UK Defence Forum

Not much coming out about Zephyr at present, no idea if the flight campaign has continued following the 'incident' or if they've taken a pause (or indeed if it was a UK MoD Zephyr that was involved, or the condition of the craft). But Airbus' marketing campaign continues. Interesting article in the ...

Not really surprising, but this decision will definitely impact on FCAS' overall performance. Building in the strength to absorb routine carrier ops means a lot of weight... https://www.janes.com/article/90221/european-fcas-fighter-to-be-optimised-for-carrier-ops Some developments that could impact ...

Surprisingly quiet machines Weirdly one went directly over my house today, I thought it was bloody loud...mind you it didn't appear to have the high pitched shriek that Lynx used to. Each wing can accommodate either 10 Martlet or two Sea Venom missiles. The design also provides additional lift for ...

BJ doesn't give a damn about the forces. I think the only hope is if he's lazy and lets the other Ministers get on with it, like Mordaunt, with a bit of flexibility from the Treasury. BJ cares about votes Are there still votes in defence? I know people still care, but do they actually vote on that ...

Would Canada be able to enter this arrangement and what would the requirements be? The Canadian's are in a quandary. The recent F-18 purchase from Australia buys them a little time, but not much. Realistically they're waiting for Trudeau to go or back down so that they can just buy the F-35A. In te...

Among the components being proven was a deployable operations facility, a large secure unit containing the classified computer servers and other systems and equipment to support UK F-35 operations. I wonder how many of these we've actually purchased? Presumably more than 1. But do other nations pur...

Can't find a great deal of info on that, but they do seem to suggest they have that option. Under 'maritime superiortiy' download sea venom data sheet, see very last sentence. https://www.mbda-systems.com/product/sea-venom-anl/ Sea Skua was sold in a canister version, but to my knowledge only Kuwai...

Thee apppear to be models of the Boeing proposal, which looks a little different to the Australian concept. Also a new word...Fractionation...

And....the Loyal Wingman is to be called Mosquito apparently, which does make some sense...Kratos and Boeing in the mix to date.

https://twitter.com/RAeSTimR/status/1152132890693709824 https://twitter.com/NickdeLarrinaga/status/1152277479677136898 Saab press release On 18 July 2019, the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding co-operation on future combat air systems. ...

The Armchair Soldier wrote:Who doesn't like a bit of BRRRT:

And to think the RAF were actiually looking to get rid of the 27mm on Typhoon...until they worked out that a concrete ballast to replace the 27mm would cost more to develop, trial and field than just leaving the guns in place...

It would be interesting to see either Spanish or Italian harriers, if the latter are still around, visit the Queen Elizabeth as she sails to the far east. The USMC are still the main user of Harrier and will be for some time to come. I imagine its unlikely though as landing a helicopter on a carrie...

SKB wrote:Just quoting http://www.ukserials.com/ data. (click ZM section)

Think that they're confusing actual order with MoD plan.

SKB wrote:30 more F-35B's are on order: (BK19/ZM153 to BK48/ZM182)

I thought only 17 were on order? These 17 are the last to be ordered under the LRIP's. Any more orders placed will be done as part of the Full Rate Production lots at a low price.

shark bait wrote:No need for Starstreak, LLM has a surface to air capability.

LMM top speed is m1.5 with a range of 6.5km
Starstreak top speed c. M4 with a range of 8km.

Thats a massive difference in engagement envelope. We've got both so why not use them. We'll probably have more Starstreak in stock than LMM.

Looks like it is directly "re-using" the 5 missile Wildcat's launcher, and not newly designed 7 LMM launcher? Looks like the major change to the tubes is that the cover of the missile no longer 'pops' off when the gas builds up, instead being retained. Good sense on a aerial platform. Thi...

Really great news. Thanks Richard IC san. (from Martlet/Lightweight multirole missile thread) Indeed, its taken an age from MSI's Seahawk SIGMA. Doesn't look like it can take 7 missiles like the original SIGMA but finally some sense. Now we just need to put it on every DS30M mount....and add Starst...

IIRC, there wasn't enough time to install 3 while back in Rosyth... so i thought it was going to be installed in Pompy, but i guess they'll be installing it at some point after WestLant I think it may be tied in to the availability of upgraded Phalanx mounts as well. With the upgrades of the Phalan...

I wonder how this system would compare to todays the US/German RAM system? Not really comparable. It's a significantly smaller missile with a lot shorter range. But as The Idea of adding six or more LMM to the RN's 30mm mounts seems a very low cost option that would greatly increase their utility a...

Here's a 3D Model of the proposed SeaStreak. Lots more information at the Secret Projects site (you may need to register to be able to open the images up). https://www.flickr.com/photos/29134910@N05/4791020965 SeaStreak was proposed in 1986! 24 missiles....would have been an incredible CIWS then and...

RN press release states Martlet (LMM) has >6 km range, half the speed (Mach ~1.6) of the Starstreak (HVM) >7 km range, the lighter Martlet can be fired from a small shoulder launcher and the operator guides it using a joystick which controls a laser beam on which the missile flies, said to give gre...

andrew98 wrote:The question is is it the mk41 VLS insert, or the standalone 3 cell (12 missile) ExLS?

For cost purposes I'd imagine it was the standalone. Why install an expensive hot launch VLS if you're going to stick an adapter straight in and use cold launch.

https://twitter.com/RAFAkrotiri/status/1145710382595674114 Quickly followed by...presumably just the 2 of them https://twitter.com/RoyalAirForce/status/1145712618327482368 Interesting flight line at Marham now. These open shelters are a departure for the RAF. https://twitter.com/RAF_Marham/status/11...

We would do better to ensure the weapon systems being developed by MDBA were applicable to the Mk41 as that would open up greater export opportunities. Agreed. It would make sense for MBDA. But only if there is a market. If Sylver was that good why haven't more European navies adopted it on their n...