Thanks for the information Liger, didn't realise it would be that many years away for the Italian navy's F35... but at least they have a working fixed wing carrier !!!

I noticed Australia seems to be getting theirs pretty quick, also Liger do you know when the first Italian navy Squadron converts to the F35b? will be good to see Cavour with some F35 operating from her, such a nice looking carrier.

Yeh, when the QEC was conceived it was a different situation, they wanted them bigger so they can carry out larger operations for longer than the cramped invicible class carrier ! ok there won't be loads of F35 onboard most of the time, 12 + helicopters, but if the crap hits the fan they are going t...

Shark bait We should of bought 4 of those to of replaced the invincibles ocean and the albions. Instead we bought qe class. They would of been cheaper in service by now and more appropriately sized to the number of both fixed wing and rotary a/c we will have available to deploy on operations. On to...

Looking up to her flightdeck from the bottom of the bulbous bow was immense...

Awsome find CJ, Yeh she looks loads better with the deck painted...so close

I thought the 2nd version boeing put forward with the pelican tail & without the delta wing looked way better than the delta winged prototype..Xplane.....

Well if some-one pays or helps pay for a buddy system on the F35 then it does make sense if you were only going to use it occasionally, if we were going to get some ospreys for JHC for assault, then converting some for tanking needs would be good but I can't realistically see that happening..as much...

Personaly i'm not worried as what would ocean do against a QEC battle group with crowsnest F35 etc, sure she would be long spotted before a helicopter with anti ship missiles got with in fire range, I spose she could help with an initial landing in the Falklands but again i'm sure that would be long...

Nice idea..but would the Euro's fall for it & it's small change....Haven't seen that much on the Italian design...must do more research ! bottom of the class for me...

Atleast it said AFTER she is decommissioned...personally if they want her good luck to them, lets concentrate what little :x resources we have into getting our QEC up and running, obviously I would prefer better amphibious capability than the QEC could provide but funds unfortunatly not there, i'm s...

I'm dreaming of a super stealthy Typhoon replacement.....early-mid 2030 to rival the F22 & beyond.

SKB wrote:I hope not, I wouldn't fancy living near a floating nuclear reactor whose crew have a national average IQ of only 98.

I could be wrong but but if a CVN goes up a couple of miles offshore instead of the jetty you may get a bit of sun burn.....

I second that motion !

Hi guys,

Sounds good to me, after the QE/POW come into service, try to sell both albion/bulwark & build a third flat top, even a mistral type gets my vote! nearly always have at least 1x QEC + 1x Helicopter assault carrier or QEC as a LPH readily available.

Cheers for the heads up on the one show, also I'm confused, I thought she was expected in Portsmouth in December..sea trials from rosyth in march? would be good as i'm up there mid march

[quote="RetroSicotte"]Here's a crazy idea. Why don't Australia and the UK swap amphibious vessels? We are dreadfully short of flattops and will have a STOVL aircraft, while many Australians I've spoken to are very unhappy with the Canberra as not entirely suitable to their needs, not havin...

Some pictures of BF08 flying http://airwingspotter.com/f-35b-nov-2016-spotting-in-texas/ http://airwingspotter.com/new-british-f-35b-and-iraqi-f-16iq/ http://www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=141172 Yay !!! Thanks for sharing, saw the F35b @ Farnborough, 'Tis even better in uk...

Totally agree, but if the crap does hit the fan & we (UK) are on our own I would hope that atleast half of out type 23 & 45, astute's could be rushed & prioritised into escourt duties even if they have been assigned on other duties. idealy I would love the RN to have a lot more type 45/2...

marktigger wrote:and what happens if we have to operate in our own national interest?

Well I suspect if the crap hits the fan We cancel all leave recall all assets ASAP & get on with it...

Just had visions of a joint task group with commonwealth/uk escourts & a QEC & a Canberra....

Pretty sure the government would have a PR nightmare if they left port without even 1 type 45 as escourt !! If our carriers have the USMC F35's onboard i'm sure they would stump up a ship or 2, Also I think it would be good PR for our smaller NATO members to help Escourt our carriers on NATO duties,...

Hi guys Really hate all this BS about mothballing good usable ships, I actually hope that when we get round to replacing Albion/bulwark that we just build one larger LHD then maybe we could have 1x CVF or LHD @ sea 1xCVF or LHD @ R4, 1x CVF or LHD in maintenance, since we would only have just enough...

I would definitely pay for a go on the marine escape system So excited for march !!! lets hope they can give a few days notice of her Shipping out..... !? so want to be there.

Hi guys

And also don't forget they got rid of the four type 22 back in 2010, really hope we get eight of the "lighter frigates" aswell as the eight type 26 aswell to help replace the type 22's.... being optimistic maybe, but.