It the same problem over and over again, a Government's aspirations as what it wants to do on the world stage with regards to defense verses a total aversion to actually spending the amount to meet said aspirations. Solution fill the gap with PR spin which the majority of the UK population will lap...

@donald_of_tokyo I agree with you and am likewise inclined to think the Royal Navy is too large for the resources currently allocated to it. I would rather have a slightly smaller navy done right, with no capability gaps, rather than what we have now; an already small-ish navy hollowed out with capa...

So how large (or should I say small) is an RAF squadron?

It looks to be human powered, so it should be fine. Benefits of this; essentially unlimited range, except for food and water.

Lean manning though! Total complement of five, massive savings in through-life costs.

I appreciate the responses here. Thank you very much.

What is the difference between the Sentinel R1 and Shadow R1?

I think "reasonable" depends on what the navy gets out of those £300m per ship... if they end up being a handful of glorified OPVs with a gun and a few CAMM, then I don't see how that would be very reasonable. If it turns out to be an evolution of the Type 23 frigate, then sure. Absolutel...

Good to see Babcock also joining the competition for GPFF. If it is the Irish OPV design, then it is probably a larger variant like the Avenger and Cutlass. The £300 million figure is interesting. When the T26 design was at 5,400 ton, estimates were for a price of £350 million. There is no chance T3...

technology demonstrator for 2019 i think

Regarding Type 45 costs: Defence Industrial Strategy | December 2005 On page 71 there is a nice little pie chart that breaks down the costs of T45. It puts PAAMS as 48% of total costs! Interestingly, design was only 9%. There are also some figures in the link below for the French Horizon class and T...

With the navy being called upon to patrol the channel, but short in terms of appropriate hulls to do the job; could the P2000 fleet be replaced by something a little larger and more capable in open waters? With these perhaps? Cheap at "£4.3M per unit". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKBF_42...

Off topic.

http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/

I happened upon that forum today, didn't create an account, just lurked for a short while. Is it just me, or...

I love how T31 is touted as "a lighter and more flexible general purpose frigate". How exactly is doing less more flexible? Similarly, the bullshit line the government uses every time it cuts the armed forces: "do more with less". You cannot do more with less , it is counter intu...

shark bait wrote:Big boats with big guns would be unusable against any well equipped 21st century opponent, would a small shoot and scoot fast boat be more usable?

bubiyan turkey shoot

SKB wrote:They're going with 'F' (F for Frigate) names.
They did ''D' on the Destroyers already.

HMS Faux-frigate
HMS Failure
HMS Fickle
HMS Fire
HMS Frying-pan

HMS Fudge (the optional sixth T31)

I would suggest: HMS A usterity HMS B udget HMS C onstraint HMS D ifficult Times HMS E conomy Measures Not sure of you did that intentionally! But well done. If we are unfortunate enough to waste money on a sixth GPFF, we could call it HMS F aux-frigate for continuity of your theme. But seriously, ...

Nauticus27 over at Warships1 quoted Wiki three days ago: By September 2015, the programme cost was estimated at £11.5bn, for what was then assumed to be for 13 vessels. Now we see it reported as £8bn for eight. So that would indicate we have £3.5 to play with for T31. £3.5 billion is a big budget fo...

With resources as low as they are, an Arsenal ship with lots of Mk 45 VLS would mean no VLS on the T26s.

With a budget of reportedly £8 billion for 8 T26, and some suggesting BAE wants £750 million more... is it fair to say T26 is looking to be almost £1.1 billion per ship? I agree with Paul, if there really is talk of a permanent presence in the Far East and Pacific, then we need more escorts. It woul...

bobp wrote:If HMS Clyde entered service in 2007 why does it need replacing?

Our mighty overlords, BAE, have commanded it to be so.

The best solution to our frigate problem is here... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck#/media/File:Rubber_Duck_(8374802487).jpg Regarding ducks: Duck test (Wikipedia) " If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. " T26 passes the ...

shark bait wrote:CAMM and artisan should be a credible point defence capability.

CAMM is not restricted to point-defence like Sea Wolf.

Thanks Gabriele. The French at least, are making sensible decisions. What are the chances the MoD will look across the channel and decide similarly, that a proper ASW capability be included (Merlin + CAPTAS-2/4)? A slightly stretched Venator 110 should be about the minimum hull size, for 4,000-4,500...

What are the specification requirements for the upcoming French FTI frigates?