Repulse wrote:a debacle would have been to do nothing and lost skills ahead of the T26.
That would just have been a
worse debacle
Repulse wrote:Given the positive choice to keep the B1 Rivers for fisheries, and using one B2 to replace HMS Clyde, the focus should be what to do with the 4 remaining B2s.
Ideally I would sell them for inflated prices offset with generous donations of foreign aid but I realise that's a remote prospect.
The next best option in my opinion is to use them as a stop gap to allow any second batch of T31's (or preferably) T26's to hit the water and then retire them to the UK EEZ and/or Gibraltar around 2030. I think this could be roughly in line with current planning (not Gib). I like Tempest414's foward mounted Phalanx, double 30mm proposal. Adding Kingklip and Captas-1 would round the platform off nicely. These modifications could easily be undone to downgrade the RB2's back down to OPV spec for EEZ patrol in the future.
Repulse wrote:My view is that probably the best thing is that they should be reconfigured to act as forward based escorts for the 2 new FLSS ships in lower threat environments. The lack of a hangar is not an issue given the aviation facilities on the FLSS.
I agree the FLSS and RB2 combination looks like an ideal outcome but to form a credible Littoral Strike Group (with a Wave) both the FLSS and RB2's would have to be generously equipped.
It would be interesting to compare the running costs and manning requirements of the FLSS/RB2 combination with a T23. I suspect it could be closer than it would first appear.