UK Defence Forum

Nothing much heard lately, perhaps our man on the spot, @Caribbean, has the latest? I take it you are referring to the rumours about a base in Guyana. Personally I've heard nothing since the original statement. As you say, there's not much infrastructure to work on, but not a bad choice, though - E...

For what it is worth, I was told by a veteran that the missile flew down the length of Missouri. I was standing on her deck when he told me. "Eyewitnesses aboard both the battleship and USS Jarrett recall the missile veering sharply northwards seconds before its destruction, presumably distrac...

Bringing this over from the T31 News thread re: HMS Gloucester and Silkworm the RN fired after the missile had missed its target It is only an assumption (and, to be fair, not an unreasonable one) that Missouri was the target. However, the Missouri's Phalanxes did not activate, implying that the inc...

Dual feed is essential if you're intending to equip an infantry vehicle with HE and AP rounds. Sorry- should have been a bit clearer - do you need to equip a single vehicle with both? I guess it would depend on circumstances. I can see the HE being the "normal" round, with AP being loaded...

One point to note is, that if we stay with the "mushroom" launchers, we are not limited to multiples of 8, so (say) 15 or 18 CAMM is a viable alternative. Presumably there is a lower limit at which the additional control electronics make it too expensive

Amongst all the wailing, gnashing of teeth and rending of clothes, I just thoughtthat I'd throw n this thought - maybe the number of CAMM has been reduced to allow for a better model of 57/40mm, or to improve the fire control system to incorporate radar. As we all know, this variant of the T31 is no...

Personally, I'd rather see the effort go into an unmanned CT40 weapon station, loaded with programmable Airbursting rounds it would provide superior fire power and ammunition commonality with the AI (be that WCSP or a MIV turret variant). I would have thought that a CT40, even in an unmanned turret...

Hard and expensive to find all that outside of military capability. In reality, only the logistics stuff is primarily (though not exclusively) the preserve of the military. Most of the other skills can be obtained though the civilian sector (often as unpaid volunteers - that's how many of the medic...

Not really on topic, I know, but it's often occurred to me that the M230LF (with or without Javelin), mounted on the heavy weapons variant of the JLTV (or whatever is finally selected) might make a useful addition to a light role infantry battallion, either in the recce or the fire support sections ...

because no one lives at sea 2.4 billion people (40%) currently live within 60 miles of the coast (actually that figure is from when the population was 6 billion - it's now 7.7 billion). I've seen predictions that that will rise to more than 60%, with the population itself heading for between 9.6 an...

Still in requirements assessment phase, or something like that

what I question is with limited resources where should the UK focus it’s limited resources. ... and that is really the core question. What can we do with the c. 5-10% of the build budget left over from building the specialist components of our fleet? My personal view is that, whatever we do, every ...

but would be toast near a peer coast with capable A2D. Even in a relatively benign environment, they are hardly likely to be stooging around a few mile offshore, are they? I would expect that an LSG would also operate from over the horizon and make use of the fact that RhIBs (or ORCs) can do 30-40 ...

donald_of_tokyo, this is one of the reasons why the T31 is a waste of an opportunity. I get the GP frigate bit, but ANY frigate can do the GP bit - it needs to have a primary role - either a MHC mothership or an Amphibious Support frigate. Well, considering that the T31 can carry an EMF of c. 75 an...

Looks promising, but still the fact remains that this is the first escort built by Babcock. Many "first" for Babcock. So, anything can happen. This is my standpoint. Fair enough, but they are not exactly novices at this shipbuilding lark and they also have the co-operation of the original...

A few of the things that are already in development/ testing in the UK https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2019/08/bae-systems-tests-long-endurance-autonomous-boat/ https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2019/09/advanced-autonomous-surface-vehicle-technology-delivered-to-dstl/ https://www.u...

On the other hand, with such limited funds and just about zero chance of increase in the future, maybe it's better to simply buy another T26 or few Poseidons more, than to waiste money on some cutting edge research that will probably result in too-expencive toys to be bought in decent numbers ( lik...

I just don't the MOD can stop them self playing around and old habits will die hard One of the basic points of the NSS is to stop the customer "playing around". Once the order is placed, that's it - no changes allowed. The contract is fixed price for a reason - Babcocks will build what wa...

only budgeting £200m for a couple of converted RoRo's seems to be at the lower end of the ambition scale. It does however, give us flexibility, from an FLSS (effectively a small crossover LPH/Expeditionary Sea Base) and T31 (or even, at the lowest end, an RB2 if the "improved lethality" p...

Tick the third (lowest) category? Yes - the RB2 probably falls into that category, in that a single "incident" could leave one dead in the water and without power generation, depriving you of the ability to either continue to fight or to evade and defend. Sinking with dignity is about all...

I think the decisions related to "improving the lethality" of the RB2s will give significant information as to the capabilities of the RB2 (and any future variants). If the decision is to add minor improvements only, then it will be apparent that the vessel can't "step up" in any...

Though I agree with the point about keeping Phalanx (even if its effectiveness is diminishing, it still seems effective for now), for the 40mm it depends which variant we purchase. There are variants with their own integrated radar and FCS that can automatically acquire and track targets without ext...

Is there anything official about T31 increasing from 5 to 8 or 3 more River B2's? Or is this all speculative? The additional three T31 is based on a comment by the Babcocks spokesman (I think) at DSEI. The current order is for five, but there is the possibility of eight overall. The speculation ove...

Surely something with an open work deck and covered work area in front with at least a UAV hanger and multiple dividends and cranes would be better. I think that that requirement (the UAV mothership) is most likely to be covered by a cheap modified OSV hull, with each one capable of deploying UAVs ...

River Batch 2 Offshore Patrol Vessel 57mm non-deck penetrating mount in A position Port and starboard DS30 with Martlet As Donald-san reminded me, the RB2s actually have the room for a deck-penetrating installation, so if we intend to keep them as "minor warships", then I would go for the...