Also the seven years war basically KO'd France's chance of lingua franca. Secured English for all of history. That's crazy to think about. Offtopic a bit, don't you think? And I disagree, it was WW1 not Seven-Years War... nah, it was the Seven Years War. That war ensured that NA would speak English...

Deal as gd as done Looks like it is. And for once we should all be grateful as this seems a very positive, cost neutral, increase in capability. A year ago we were facing a long drawn out upgrade of the E-3 fleet that had the potential, if we're honest, to be continually cut during its duration. He...

sunstersun wrote:

Also the seven years war basically KO'd France's chance of lingua franca. Secured English for all of history. That's crazy to think about.

Offtopic a bit, don't you think? And I disagree, it was WW1 not Seven-Years War...

That's an unexpected move, but a very smart one from the French Navy. It places them in the area that they will now have 11 ships capable of long range anti-air capability. (2x FREMM, 2x FREDA, 2x Horizon, 5x FTI) Almost double that of the Royal Navy. Exactly the reason why I noted that the City cl...

Deal as gd as done Looks like it is. And for once we should all be grateful as this seems a very positive, cost neutral, increase in capability. A year ago we were facing a long drawn out upgrade of the E-3 fleet that had the potential, if we're honest, to be continually cut during its duration. He...

The USN which is why they are re introducing the anti-ship Tomahawk for both longer range and larger bang. The Harpoon is still a useful weapon but a single hit will not guarantee a kill. The low density that the RN and even USN currently have with warships carrying a maximum of eight, its slow spe...

Personally I would love to see the French with 2 carriers again, a hybrid with 2 (submarine?) reactors & 2 gas turbines for sprint speeds would be high up on my list but how much would that save compared to all nuclear? Also I suspect if the EM catapults work well & how much power would the...

About SSMs, IMHO UK should take the cheapest good enough option, so that capability isn't lost. Now, NSM or maybe Gabriel V never mind- land attack capability is also a bonus.

A question: wasn't the Rafale a wrong step for France? Could the France further develop their Mirage 2000 series ( into 2000-5 and beyond, N, D etc. ) and save money that went into Rafale and save it to produce something of 5th generation? Yes, it would enter service probably 5-10 years after Rafale...

Boeing has been awarded the first portion of a $2.38 billion firm fixed-price contract to replace the US Air Force’s Bell UH-1N fleet with its MH-139 helicopter, derived from Leonardo Helicopters' commercial platform. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boeing-wins-uh-1n-replacement-contract...

Oh well relearning the skill sets to support a carrier group is another thing to add to the list then. We haven't done so since the 1970s era Ark Royal was tied up. Supporting a carrier doing the level of flight ops the QEs can is totally different from supporting one of the Invincibles . Consideri...

It is not always about shooting it is about presence and the ability to deal with more and more harassment. but it is the bigger picture had the Spanish coast guard boat damaged the SSN that is a big ticket player out of action not just for the UK but for NATO and other Allies it is just mad that a...

Tempest414 wrote:Spanish coast guard harass HMS Talent as she left Gib on the 21st I have to say it is getting silly down there we really need bigger and better armed fast patrol boats based at Gib if the Spanish are going to be so childish

If your'e not willing to shoot, not even a destroyer will gonna help you...

Very interesting document. https://www.defense.gouv.fr/content/download/542046/9287765/file/Defense%20Key%20Figures%202018.pdf The key figures of the defense, published each year by the Ministry of the Armies, are precious bases to estimate the masses, budgetary, human and capacity. The defense mis...

But with 2 ships less that RN don't use anyway, manning issues will remain just like they were.

Frenchie wrote: In Switzerland a referendum of popular initiative has stopped massive immigration.

Considering that they have over 10% of foreigners, thats relativly new thing...

Lord Jim wrote:I hate "Tick box", exercises as well. They always miss something.

Well, it's a legally mandated thing so...

I keep returning to this thread in particular as it is supposed to be for T31 NEWS. How many times does the Mod have to keep asking people to post their speculative opinions on the other thread. It is frustrating when one is expecting some genuine news, only to be greeted with more of the same old ...

Having Red Army moved 1000 km east of your borders Germany feels pretty safe from armed attack. On the other hand, Russia is such a nice market for German industry and such a nice source of energy and raw materials, not to mention useful counterweight to USA, UK and France... From interventions in ...

Having Red Army moved 1000 km east of your borders Germany feels pretty safe from armed attack. On the other hand, Russia is such a nice market for German industry and such a nice source of energy and raw materials, not to mention useful counterweight to USA, UK and France... From interventions in f...

As I said allready, Germany either needs the strongest military in Europe, or even this is more than enough. And what might be your advice on the matter? Nothing. While things stand as they are, maintaining the status quo mostly, maybe some slight adjustments. When and if things change, that's some...

Their Politicians don't want to spend the money or commit their troops to actually fight. But really, why would they fight? What will they get from it? USA, UK or France WILL mostly get something ( somebody more, somebody less ) from Iraq, Libya or Syria etc. What will get Germany? Except new milli...

Going back to escort discussion: https://mobile.twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/1042076642087186432 Navy lookout's twitter confirms : 7 years away - First type 26 frigate HMS Glasgow is due to be accepted by the RN in summer 2025 before entering service in 2027. HMS Cardiff, HMS Belfast and the rema...

Maybe Stellar Systems with Spartan was the 6th? Just guessing. Certainly had the best project name. Sums up the program very nicely. I still have no idea what a Venator is, maybe a relation of a Minotaur? And Arrowheads at sea? Where did that come from? Did Nelson get an arrow through his eye, I th...

The change in type of unit, from 16 PPA to 7 PPA + 8/10 PPX , is probably due to the change in strategic vision in progress, less focused on the " enlarged Mediterranean " (from the Gulf of Guinea to the Indian Ocean), so PPAs were born, and more focused on the Mediterranean Sea , from wh...