UK Defence Forum

Was just surprised, thought that heinz and Coca-Cola had used them all up

Hmmm. 3 Sea Kings, a Wessex & is that a Merlin? Why are they wasting a Merlin airframe on that ? I guess that's while we'll never see the 4 non upgraded one's in service.

The for vanilla Merlins are probably carcasses by now with almost everything usable stripped.

Elsewhere (DID of today reports) another kind of "jointness" taking at least baby steps:
". During a recently held test, one of the USMC's F-35Bs was able to connect with a HIMARS shot for the first time. According to Lt,. Gen. Steven R. Rudder, the F-35 used sensors to create a data link, and then pushed data about the location of the target to a HIMARS system."
- more - and cheaper - shots compared to carrying the ordnance on the a/c

It makes you think what else could be "Linked".

Lord Jim wrote:It makes you think what else could be "Linked".

If speculation is allowed - I have not seen a confirmed source for this - the link between F-35s is far superior to the downlink back to the carrier
- an absurd situation (if true) as
A. the carrier is supposed to contain and operate the higher level C2 (on the ship itself networking capacity is massive)
B. and also the advantage that F-35s are "flying sensors par excellence" is partly squandered

ArmChairCivvy wrote:

Lord Jim wrote:It makes you think what else could be "Linked".

If speculation is allowed - I have not seen a confirmed source for this - the link between F-35s is far superior to the downlink back to the carrier
- an absurd situation (if true) as
A. the carrier is supposed to contain and operate the higher level C2 (on the ship itself networking capacity is massive)
B. and also the advantage that F-35s are "flying sensors par excellence" is partly squandered

Would that perhaps be why when she returns to the UK the QE is supposedly getting an upgrade to its communication systems?

This is one of the great debates with the QE and PoW as the systems the US are introducing to maximise the capability of the F-35 on its Carriers and Amphibious platforms were not installed to save a few pennies but it is now realised that they are essential and the money has to be found.

One of those nightmare scenarios:
BREAKING: JPO confirms all U.S. and international #F35 fighter jets are grounded while the enterprise conducts a fleet-wide inspection.

ALIS, cyber... what a "beautiful match" for a single point of failure
- not yr option; but the OpFor's

It's only a 'nightmare' because people only read the headlines these days... when you look at what's happening, it's not really an issue for an aircraft still in development

SDL wrote:It's only a 'nightmare' because people only read the headlines these days

So very true

Does not 'void' the scenarios, though

ArmChairCivvy wrote:

Little J wrote:Are those Wessex I see down there too?

I thought so, too. The idea is to create 'congestion' and get the not-so-small F-35s from A to B plenty quick, and without any scrathes... so does it matter much "who" plays the "Garden Gnomes" as the obstructions in the confined space (the dimensions will be about right, also vertically)?

Does show how much bigger F35 is than Harrier though...

Slightly longer video of the SRVL video posted on QE thread (thought it would be better here)...

Thx! Better. And also saves one from deleting all those trackers that one has to accept for "tweet" videos

Hmm. No U.S. roundel on the nose of BF-04 unlike the nose of BF-05.

I doubt that anyone will get to the end of this (due to the dead-pan voice over), but
- there's good detail about compressing 10-yr plans into 4 (subject to negotiation)
- and for our "B" that would not only upgrade thrust by 10% and fuel burn by 5%, but crucially also improve thrust in hover by 5%

ArmChairCivvy wrote:I doubt that anyone will get to the end of this (due to the dead-pan voice over), but

This looks like one of those typical Youtube ripoffs of original footage with a synthesised voice added (presumably because the uploader doesn't have sufficiently fluent English to add their own commentary). I dare say that the original is around somewhere, maybe even on YT, but with the original commentary.

albedo wrote: I dare say that the original is around somewhere, maybe even on YT, but with the original commentary.

I hope so; I'd like to listen to it more than half way

I think this is one of the best shots I've seen so far.....

"Fly Navy" would look good on the inside of the fan door

An idea for Top Gun, edition 2, out next summer?