Ocean Class Helicopter Carrier (LPH) (1998-2018) (ex RN)

[Ron5]

Great news for the UK. Dispatching its biggest warship to help. Well done.

[Gabriele]

Just like HMS Illustrious. Rush to help a country struck by a hurricane / typhoon, then leave service.

[R686]

Just like HMS Illustrious. Rush to help a country struck by a hurricane / typhoon, then leave service.

the only up side to that is she may live on under a different flag

[Dahedd]

Well despite the RFA being in theatre the UK is already getting flack for not being prepared. Politicians in the area complaining it'll take Ocean 2 weeks to get there.

[AstuteAssassin]

To be fair there was decent warning and imo the UK could of quickly deployed some extra assets out to British Territories in the firing line, albeit limited. But its the sluggish response after Irma hitting compared to the French and Dutch thats pretty poor, we seem to be a good 24+ hrs behind them. The Gov deserves the flak to a degree.
Anyway, at least the UK's response is building and deploying now.

[Caribbean]

Mounts Bay arrived off Anguilla midday today, I believe. Sneaking in between Irma and Jose. We are definitely short of assets for this kind of problem, and having no local base makes it even more difficult. The Dutch and French benefit from local bases, but it also means that your HADR assets can end up in the path of a hurricane. Unusually, this storm has gone through everyone's offshore territories, which will tie up resources that we could usually rely on for backup

[Dahedd]

Any idea what they are deploying in addition to Mounts Bay & Ocean?

Could they theoretically deploy the QE ? The crew are trained up, the Merlin crews have been training to deploy on her (ok no Chinooks I guess) it won't need any defensive systems fitted for a relief mission.

It'd be a huge pr win & a fitting first deployment.

[Gabriele]

QE, no. I'm surprised they didn't send Argus, though.

[ArmChairCivvy]

they didn't send Argus, though.

Isn't the focus to get stuff ashore where there isn't necessarily a harbour (just a jetty or the like available)? Onward transfer means might be at a premium. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJMMQXlUQAED8oW.jpg

[sea_eagle]

Is the sale confirmed for £80m? The last refit only completed in 2014 and that cost £65m.

What bits are likely to be removed before handover? Would we give them Artisan? What about the slippery paint job?

Sensors and processing systems: Type 997 Artisan 3D Radar 1008, 2 x Radar 1007

Armament: 4 × 30mm DS30M Mk2 guns, 3 × Phalanx CIWS, 4 x Miniguns, 8 × General purpose machine guns

[R686]

Is the sale confirmed for £80m? The last refit only completed in 2014 and that cost £65m.

Your certantly not getting the rough end of the stick on that price when you consider the we picked up Largs Bay for £65 and she was only roughly ten years old at the time.

[SKB]

£65

[KyleG]

Ocean only cost about £150m when it was built, so it going for £80m 20 years later doesn't sound a bad deal IMO.

[Smokey]

Ocean only cost about £150m when it was built, so it going for £80m 20 years later doesn't sound a bad deal IMO.

Allowing for inflation the equivalent of £150m would be £243m today.

If I bought a new car in 1998 for £15k and sold twenty years later for £8k, I think I'd be happy, too?

[ArmChairCivvy]

The last refit only completed in 2014 and that cost £65m.

If we get this money (plus an Artisan set) back, we should be happy as there was no other sensible alternative to the "bridging of the gap".

[Defiance]

Plus Brazil's not exactly a poor choice in South America to improve relations with through this type of sale if it were to come off.

[Ron5]

For half the price of an F-35 or Typhoon, I'd keep it for the Marines. Assuming it's not totally clapped out.

[ArmChairCivvy]

not exactly a poor choice in South America to improve relations with through this type of sale if it were to come off.

Brazilian and Argentine Marines train together; may be the former will let the latter take it for a spin

[Defiance]

not exactly a poor choice in South America to improve relations with through this type of sale if it were to come off.

Brazilian and Argentine Marines train together; may be the former will let the latter take it for a spin

True, but it feels like their Marine training is probably in as poor state as the training for the rest of their forces, they've got a number of fundamental things to fix before I let that line of thinking worry me too much

[R686]

The last refit only completed in 2014 and that cost £65m.

If we get this money (plus an Artisan set) back, we should be happy as there was no other sensible alternative to the "bridging of the gap".

Agree in the current climate, but do you notice the budgetary climate never seems to change. And bridging the gap it seems is getting far to common in UK defence budget cycles

[ArmChairCivvy]

And bridging the gap it seems is getting far to common in UK defence budget cycles

A gap as such does not attest to the finest planning. But bridging it as opposed to the far too common "capability holidays"... all for it

[The Armchair Soldier]

HMS Ocean arrived in Gibraltar today to load stores before deploying to the Caribbean:

[abc123]

Yeah, good thing that we will get rid of her ( HMS Ocean ) shortly...

[SKB]

[sea_eagle]

HMS Ocean certainly looks fully loaded, but I think they need to move some of the stores and helos about to get a more even keel before heading into the Atlantic