UK Defence Forum

ArmChairCivvy wrote:All publicity seems to be directed to getting RN Wildcats up to speed for dealing with swarming boats, though.

The RM's have been trialling/ training with them in the ground to air role as well

Lord Jim wrote:Could the three round Starstreak pedestal launcher be adapted to fire both missiles?

I believe they both have the sam eform factor and can use the same launcher

You could also use it in an anti-air role As I understand it, LMMs strength is that it is a) cheap, b) simple to use, c) man-portable, and d) can be used against light armour, drones and helicopters equally, making it a highly useful infantry weapon. I can see it's main use being to counter small d...

Could see it being used as a non virus treatment facility in a limited way. Indeed - often forgotten in all the hoo-ha about CV-19 is the fact that people are still getting sick for other reasons. It all depends on what is best in the circumstances (and I agree with your point about ships being non...

3 Merlins That's a lot more capability than usual. The Bays usually deploy with a single Wildcat. It's not a hospital. People make hospitals. Yes. But buildings and equipment help considerably. Do you think they would bring cases on board though? They didn't during the Ebola operation, but who know...

The RN site says that elements of 815/845/1700NAS are deploying along with the RMs, but no mention of the helicopters that they are taking - has anyone seen any mention? They do mention "preparing for the hurricane season", but they are two months early for that. It also states that a medi...

Technically, I think that is "a Lion rampant gules" or some such. The Lion originally comes from the Scottish coat-of-arms (the Unicorn for England), but can also represent Britain as a whole and represents strength, bravery, and royalty, rampant is the heraldic position for "a beast ...

On the RN website as well. A good idea to take a hospital to them. Most of the Islands rely on flying really serious cases for treatment in Miami, which might not be an option soon.

Could the H145 also replace Wildcat (with the Wildcat being "marinised" and moved over to the RN), or are there features that could not be carried across.

Phil R wrote:Highly unusual very low level flight of a C17 over south east Essex 14:00 today near Basildon & Southend.
Could not see if it was RAF or USAF.

Phil R

Probably "exercise shaming" a middle-aged couple taking a walk on the pier

ArmChairCivvy wrote:Keep any trawlers well away

A slightly different version of "fishery protection" , eh!

The reality is that most consultants (and a fair few junior doctors) are part-time only. Once you get to consultant grade you can set up your own private practice (the less exalted can only work privately "under supervision" by a consultant), so they transfer to "maximum part time&quo...

Can she squeeze through Tower Bridge? Might be a bit tall

Tankers are a relatively simple, but highly specialised, vessel - the volume used by the tanks can't readily be re-roled for another use. Better to have dedicated tankers and a non-tanker for the multi-role vessel

So we won't be having portacabin hospitals. If current plans work. Hopefully they will be sufficient to manage the load on the NHS. The "Covid Support Force" is just a re-named Op Broadshare that has been in the works for two weeks or so now. There will be planning for later phases, if ne...

Any DMS personnel usually assigned to Argus would be far better used being reassigned to support NHS hospitals. /quote] Personally, I would say that having some specialist facilities available for servicemen and women (who will, of course, be asked to do the worst jobs), would be very good for the ...

OK, where have you heard it? I've also heard similar - TV news (Sky, I think) yesterday dropped in a hint that Army field hospitals and morgues may be brought into use if needed - could just be unfounded journalistic "interpretation", could be that they've been told that "off the rec...

Would also probably mean the end of “Heavy Jackstay Transfer” RAS and Mechanised WHS in the RFA as well. Only one step from sending QEC to sea with no aircraft and no escorts. Panic not “Ellida will require some tweaks but would appear to reflect the requirements of littoral strike and needs of Car...

Ruuuuun, run away!!

The US is deploying USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort to assist in the Covid-19 outbreak. Sounds like they might be useful.

The Tamandaré class will presumably fill the low-end requirement for the PROSUPER program (though with a larger hull than originally planned). The T31 would probably make a decent base for the larger ships of the high-end requirement (i.e. 6000t vessels), particularly as Brazil wants to develop it's...

I think the reality is that the RN (and the other Services) would love to have the use of a hospital ship but not on their coin. In the past it would probably have been operated by the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service, with an RMAS prefix. Unfortunately that's now Serco and SD, which doesn't have qu...

Not sure we need a frigate in the Falklands or the Caribbean, not all the time, anyway. Or Gibraltar and the Med for that matter. They might even be useful running a form of APT(S) up and down the West Coast of Africa to Simonstown. Plenty of roles that we need cheaper platforms for

More details on the UUV contract in Janes. Confirms that it's the 9m S201 (or a variant thereof) that will be leased, initially for 12 months, for trials, with a possible two-year extension. Presumably they will be trying to squeeze as much range , speed and endurance out of it as they can. https://...

It seems that we will now have to differentiate between River Batch 2s and River Batch 2 Batch2s ( B2.1 and B2.2 maybe?) !! According to this article, Tamar and Spey have been built to a different internal layout from Forth, Medway and Trent, It would be interesting to know what the differences are ...