to see POW join them briefly for a full size battle group with two carriers at the centre.
by Max Jones
27 Apr 2021, 07:17
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

I've been hearing a drop in Merlin numbers from 12 to 10 (lost a couple HM2s). Bit of a shame but the additional 4 F-35Bs seem to balance it out nicely. The drop in HM2 could it be that they are not counting the couple used as Crowsnest ASaC ? Originally it was nine HM2s, in a 6+3 combination of AS...
by Max Jones
26 Apr 2021, 17:34
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

What does the doctrine say about the USMC, will they be using ASRAAM or are they bringing sidewinder? I think they are bringing their own weapons - probably Sidewinder instead of ASRAAM and possibly a different AMRAAM variant but generally a good thing since they have more varied air-to-ground opti...
by Max Jones
26 Apr 2021, 16:39
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

I've been hearing a drop in Merlin numbers from 12 to 10 (lost a couple HM2s). Bit of a shame but the additional 4 F-35Bs seem to balance it out nicely.
by Max Jones
24 Apr 2021, 10:56
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

Ron5 wrote:
dmereifield wrote:I'd hazard an uneducated guess at 8+8....
With 24+0 in 3 years time, right??
We will still be operating with USMC jets beyond 3 years regardless of how many aircraft we have available. Jointly operating both is mutually beneficial and not impacted directly by the number of UK aircraft available.
by Max Jones
10 Mar 2021, 08:57
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

Why's that then? The crude mathematics of a total buy of only 48 F-35Bs combined with the reluctance of the RAF to let them spend any more than the minimum amount of time at sea. It just doesn't justify having two carriers at sea together. And when one does go to sea 8-12 aircraft probably the stan...
by Max Jones
27 Jan 2021, 13:29
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

I have to say I suspect a transit of the Taiwan Strait is not on the cards, but given the US and UK's near alignment on China's status as a genocidal fascist state I wish we would. A real multinational fleet sailing through there would really help back up the Taiwanese (and indeed the US who have b...
by Max Jones
08 Dec 2020, 19:45
Forum: Defence Elsewhere
Topic: French Armed Forces
Replies: 1869
Views: 125815
United Kingdom

Re: French Armed Forces

I think it's pretty much guaranteed at this point there won't be two procured - certainly not without a massive boost in defence spending for France which would require the entire nation unanimously changing its foreign policies. With only two specialised AAW escorts (Horizon) and two lighter semi-s...
by Max Jones
19 Nov 2020, 13:36
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 31 Frigate (Inspiration Class) [News Only]
Replies: 8470
Views: 2143296
United Kingdom

Re: Type 31 & Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]

Assuming these new Type 32s are GP due to the 30 series designation, could they possibly be a slightly adjusted reconfiguration of the initial Type 31 design? If they are intended to operate alongside the other two classes, it seems like a quick way to get them into service within the 2030s would be...
by Max Jones
19 Nov 2020, 13:30
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Integrated Review (previously SDSR 2020)
Replies: 1307
Views: 59985
United Kingdom

Re: Integrated Review (previously SDSR 2020)

The Type 32 sounds interesting. Given that it is in the 30 series I would assume it is a general purpose vessel. If we are realistically going to see this alongside the T26 and T31 within the next couple decades, it could be a similar dynamic to the T23s, T22s and T21s in the past. The way they are ...
by Max Jones
13 Nov 2020, 13:50
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15445
Views: 4410532
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

Hopefully they get things in order soon. I generally try to stay optimistic about F-35B orders but I don't think two squadrons of 24 jets should be seen as full operating capability but rather just the default requirement. A wartime load suggested of 50+ aircraft would imply at least 3 squadrons so ...
by Max Jones
30 Oct 2020, 19:13
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion
Replies: 19150
Views: 7058542
United Kingdom

Re: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion

If we were to quad-pack the Type 45 with CAMM I wouldn't want to it completely replace Aster 15. CAMM can perform a lot of the same jobs and would help for saturation attacks but its generally a cheaper general purpose missile while Aster is most specialised and capable against diverse targets like ...
by Max Jones
30 Oct 2020, 18:54
Forum: Defence Elsewhere
Topic: Argentina
Replies: 254
Views: 15812
United Kingdom

Re: Argentina

That's my entertainment for the day sorted.

To be fair we are really just doing them a favour. Argentina really doesn't need to worry about its military at the moment and could put that money to far better use.