Yes of course some trials are going to be needed, but as an example I see no reason we could not have a turreted Boxer in service by 2025 at the latest if such trials were carried out at an appropriate speed.

I really do not like the United Kingdom paint scheme. Bring back the white and silver with the thin blue line and roundels.

How do these batteries react to coming into contact with high velocity metal projectiles? Is there a fire risk?

A lot of the UOR vehicles have already gone, leaving really only a number of Husky and Mastiff. There days should also be numbered with the MRV(P) on the way in theory but I cannot find much regarding this programme in the Paper, strange? Boxer will probably replace many of the FV432 variants and so...

dd in the drive to promote the Idea that "Light" was the way ahead. Problem there was the Army Brass couldn't decide what "Light" actually meant, especially as their mentors in the US Army couldn't square the circle either regarding weight and protection, especially after report...

Hang on a minute, when I was touting using a turret equipped with the CTA40 I was shot down by people saying that it would put the trials programme for the turret back to square one and it would take a substantial amount of time and money to do the work. I had tried to counter saying that it was onl...

I still think the way to go is to continue the production of Type-26 based warships, changing the load out as we go. Batch 1 (3) is in production but we could change the Batch 2 (5) to more equate to the load out of the Australian or Canadian variants, deleting the Mushrooms and increasing the numbe...

More generally I would say that the new Army structure increases modularity (and clarity). - what happens with capability & capacity I am sure we will be discussing at length - especially when , as mentioned above, for other than Boxer deliveries there are no hints to accelerating time scales (...

I wonder how much NATO was consulted about our plans to transform the Royal Marines. For decades 3 Commando Brigade in its various forms has been a cornerstone of NATO's commitment and ability to reinforce northern Norway. Together with the integral Dutch Marines, this was the only force trained in ...

If we name the lead ship HMS Bristol then we will only get one plus a few smaller, watered down versions later on.

They allowed the rot to fully take hold after not funding the 1998 review, but successive Governments of all persuasions have not done anything to improve things since, including this one with the Integrated Review.

Well what has been published rates far towards the worst case senario in my opinion. Far to much reliance is being place on technologies that will not mature until after 2030 and in some case not until the end of that decade. It is quite precise about what will be cut but is pretty vague about what ...

Well if this means the AAC will be getting a "Fleet",( quick question how many platforms are needed before you have a fleet?) of medium helicopters to operate alongside the Apache Guardians and give it a cohesive Brigade, then it is good news.

That would make sense given current military thinking is that the Brigade is now the smallest formations able to conduct full scale manoeuvre operations, whereas until recently this was held to be the Division. However as with every new idea announced by the Government and MoD, the question is alway...

It would have been nice if we could have build two or three Batch 3 T-26 with a number of Sylver 8 cell VLS instead of Mk41s to provide a supplementary capability to the T-45, as well a providing AAW to task groups that do not include the Carrier, which will need two T-45. They would have retained t...

Hopefully this is actually the revised name and role for what is at present 16AA. It would make sense as one of the Parachute Regiments battalions is already the main component of the Special Forces Support Group. So expanding this to include the whole Regiment, plus an additional infantry Regiment,...

Have we been able to source any new HESH rounds to compensate for nearly all remaining stocks have past their shelf live? One issue with the "Streetfighter" though is the length of the L30 gun. Not the best for fighting in an urban area, maybe a "Sawn off" version could be devise...

Mali is the sort of mission the Mastiff and Ridgeback were built for being a "Battle Bus and Mini-van", respectively.

Do we have any idea of the size of Armoured Regiment we are keeping, Type 56 or Type 44? In theory we could stand up three of the latter but would have to use unmodified Ch2s for BATUS, and would only have eighteen or so upgraded tanks for a reserve. It would allow us to form three Mechanised Brigad...

So Taiwan is finally getting the capability to produce SSKs, it is about time. I do wonder however how many "Silent" partners they have in the programme?

I don't think 1st Division is going to be establishing "Combat" formations in the near future.

I suppose if the tanks that receive the 120mm smoothbore are also capable of taking the 130mm, then depending on how any successor develops we could refit the remainder of the fleet later on with little fuss and cost, mainly requiring the obvious new hardware and software changes to the FCS. We migh...

On a different tangent, one thing that hasn't really been discussed is that if we intend to be a Global Force for good etc. but with fewer resources, then those resources are going to have to be held at a higher state of readiness as well as hold far more stocks of spares and munitions that we curre...

I suppose the canning of the other platforms is seen as a way of balancing the books somewhat or fiddling the figures if you see it that way. Removing them from the fleet frees up capital I believe.

I agree to a certain extent. In my vision the regular cadres from the Light Cavalry Regiments with Jackals and Coyotes and Infantry Battalions using MRV(P) in 1st Division could provide Coy sized BGs, that would support SF and their SF support units. The Regular and Reserve Artillery Regiments could...