Spinflight wrote:Well my impressions on first read through are that he isn't talking about building 5 or even 8 of these, series and parallel production he's thinking at the very least double digits. And hoping for an awful lot more.
What gives you that impression? I saw no indication of numbers.
The government will publish a full response, and implementation plan, in spring 2017, that will be where we find out how much cash is available, and the numbers we will actually get.
Spinflight wrote:Effectively he's talking about the Royal Navy holding and operating a pool of configurable ships ( Stanflex anyone?) which could be sold in short order.
As I understand it the base design will be configurable, not the actual in service ships, no swapping modules in and out like Stanflex.
Spinflight wrote: Also he's effectively proposing it as a replacement for the mine countermeasures vessels. Which could also add weight to the project, and arguably budget.
Possibly not extra budget, this has been the plan for a long time. The mine clearance kit will become a platform agnostic off-board system, which will be operate from auxiliaries or civilian vessels in low intensity environments, or frigates in hostile environments, or even from the shore. This is why mission bays are important because moving forward we will probably lose the specialist MCM hulls, which those roles being distributed around other platforms.
He also mentioned leasing civilian vessels, something the Unmanned Warrior report also mentioned, so that is perhaps an indication where the low end will go, with the high end going on the T26 and T31.
Spinflight wrote: I think what I liked most was his repeated use of the word urgent, specifically that the T31e should be considered an urgent project.
Yes, I hope this is something the government can act on, and push this through more like an Urgent Operational Requirement, because the standard procurement model is far too slow and crappy.
Spinflight wrote: I'm rather optimistic for the first time in decades!
I’d agree, the report is generally positive. What really matters is how much the government takes on board and implements in the spring. Are they really bothered about the content? Or are they just trying to scare BAE?