The Sun (!) provides the latest on trade deals with our "sunny pastures new": "Only six are in green table, signifying they will be done by March 29. They are the four already agreed, with Switzerland – signed on Monday - Chile, an Eastern and Southern African block, and the Faroe Is...

ArmChairCivvy wrote:

dmereifield wrote: 33 Eurofighters to replace their Tranche 1's

The spec for those that will(?) replace their Tornados, in a different role, will be much more interesting - but will take time to emerge

Ok, I was just pleased to see the order go through for the benefit of UK plc

Nice, thanks

Tempest414 wrote: 24- F-35 12 - Merlin ( 9 ASW & 4 AEW ) 2 Chinook More likely to be 28 - F35 14 - Merlin ( 9 ASW & 5 AEW ) and just maybe 2 - MV22 Chinooks not likely to be aboard with an F35 load out of that sort of scale (unless our Chinooks gain powered folding rotor blades by then) and...

A lot of chatter on Twitter about an imminent announcement from German for an order of 33 Eurofighters to replace their Tranche 1's

https://des.mod.uk/uk-wins-global-500m- ... ssignment/

UK wins global F-35 support assignment worth £500M

Launching from where?

- while Lidington is the fallback and a go-between for any cross-party support that may :!: need to be mustered. And what does that require [...]? Err, a softer Brexit :?: Reading SkyNews between the lines, about who is shuttling between the official and unofficial meetings "Mr Lidington is be...

Is it new money? Is the transformation fund part of the 2% budget, or an additional fund on top of the 2%? ... and this is the important question. No it's not. It's like moving some of your small change from your left pocket to your right pocket and calling your right pocket your transformation poc...

If that requirement is now secured the reason for the T31 as an inexpensive escort forward deployed as part of an LSG makes more sense and Leander may even be preferable If all the T31 can do is put a few CAMM silos next to an auxiliary is that good value? Wouldn't it be preferable to put the silos...

shark bait wrote:That's why I wrote 'full', not the apostrophe.

Also lets not forget around 20 helicopters that will likely deploy with QE. Between that and 2 squadrons of F35 are more aircraft than the UK has deployed in one location in over a decade.

Fair enough, missed the quotations

That feels like it's re-reporting something that was mentioned ages ago in almost the exact same words. Suspect its from the same slide presented in Spain, but it did mention that an LOI is to be signed this thursday at the NATO summit so looks like its ceasing to be speculation. No idea on the Net...

Money aside, this sounds great! A pair of big fat utility ships could be highly valuable ships, letting the rare escorts focus on being escorts. Talking about escorts, more T26's or uprated T31's to form these UK 'Strike Groups' in the Gulf and Pacific? No way 8 T26's are going to cover 2 Strike Gr...

Money aside, this sounds great! A pair of big fat utility ships could be highly valuable ships, letting the rare escorts focus on being escorts. Just what you've been arguing for instead of the T31 - perhaps now we'll get both. Still hoping that some more funds emerge for the T31s so they end up be...

There's no new money! The Transformation Fund comes from within the existing MoD budget. It's worth noting that the Ocean Trader cost c£60m to convert to its role as well. No doubt the US conversion is on a more ambitious scale and complexity than a UK ship, but its hard to see how much cheaper it ...

Lacking access to twitter, is this confirmed that they are modifying existing ones in service to the RFA? No, it's me speculating. But there's no new money - if there were Gavin would have shouted it from the rooftops. So it's going to mean recycling existing resources, which I'm speculating means ...

Excellent, glad to see work to embed the USMC is progressing, the chances of seeing a 'full' Royal Navy carrier have skyrocketed. 2 squadron could still total only 12-15 F35s. Or at max, if they are full squadrons, maybe 20-24? Still only going to be between 1/3 to 2/3 full. Hopefully we can get 2 ...

No resale value (parts and spares) to the handful of other users?

That is by far the simplest way to increase cooperation in the region. If the UK wants to establish a permanent Naval presence in the region again, putting a tanker at the existing fuel depot in Singapore is a low cost, low key start from which to build on. Is that of any value to allies in the reg...

Yes generally, they are continuation deals, and driven by desire to limit damage. Some are time limited (I dare say these time limits will shift to the right later in order to further limit damage if alternative arrangements haven't yet been implemented) and some are not. Some are unilateral actions...

More mini-deals emerging almost on a daily basis, just 2 examples from today: "The European Union's markets watchdog said it has approved an agreement on supervisory cooperation with Britain after Brexit to avoid disruption to cross-border financial services like asset management" https://...

If they are looking at alternatives to Typhoon just for nuclear delivery, is it possible that they just retain 1 small squadron of Tornados - life extending by reducing use and cannibalizing their fleet (and possibly ours)?

Appears to me that if the UK can get the mutual recognition agreement adopted by the UK and NZ with other 3rd countries maybe the only one having to trade under WTO rules will be the EU, since you export more to 3rd countries than EU the UK should at least have not too many worries going forward wi...

"No Deal" is a misnomer, there is already a deal that the EU and UK both already have. It's called the WTO. Coming 2020, Nigel Farange and BoJo Reunion tour: "Get the UK out of the WTO!" If May's deal goes through future campaigns will be fought, again, on manifestos pledging to...

"No Deal" is a misnomer, there is already a deal that the EU and UK both already have. It's called the WTO. And not to mention the various side deals that have already been announced, and will continue to be announced in the coming weeks. Along with the the unilateral extensions of author...