Seem's like 2 escort frigates?

The major issue I have with the joint operation idea is of we have a problem in the future similar to what happened in the 2000s when the Harriers were rotated to Afghanistan and there were not enough Harriers remaining to deploy the usual detachment about the ready Invincible class. What happens i...

if they have enough Bs to fully equip the QE fully, then sure... let the RAF have some A's... problem is i can see the RAF not giving the RN enough Bs before any switch. Well, that's the problem with joint solutions. IMHO, they should have split them from the beginning, Bs for FAA, As for the RAF, ...

The budget holder is the RAF. The Royal Navy was never going to own any Lightning. Which is what worries me and what leaves the door wide open to an F-35A idiocy . Wait, but if say the RN owns all 48 F-35B ( version that she needs considering STOVL nature of QE-class ), why be against of RAF having...

shark bait wrote:

Ron5 wrote:the 1.25 billion has to include GFE and that has been true since day one.

Not quite, I'm the original competition there was no governy furnished equipment, the MOD did not want to be a supplier to the project.

Including GFE? So what will bidders offer then? Steel and welding?

cyrilranch wrote:

Little J wrote:Beat me to it, was going to post that...
Did notice he never said what would be doing the air-air refuelling

I like the idea of army wildcat may be given a radar and air to surface weapons, plus datalinks.

A list of nice wishes, I'm afraid...

Enjoy the journey of the new ships piano through QE to its new home!.... :lol: :clap: :wave: https://www.facebook.com/graham.nicholls.397/videos/10211080917932828/ https://www.facebook.com/graham.nicholls.397/videos/10211080917412815/ https://www.facebook.com/graham.nicholls.397/videos/102110809188...

Certain civillian casualtues are unavoidable. The important part is that you really try to avoid them, as far as reallisticly possible. That makes the difference between a civilised state/Military and a terorist organisation. So no, "one nail on hand of my soldier is more important than all civ...

IIRC, such things you mention ARE war crimes (misuse of various protections by international conventions) and objects under protection used for operations aren't protected any more.

Ahh, if only they had built CVA-01 and kept the F4-K’s and Buccaneers, they would be in this mess Apart from the fact that they would be 50 years old now. CVA-01 would be coming up to retirement age and Brazil would have kept her for another 20 years, the interesting question would Harrier devolepe...

I knock the T31e concept as as its currently positioned it is neither a warship nor a Patrol Sloop, it’s trying to be something in between which is taking up funds. Where I do differ from some with similar views is that if the T31e could be a specialist short legged ASW warship then I do see merit ...

Poiuytrewq wrote:

shark bait wrote:The Bay platform is a good fit, but I think you need to tone down the spec a bit.

The concept comes in Low, Medium and High Threat configurations so something for every budget.

I will post all the specs over in fantasy.

Or simply just buy Absalon instead?

And relying on us for fixed wing heavy lift to the Sahel, Caribbean etc. Any UK C17 into Western Africa is still lugging French kit about. Yes, but that's not a gap/cut, because they never had that capabilities anyway. But yes, I agree that's one of their mistakes, not buying Globemaster. I do get ...

I am saying, "what if we have a cut?"; RN only will have 6 T45 and 8 T26 and nothing else. This cut is a clear and present danger, 30% probability or even higher. Yes, I understand that. Indeed, people here oftenly tend to forget how big danger these cuts present to the UK AF in general a...

2 Phalanx CIWS on a River? It reminds me of an old joke: How to double the value of your Yugo 45? By installing the radio in it.

Or, if he had bought smaller van, he could use the rest of money to buy big part of tools he needs. Even more important, his financial situation isn't great and most probably won't change for better in near future (while it might easy change for the worse ) so he will probably have no money to buy ...

But, the important thing is: I can't recall that they had ever gapped/cut entire capability, except maybe heavy helicopters after Frelon was retired. And relying on us for fixed wing heavy lift to the Sahel, Caribbean etc. Any UK C17 into Western Africa is still lugging French kit about. Yes, but t...

A better analogy might be a builder buying a large van that he can’t afford to fill with tools yet. A good investment. He has room to expand the amount of tools he can carry, which he wouldn't be able to do if he had purchased a small van. Or, if he had bought smaller van, he could use the rest of ...

would have done that ( and they know the best, the Freanch are stooopid ), because who needs that damn Harriers and carriers? RAF surely doesn't. I'm not sure we should be taking any lessons from the French on carrier aviation....look at the situation over the last 40-50 years, or hell even over 10...

would have done that ( and they know the best, the Freanch are stooopid ), because who needs that damn Harriers and carriers? RAF surely doesn't. I'm not sure we should be taking any lessons from the French on carrier aviation....look at the situation over the last 40-50 years, or hell even over 10...

abc123 , describe what you mean Amphibious battalion ? I’d say that you could argue landing a Strike Brigade to a relatively safe or secured port is a lot more use in the current world than landing a battalion over the beach with nothing following up. A standard RM Commando reinforced by about one ...

As for France, they had three operational squadrons of Super Étendard before Charles de Gaulle even started construction. Which they transitioned directly from their previous two large flatops . Yeah, I wonder how French Government/MoD didn't have the bright idea of scrapping them in say 1992. Brit...

The defences of the carrier itself are an added bonus, not an alternative to escorts. US, French and Italian carrier groups still operate with multiple escorts, normally including at least 2 destroyers. US groups yes, but considering that France and Italy have each 2 modern destroyers ( Horizon cla...

It absolutely does require a destroyer escort(s) still, the escort does not change because it has its own missile system. Smaller carriers carry less, are less effective, require the same escort and resupply as a large one. They also can't scale up to meet a threat like a large carrier can. Logic p...

benny14 wrote: HMS QE is specifically designed to operate 36 F-35s in the Strike carrier role...

THIS.
So, when carryng 8-12 F-35, not because there's no need for them ( action against Sierra Leone frex ), but because HMG didn't buy more than that needed or not, wouldn't you call that useless?