The sister ship is Topaz Tiamat. How do you know it's for sale?

More or less a love letter to the MOD. While the Media does like to sensationalise, they're not totally wrong. The UK has been a Tier 1 partner of then F35 for nearly three decades but has committed to purchasing very few aircraft, is not integrating UK weapons, and has taken delivery of very few ai...

For "~80m, 'light' patrol vessel", I think we need 4 to replace the River B1s as UK Patrol Vessels The Navy shouldn't be doing this, they have lots of other things to worry about. The Police, Border force, or a Coastguard should be responsible for law enforcement around the UK. what could...

Just continue building the hulls you already have in production it will be cheaper in the long run. I generally agree this should the the starting objective for the project, but shouldn't cling on to the idea too tightly if the size a power requirements start to diverge. This could work if the lean...

The issue with resurrecting T45 isn't the WR21, as MT30 would be a relatively straightforward drop in replacement The MT30 is twice as powerful. Not a drop in. IEP have moved on, to DC rather than AC based systems What is this supposed to mean? No ships have DC generators, and all IEP ships convert...

The legacy MCM fleet has no usable patrol capability, it's a token gesture.

Linking new autonomous mine hunters and a requirement for extra patrol boats is tenuous at best.

Why does it need MALE drones? How can that be sold as a necessity when the carrier are not even half filled with aircraft?

Surely this is just putting the payload before the platform? The focus is on delivering an effect, not replacing a lump of metal. New vehicles may be requited to deliver FADS, but it is ‘system of systems’, not a direct destroyer replacement program. Sounds to me like they're trying to structure the...

The River B2 exists at a convenient time. In a high performance navy the River Class would have little utility, but they have found a valuable role in a crumbling fleet where the Frigates are knackered, the Destroyers have never worked properly, and the only serviceable ships are uninspiring patrol ...

I don't think the MOD could make it much clearer;

Different budget lines in the spread sheet I'm looking at. The MOD use the acronyms EPP and ESP, I forget exactly wat the mean but its procurement projects and support project.

For a little context, the equipment plan gives the Navy about £1.5 Billion each year to buy new things with, of which £1.2 Billion is allocated to ships. In the early 30s that has to be spread between; T26 build T83 design MCM replacement T32 Ice patrol ship Strategic sea lift Fleet support ship and...

~£270m for a T31 plus GFE is not expensive anywhere in the world. It’s a real success story. More made up numbers. The defence equipment plan 2022 to 2032 has the T31 "Expected cost to completion" = £1986 million so the above figure is a 32% discount on the actual price. (and that's befor...

BAE already have a UK LHD design That's only true if we accept a ridiculously low bar for the word 'design'. At best its a concept image. There's no point denying the UK is a high cost country, every ship built in the last 20 years proved this. At the same time there no point pretending a LHA is go...

Those numbers are outrageously optimistic. Even taking the Wikipedia figures at face value a Canberra class costs £1.2 billion today. Furthermore that's designed and built by a Spanish state owned enterprise, so it's an unreasonable assumption to apply for a private company in the UK. We know exactl...

The RFA is not going to derail the Navy.

The Navy is also suffering the very same shortages, meaning dissolving the RFA, and narrowing the talent pool is only going to exacerbate the problem.

I agree, they should be lengthened, but there's no chance of that actually happening.

Poiuytrewq wrote: ↑19 Sep 2023, 20:36 Perhaps the possibility of a RN support fleet should be explored.

Good idea! Maybe call it the Royal Auxiliary Fleet?

IMO the next-gen Amphibs need to be optimised for naval maritime drones with the ability in the future to easily and cost effectively add a F35 capability if required in the future. The drone thing is reasonable, but the F35 thing is truly outrageous. That makes it a multi billion pound ship to buy...

we need is the third flattop and 4 large MRSS If RN decides to build a single LHA to replace the Albions how does that reduce the scale or effectiveness of anything? The Navy will not get a new large flat top and new LPDs. They could make the argument for either, both options could work, but the ch...

One could argue that if the RN is going all in on CEPP then a 3rd flattop in the 230 by 40 meter range is a must as we would need one in full strike mode and a second in LHA so 3 flattops are needed to maintain 2 ready anything else would be a bodge I think this argument does make sense, and should...

Poiuytrewq wrote: ↑16 Sep 2023, 12:41 The Ellida Mk2 looks interesting but the foredeck is still the weak point IMO due to the access required between flight deck and the foredeck

where has this come from?

Weird the author reheats the "Sloop of War” concept. Creating more patrol boats has zero effect on the credibility of a 'Global Britain'

I would propose a slightly different approach. Design the simplest most cost effective assault ship possible, and build lots of them. During peace time these ships are distributed around the world for engagement, training and supporting other operations. During spicier times, or for big exercises, t...