I think swing role is key, it needs to excel is multiple areas to justify its huge cost, as a pure MPA it doesn't fly with me, plus a single ISTAR platform would be great if we can ever get there.

Totally agree

Sentinel always worries me. It's an orphan - all alone in the world. Long-term I just don't think it's sustainable. There's a global fleet of precisely five aircraft. That makes ongoing development and support disproportionately expensive (and unlikely). It's why MRA4 was abandoned and why we should...

So we're back to predicating the entire thread on a combination of "it's classified so you'll just have to take my word for it" and "that fits what I want to see so it must be correct". What's your problem? It's a discussion about a future capability - future as in, not happened...

AAS is the Advanced Airborne Sensor - a long range surveillance radar being developed in the US. It's being designed for underslung carriage in a removable pod by the P-8. http://ukarmedforcescommentary.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/P8A%20Poseidon It would allow P-8 to very effectively replace Sentine...

That's fine, it's still compatible with what Jim has said.

OK, a few points. I don't doubt Jim's credentials either, and at least he gives a strong indication of the way the wind is blowing. What he said was very deliberate: 3+6+3 P8 airframes starting 2016 I'd speculate that possibly means: An initial acquisition of three, possibly on lease, in absolute va...

jimthelad wrote:
3+6+3 P8 airframes starting 2016.

source ?

Does "from the horses mouth" mean anything to you?

http://www.janes.com/article/53751/us-n ... l-aircraft

Video from IHS Jane's - nothing particularly new, although confirmation that low level is still considered significant for the P-8.

by marktigger » 10 Aug 2015, 17:19

wonder will one of the later refits have trial fit for the 5in gun

Why? Mod 4 will have been in service for over two decades by the time the first T26 enters service.

Just got my first view of QE from the Forth Rail Bridge - very impressive even from that distance.

You may be seeing the "2nd referendum" factor at play here (which gives me the chills). A 13-class guarantee now would allow the SNP to pronounce from the rooftops that shipbuilding on the Clyde is safe for the next two decades and that any claim to the contrary is scaremongering. Three-ba...

Looks like the RN's new green Merlins have been provided with an EO turret, something that is conspicuously lacking from the HM2. No idea what it is though.

This is a Type 26 thread.

Doesn't the AW149 pretty closely fit the criteria for a Puma replacement? If such a replacement were ever to be funded - which it probably won't be.

Seems like AW are trying to get a hand-out to fulfil a requirement which doesn't exist, at least as far as the UK's concerned.

Could we (the UK) use our current stocks of Harpoon missiles if we were to go down the P-8 route?

Air launched Harpoon are long gone and replacing them is far from a priority.

would a deal with the japanese allow more UK involvement? Oh please, let's not go down that route. Just buy what makes most sense, which in the long-term undoubtedly is P-8. If we can get some industrial offsets then great. I'm sure the P1 will be a fine machine, but it's nowhere near as far down t...

Merlin, as good as it is (and I believe it's very good) takes up a lot of room, is expensive to operate, and you can only operate one on any current or predicted escort - two could be carried on T26 if the mission bay is utilised but I expect that it wouldn't be practical to operate both simultaneou...

All points accepted, but having so much riding on such lightly defended vessels still makes me feel queasy.

When would an aircraft carrier ever be in a warzone with no escorts and with no aircraft up? Why bother arming them at all then? Why do the Americans arm their own carriers so heavily when they have massive airgroups? Escorts have their own vulnerabilities, limited loadouts and we haven't got enoug...

And at over $200 million a pop I'm quite relieved about that. There are other priorities and P-8 is exceptionally near the top over a very long list.

I hadn't appreciated what a big beast Karel Doorman was until she was pictured alongside Argus. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B3YiAi3IMAIKW7H.jpg But she hasn't got a dock. She's effectively a transport vessel rather than a true amphib. And while she would be great as a an Argus replacement I suspect ...

I've got to say, it scares me that if anything gets lobbed at the QEs they're incapable of shooting back until it gets within a mile of them. If you can't start shooting until a target's a few seconds away it isn't going to take much of a saturation attack to make it highly likely something gets thr...

And they'd be great for the RN Apart from they're trying to agree compensation with Russia for the cancellation of the contract - they're about half a billion euros apart at the moment. And the things are stuffed full of Russian-supplied equipment. By the time you've stripped that out (because it is...

Bloody Hell, QE has her forward lift fitted. Isn't that lovely?

Honestly, this is really beginning to bother me. The silence on MARS SS has been deafening. And Fort Vic's latest refit allegedly extended her service life out to 2035. I honestly expect her to be carrier consort for at least a decade. And she's not fitted with the new heavy RAS gear. If SDSR does g...