Search found 1370 matches

by RichardIC
11 Mar 2024, 09:26
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Archer Class Patrol & Training Vessel (PBR) (RN)
Replies: 133
Views: 59469
United Kingdom

Re: Archer Class Patrol & Training Vessel (PBR) (RN)

Also note that there is a programme to replace the Border force cutters right now. Not yet there isn't. It's been delayed by this shambolic Government. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/13/border-force-cutters-migrant-patrols-english-channel/ FLEET PROCUREMENT DELAYS The £224 million procure...
by RichardIC
04 Mar 2024, 18:37
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 26 Frigate (City Class) (RN) [News Only]
Replies: 5456
Views: 1463107
United Kingdom

Re: Type 26 Frigate (City Class) (RN) [News Only]

By the way, the Bofors 57mm is a surprisingly large system. I suspect there would be little or no savings in space over a Mk 8. A salient point on the 57mm Bofors. Was met with disbelief some years ago, when I pointed out that its turret is larger overall than the BAE MK 45 127mm. If we were flush ...
by RichardIC
21 Feb 2024, 16:21
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 26 Frigate (City Class) (RN) [News Only]
Replies: 5456
Views: 1463107
United Kingdom

Re: Type 26 Frigate (City Class) (RN) [News Only]

Ok, so slightly larger above-deck footprint but nothing like the mass above or below deck.
by RichardIC
21 Feb 2024, 12:56
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 26 Frigate (City Class) (RN) [News Only]
Replies: 5456
Views: 1463107
United Kingdom

Re: Type 26 Frigate (City Class) (RN) [News Only]

By the way, the Bofors 57mm is a surprisingly large system. I suspect there would be little or no savings in space over a Mk 8. A salient point on the 57mm Bofors. Was met with disbelief some years ago, when I pointed out that its turret is larger overall than the BAE MK 45 127mm. If we were flush ...
by RichardIC
20 Feb 2024, 16:44
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion
Replies: 19146
Views: 7053068
United Kingdom

Re: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion

The RAN has the same problems with crew shortages as the RN. So they need to find a way of fixing that before they start building a bigger navy.

They've probably got 10 years before things start getting delivered in earnest and noted that some vessels are going to be optionally crewed - in theory.
by RichardIC
13 Feb 2024, 21:10
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]
Replies: 553
Views: 112362
United Kingdom

Re: Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]

T32 basically already doesn't exist. I think the reason for the T32 class is pretty simple. The RN did not want to commit to a T31 B2 there and then (i.e. hand the contract to Babcock), so give itself a little wiggle room by calling it something different (for now) I doubt the RN had very much inpu...
by RichardIC
13 Feb 2024, 19:02
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]
Replies: 553
Views: 112362
United Kingdom

Re: Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]

No its nothing to do with Boris. It has always been T31 B2. Radakin has said it is T31 B2. Source? I mean it makes sense but it's not been stated. It has been when he appeared before the defence select committee. To paraphrase what he said. RN were bidding for additional projects and wanted more fr...
by RichardIC
13 Feb 2024, 17:57
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]
Replies: 553
Views: 112362
United Kingdom

Re: Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]

No its nothing to do with Boris. It has always been T31 B2. Radakin has said it is T31 B2. Source? I mean it makes sense but it's not been stated. It has been when he appeared before the defence select committee. To paraphrase what he said. RN were bidding for additional projects and wanted more fr...
by RichardIC
13 Feb 2024, 15:30
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]
Replies: 553
Views: 112362
United Kingdom

Re: Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]

tomuk wrote: 13 Feb 2024, 14:30
No its nothing to do with Boris. It has always been T31 B2.
tomuk wrote: 13 Feb 2024, 14:31

Radakin has said it is T31 B2.
Source?

I mean it makes sense but it's not been stated.
by RichardIC
13 Feb 2024, 11:53
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]
Replies: 553
Views: 112362
United Kingdom

Re: Type 32 General Purpose Frigate [News Only]

I'm honestly amazed that anyone thinks Type 32 is still a thing. It was literally shoe-horned into the 2020 Integrated Review at the last minute purely for the purposes of allowing a scruffy fat liar to boast that he was turning the RN into Europe's leading navy. The scruffy fat liar has gone but no...
by RichardIC
07 Feb 2024, 10:55
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 45 Destroyer (Daring Class) (RN) [News Only]
Replies: 1987
Views: 553561
United Kingdom

Re: Type 45 Destroyer (Daring Class) (RN) [News Only]

I wonder how many aster they have burnt through downing £20k drones… And how confident is everyone now in dealing with a 50 or 100 drone swarm with only 48x Aster and backed up by the 30mm and Phalanx? How would a T45/T23 deal with a surface swarm especially at night with a high sea state? Many que...
by RichardIC
18 Jan 2024, 15:23
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion
Replies: 19146
Views: 7053068
United Kingdom

Re: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion

The destroyers would absolutely benefit from a modern, smaller and more usable gun. As explained in T31 post 12th December the Bofors 57mm has only a fraction of the firepower of the 1946 Vickers 3" Mk.6, with 50 and 70 caliber barrels, at one time HMCS Saskatchewan A turret 3"/70 fired 1...
by RichardIC
09 Jan 2024, 11:24
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Current & Future Amphibious Capability - General Discussion
Replies: 5842
Views: 1495632
United Kingdom

Re: Current & Future Amphibious Capability - General Discussion

Sure! and I need a private jet so I can go surfing in California at the weekends. But much like the Navy needing a third carrier, the fundamentals are so broke there is no reasonable path to achieving this. For example, despite spending over 2 decades consuming itself to build carrier groups, the N...
by RichardIC
12 Dec 2023, 07:47
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 31 Frigate (Inspiration Class) [News Only]
Replies: 8467
Views: 2140268
United Kingdom

Re: Type 31 Frigate (Inspiration Class) [News Only]

https://x.com/NavyLookout/status/1734309108088541238?s=20 Utterly obsolete 4.5” Mark 8 needs stripping from Type 45 and 23 and replacing with 57mm Mk 110 ASAP. Conventional NGFS is dead. Multiple cheap drones (surface and aerial) are the new threat. Decent rate of fire and advanced ammo are the key....
by RichardIC
11 Dec 2023, 11:42
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Type 31 Frigate (Inspiration Class) [News Only]
Replies: 8467
Views: 2140268
United Kingdom

Re: Type 31 Frigate (Inspiration Class) [News Only]

I thought £55 million looked a bit too skinny to fit Mk41 across all five ships.

But it looks like the contract is only for "insertion, testing and enhancement", so it looks like whatever is being fitted is going to be GFE.
by RichardIC
30 Nov 2023, 17:03
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15432
Views: 4405484
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

1) HMS PoW is much closer. 2) It is about a 10 or 11 day sail at 15 knots, add 3 days on because the rediness requirement is for 72 hours, then it could be a two week voyage there. 3) We won't do anything. PoW isn't the high-readiness carrier. She hasn't got an air group and she almost certainly is...
by RichardIC
30 Nov 2023, 15:13
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion
Replies: 15432
Views: 4405484
United Kingdom

Re: Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers - News and Discussion

London to Belize is roughly the same distance as London to Guyana, so just over 2 days based on Ark Royal in 1972. Phil R You'd have to average over 100mph to cover 5,000 miles in 48 hours. Ark was already half way across the Atlantic for a visit to New York when she was diverted. She launched airc...
by RichardIC
18 Nov 2023, 13:08
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Wave Class Tanker (RFA)
Replies: 208
Views: 118852
United Kingdom

Re: Wave Class Tanker (RFA)

Should sell them and get extra Tide on order. Should crew them and use them. Crew them with? As I have said before we need to look outside the box maybe we ask the Baltic states to find 320 staff between them the Wave's could then be manned on a 1.5 scale and become NATO Tankers operating from the ...
by RichardIC
17 Nov 2023, 12:08
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Wave Class Tanker (RFA)
Replies: 208
Views: 118852
United Kingdom

Re: Wave Class Tanker (RFA)

Poiuytrewq wrote: 17 Nov 2023, 10:51
shark bait wrote: 17 Nov 2023, 10:17 Should sell them and get extra Tide on order.
Should crew them and use them.
Crew them with?
by RichardIC
01 Nov 2023, 18:17
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion
Replies: 19146
Views: 7053068
United Kingdom

Re: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion

Why do you and other persist with this Boris nonsense. As testified by the now CDS the RN were going to pitch for some extra T31 during the IR process and decided T31 B2 was too boring so renamed the pitch T32 and sexed it up with some adaptability and autonomous mothership glitter. The first menti...
by RichardIC
01 Nov 2023, 11:29
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion
Replies: 19146
Views: 7053068
United Kingdom

Re: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion

Well, if there were around £2.5b available (which seems to be a fairly common estimate of what might be available as a budget for T32) could we squeeze 2 x T26 and 3 x T31 (perhaps without Mk41) out of that? That would be a pretty straightforward path to 24 escorts (it would also give us 10 C1 &...
by RichardIC
30 Oct 2023, 12:17
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion
Replies: 19146
Views: 7053068
United Kingdom

Re: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion

new guy wrote: 29 Oct 2023, 17:48 Never said on a major escort.
This is the Current & Future Escorts Thread.
by RichardIC
29 Oct 2023, 16:05
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion
Replies: 19146
Views: 7053068
United Kingdom

Re: Current & Future Escorts - General Discussion

Could the Nemo 120mm mortar be used for NGFS in the future? Seems fairly cheap and would have commonality with the army if they adopt it onto boxer. Already proven with the Swedish navy. Can come containerised aswell, great for naval PODS. Compare the cost of 5 inch naval gun and magazine (£60m) to...
by RichardIC
11 Oct 2023, 07:55
Forum: Personnel and Units
Topic: Littoral Response Groups North & South
Replies: 32
Views: 1897
United Kingdom

Re: Littoral Response Groups North & South

Yay, they’ve put three Merlin on RFA Argus. Game on!
by RichardIC
15 Sep 2023, 09:38
Forum: Royal Navy
Topic: Future Solid Support Ship
Replies: 1972
Views: 546987
United Kingdom

Re: Future Solid Support Ship

A change of government will far more likely result in yet another defence review and no orders at all whilst it takes place. Also when in the past 70 years has an incoming Labour Govt resulted in increased military spending ? [/quote] Common consensus is that the 98 SDR was the best of the bunch, a...