So going back to the 138 number (press x for doubt), I wonder if this is connected to Lockheed Martin saying how good the F-35 was for the UK? I doubt it. The long and the short we can't afford 138 but the gov doesn't want to admit it. So it plays games with words. We'd need at least one other base...

And roof repairs. You wouldn't believe how many buildings in the defence estate leak.

I wonder how many people we'd need for all that?

High thousands i suspect, perhaps nearer 10k.

There's nothing much available publicly but I'll say you can read the report about the F35 that went for a swim and the manpower stats for the year that happened and the latest one. Compare them and see if how likely it is the force is going to grow that quickly to support 24 aircraft on exercise at...

Plenty of time to order, 3 years from signing to arrival gives time to sort everything else out first.

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-militarys-readiness-for-all-out-war-in-doubt-mps-warn-13063630 'The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has publicly conceded just five people are recruited to the armed forces for every eight who leave - but the committee said it understood the situation may now be even worse.'...

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-militarys-readiness-for-all-out-war-in-doubt-mps-warn-13063630 'The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has publicly conceded just five people are recruited to the armed forces for every eight who leave - but the committee said it understood the situation may now be even worse.'...

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-militarys ... n-13063630

'The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has publicly conceded just five people are recruited to the armed forces for every eight who leave - but the committee said it understood the situation may now be even worse.'

I have noticed his comments have put defence on the front page, in talks shows, phone ins, sm etc in a way that very few other defence interviews have.

Ok you claim to know the answer, can you now explain the problem you are solving for and your workings, plus what gives (government spending/taxation) more broadly? What I have laid out above is core fighting ability and flexibility we need to defend the UK alongside Europe = NATO and at the same t...

new guy wrote: ↑21 Jan 2024, 09:07

topman wrote: ↑20 Jan 2024, 22:00

great video.

I don't know much about him apart from what others have said but he's really clear about what is happening now and what state we'll be in in a couple of years.

Add in building costs for all the units moving and personnel training and increase in numbers to make it work.

That's nothing unbelievable about it, it's of very little interest to the public so therefore of little interest to politicians.

It only works as long as we just need to drop a couple of bombs every few days, and Egypt allows us to do it. It can work as long as it needs to and there’s more options than thru Egypt we don’t know what route they took. This is an American show not ours A quick look at a map shows that Egypt woul...

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistic ... tober-2023

Roughly the armed forces shrank by around 7,500 in the year to oct.

I don't know if the stories are true, wouldn't surprise me at all. Been brewing for years.

The biggest limitation is people, the forces are shrinking quite quickly.

He's probably heard rumour there's an option of 'what does a 20% cut look like? '

Might be worth looking online at the latest medical standards for joining. They do change quite a bit.

If she wants to load aircraft as a career, RAF mover would be best. Its their core role, most of the trade are at Brize.

https://www.forces.net/politics/one-three-service-personnel-living-lowest-grade-service-accommodation-labour-reveals According to the data, more than 25,000 service personnel live in Grade 4 Single Living Accommodation – the lowest rating given by the MOD. It also revealed that 1,378 personnel live ...

I think the first is a fair point and, as you say, not in the MoD's power to control.

The second point, some are some aren't. Deployments to the FI, shader etc are in the latter, deployments more of an exercise nature there will be more authority on what to do or not.

What radical change?

They’ve blown there budget Not really, it’s just underfunded. A lot of the projects were never actually funded in the first place so to add it all together and say there is a black hole in the budget is bonkers…they were never included in the budget. Much of it was/is aspirational. IMO it shows fou...