Of course, that's the way of thinking that has brought the RN in current despicable situation. Buying equipment because "we've had that for ages" is a terrible way of managing procurement. Look at how useful heavyweight anti-ship missiles actually are, even in a high intensity war fightin...

Response from an MoD civil servant on another forum... "Some key points to note here. Firstly, the RN has known about this impending retir,ent for many years. It has delegated authority in its budget to find and buy replacements. It has repeatedly chosen not to, preferring instead to fund othe...

marktigger wrote:we haven't the crew!
will be interesting how they crew Prince of wales initally

That's probably what the small manpower uplift in the SDSR was about, helping to achieve the required personnel needed.

Type 31 as an ASW specialist. Harking back to the Type 22 B1 and B2 by omitting a main gun.

http://landshark.esy.es/fantasyt31/t31. ... 25,1,1,2,#

Originally there were going to be eight but was later changed to twelve because of the design specs of the CMC (common missile compartment). Of course, just because there are twleve tubes, doesn't mean all twelve will be filled... The V boats currently carry 8 missiles according to the SDSR. 12 sil...

I'll give 2:1 odds that they're given "I" names. Invincible, Implacable, Indomitable, Inflexible etc...

arfah wrote:As I commented: "Thinking like a Treasury boss"

The making of a Treasury Boss:

Just recently the RN has commenced using River class in the Caribbean instead of Wave class. Thinking like a Treasury boss: "If we can spare a Wave class for constabulary duties in the Caribbean, then we don't really need it." "If we've replaced the Wave with a River we can sell it o...

My point is can the RN (As part of the MOD) justify 'six tankers' when the amount of RN combatants is getting smaller. The government's declared policy is that the number of RN surface combatants will remain at 19 and possibly increase. Won't comment on whether this will be delivered, but that's th...

arfah wrote:Wave Class next, once the Tides come in.

Doubt it. They're only a decade old!

Back on topic, I forsee a serious problem with the light frigate concept that SB and others have highlighted in the past. Growth margins and the risk of obsolescence. Without adequate provision for through-life upgrades the GPFF will be obsolete in 15 years and badly in need of a replacement after 2...

shark bait wrote:It that true? That isn't the case for the T45

It is the case for the T45. The passageways go either side of the hangar but are housed within the superstructure and include the boat bays.

You can see it in this picture:

That would be third party contracts with BAE with ASC/BAE as the prime not MOD, I'd expect the licence fee would be split between MOD and BAE what the split is unknown by me. Also reading the tea leaves I'd expect that NZ would go the RN with T26 if it works out cheaper for than tacking onto the RA...

Surely it wouldn't be too difficult to build a big reinforced ramp to to allow loading from the jetty onto a lowered deck lift?

R686 wrote:No not for the UK build, just means we are paying for a licence to build the design to our standards just as we did with CBR. I expect most of the money would go to consolidated revenue.

Paying for a licence for the design and a whole load of British-made components to go in the hulls you build.

marktigger wrote:good i wonder if the Australians do order if it will spread the cost more and bring the unit cost down?

I wonder if the "super exportable" GPFF will be quietly binned in favour of 5 Type 26 GP if Australia buys it...

How many years would they be built over? The shipbuilding budget isn't a finite pot of money, but a yearly allocation of funds. Albion was built over three years, CVF over the course of ten (albeit with a deliberate extension included). Whatever the LPD replacement costs will inevitably be spread ov...

Not a wholly unreasonable estimation, it looses the flight deck but gain a well deck. They are complex vessels, just look how much the latest of the San Antonio class cost, and that is a paid for design. Jeezus wept that's a lot of money. Almost makes you wonder what wizardry is inside the Spams' s...

2: Since you are using all the manpower currently assigned to amphibious fleet, there is no "operation cost decrease". Except modern mechanisation and lean-manning means that what currently produces one LPD plus one laid up for lack of crew would produce two next generation platforms full...

But as I've shown, LHD is much much expensive than LPD. Albion class (a relatively "basic" LPD with very limited aviation capability) ordered in 1996 for £225m/ship. Adjusted for 20 years of inflation you get a figure that ranges from from £400-500m in 2016. The upper bound being the more...

TG! that we did not build them: both absorbing the submarine service twice over (+ the not-existing FAA on top). I ran the numbers a while back, the structure makes sense looking at it from the 1960s. A great many older carriers, principally Ark RO9, Eagle, Victorious and the remaining Centaurs wou...

tsr2 would have gone by late 90's I'd say CVA-01/02 would've gone out of service by the mid-2000s. Mostly because their deck and equipment simply couldn't handle anything heavier than an F/A-18C (which they'd probably have ended up operating, IMO). Also those ships would have been viciously manpowe...

True, but at the same time it is also about resilience (all eggs not in the same basket). Except under the current circumstances half our eggs are in a decidedly cheap and nasty "basket" (Ocean) and the loss of one of the major amphibious platforms is still going to badly hobble us. I see...

shark bait wrote:TSR2 and CVA01 are recent?

CVA-01 was exactly 50 years ago, still feels like yesterday for some. Never forgive, never forget...

Just repeating what I mentioned earlier, I think a big multipurpose "task group support ship" that combines a sizable aviation facility (large hangar and aft flight deck (space for 4 Merlin/Wildcat or 2 Chinook) to cover the service's requirements for aviation training. Mate that with the ...