UK Defence Forum

Yes does seem to be a no brainer for external tanks ( money permiting ) another good reason to practice the rolling vertical landing....

Easily done with all these excellent photo & news coming through the pipe-line as it were thought they may of changed the designation of the F35 already

Well if the surprise they were referring to on twitter is POW meeting the CSG, got me wondering when was the last time 2 British fixed wing carriers met in a strike group? that will be a awesome sight to see

Agree, If the USMC routinely deploy on a QEC would they not want a US ship there aswell?

On a UK operation with no usmc then 4 x UK escort should be aspired to.

Does it not also depend on the length of a sortie? i.e 3 per day could mean a different pilot doing 3 missions of 7 hrs per day allowing for 1hr turnaround on each mission for fueling (infight aswell? ) & re-arming or you could have 6 x missions of less endurance ( 3hrs ?) for example, so as wit...

I would like to see that as there would be a lot of pro's to having a dedicated coast guard, I can hear all the bad spin "Royal navy looses 8 warships" when they transferred the river classes !

Again: Why not put some Chinhooks and Apaches as well? At least for the photo-op. :think: Because aircraft that aren't involved in the exercise won't get involved as it's a waste of time. The MoD doesn't revolve around spotter circle jerks. POW is due out soon and think it was said that when she wa...

River B2 seem to be good for: - Fleet Ready Escort - where the word "escort" is used in its generic sense, meaning to accompany foreign warships as they transit through UK waters. - A bit of defence diplomacy, as Donald posted with Cypriot forces. - Assisting small vessels in difficulty i...

A moot point but maybe they should of done the first 2 or 3 batch 2 as per design then while they were in build RE - design the last 2 or 3 for this design with hanger, still think a couple extended with hanger would of be usefull for the south atlantic & extended patrols

Now if the E7 decision is above projected costs, would it be better to upgrade the E3 sentry force to keep them going for a decade or so ( hopefully by then the F35/carriers/new trident subs, maybe even tempest will require less money ) then maybe look for a replacement, ok it would be another kick ...

Would be a good rainy day out for the kids on a large aircraft carrier or battleship now we don't have navy days :( I thought the aircraft carrier experience at Yeovil was pretty good But would of been better on say an invincible CVL or Hermes with a couple of sea harriers, harriers sea king etc ( n...

Wonder if there will be a few landing trials with POW first when she goes out for further helicopter trials next month ?

I do like the idea of the batch 3 extended rivers with permanent hanger & bigger gun but think the politicians would of called it a proper frigate, but as said before does it need helicopter facilities close to land, It would of been good to have maybe 2 of the b3 type ( the latter ones as it wo...

Could you have an inflatable hanger covering the heli-deck that inflates after the wildcat has landed to offer a bit of weather protection ? Would be quite nice for the Falkland patrol, but not sure if a embarked helicopter would be needed all the time, im sure the bean counters would think its a pr...

Looks good, would be interesting to see a aircraft next to it for a size comparison,

Thanks jake 1992, the RN would of been in a good place with that plan !! & maybe if the sea harriers were not disbanded in 2006? we may of had a few RN owned F35b for the QEC with fuller decks ...but the crap well n truly hit the fan :thumbdown: Still glad the QEC didn't get cut ( due to the con...

Just to throw a spanner in the mix ,if only ever going to be smaller numbers onboard in reality should they have built so big ,yes I know by the argument about was designed to facilitate and generate so many sorties etc and the saving scale of bigger etc but in reality if only ever going to Carry s...

I like the idea of the T31 as a CAMM picket ship in the CSG in time of need, If it was down to me I would gladly take 8 x mk 41 cells of the first 3 or 5 T26 ( 16 x mk41 + 48 camm is still not bad ) then put them on the T31 or even T45, then it's the software cost etc that would be extra exspense, b...

Well there was a take off by a F35 in the harbour so why not a vertical landing

Does anybody know what the reason is that she cant be "stored up" so she does not have to return to her homeport so speedily? But then again they will be getting more harbor maneuvering practice

Would be good to see a second batch of upgrade T31 with better sensors & weapon fit, inc sonar, ssm, more CAMM. Don't bother upgrading the first batch just hopefully sell them at a knock down price - which the uk is brilliant at :evil: :roll: Or if we cant sell them then use them for low end / f...

It will definitely be good practice for the deck crew operating a larger group of airframes ( even 20 inc helo's ) than they have done before with a high operational tempo :D Never thought of the usmc stationing a squadron of F35b in the uk on a rotation basis, that sounds like a good idea for rapid...

I am getting a we bit excited but they did say a full deck

https://twitter.com/hmsqnlz/status/1301787772764721153?s=21 Looking forward to seeing that flight deck! near enough double !! so up in the high 30's airframes ? ( 21, 5 helos, 16 sea/harrier ) 6 x merlin onboard now. Hope there will be some photos in the press of HMS Queen Elizabeth with a full dec...

I spose when every penny is spent twice over due to various factors even inflation & the long term budget black hole it must be a difficult choice to spend the money on the right project But if it was my decision it would be take a 8cell mk41 VLS from the first 3 ordered T26 & put them on th...