UK Defence Forum

as long as whatever emerges from this distributed replacement for the existing LPD class retains 8x LCU's bays to be able to surge ... Currently, RN has only one LPD, so 4 LCU, in addition to 3 on 3 Bays. Even though the 2nd LPD hull is there, RN could not man her, so I’m afraid it will not come ev...

The latest rumours I hear is there are hopes that the 3 batch 1 River OPVs will have their funding extended to allow them to continue to operate in UK home waters to around 2027 (at which point they will 25 years old). This will allow the B2 OPVs to be forward deployed, first to the Falklands (Fort...

They are coming. ref: "https://twitter.com/UKDefJournal/status/1183665034506973184" Pictures taken for the UK Defence Journal this morning show three Batch 2 River class Offshore Patrol Vessels at Scotstoun in Glasgow being fitted out. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EG05EP8WwAA5lXM.jpg:medium

Not clear for me.

LPDs and LSDs are for early entry force, such as RM commando and 5 Para, as I understand.

After the port is secured, Points and STUFT ships are the main tool, not Bays nor Albions.

So, these assets shall be planned with RM and Para, primarily?

:( RN T26, RAN Hunter class, and RCS version comparison: https://youtu.be/3MrgKRjOCBI?t=98 In short, only 5 parts will change - foremast and radars on it - CMS - Mk.41 VLS arrangement - SSM on top of the mission bay - and SH-60R handing Common, includes: - most of the platform systems (Drive trains,...

Roders96 wrote:It's an interesting idea. It is always easier to loosen the purse strings if the risk is out of the way, however.

May be manageable if all the hulls are included in a single contract from the beginning.

But, as this proposal looks unpopular, anyway I will stop here. Would it not be more desirable to front load the units with a larger missile fit - buying time to cement the learning curve and find out exactly how much extra funding would be needed? This way the admirals can make their argument easi...

The current T23 Sea Ceptor fit of 32 missiles includes 2 command and control cabinets, and also 4 launch management cabinets (one for every 8 missiles). Thanks, very informative info. Across the 13 T23s, that would mean a total of 52 launch management cabinets. Eight T26s, each with 48 CAMM, would ...

There are three reasons I used the word pathetic: A. Who do you think is listening to your proposals, apart from the other 5 or 6 people who regularly fill this forum with their own fantasy drivel? No one in the RN is paying the slightest attention. No one with decision making powers is reading thi...

So on the basis of nothing more than one fuzzy cgi image, you have decided it would be best to remove the primary defence from 40% of the T31 fleet. Pathetic. ?? I am proposing to increase the total number of CAMM missile carried on the 5 T31 fleet (from 12x5 =60 to 24x3 = 72). As my proposal is co...

If one hits a rock, your finely wrought plan of one doing this and two doing that and so many doing something else again will just go down the crapper. With only 5 they have to be interchangeable to enable tasking to be doable. And for what? saving a few pennies on cheap as chips CAMM launchers. Gi...

.. Also the idea of having sub-classes of Type 31's with some with air defense and some not, is daft. There's only 5 ships total. With tiny fleet numbers, all have to be multi-purpose. Not sure. Full-fat frigate (FREMM/T26), light-frigate (M-class/ANZAC/LaFayette), and surveillance-frigate (Floreal...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGVoqqCWwAAR0Vd?format=jpg&name=small Looks like 12 SeaCeptor VLS tubes to me... the let down begins. Agree, looks like 12 CAMM. Interesting. Not sure it is "critical" or not, but it does show how limited the resource is (with no surprise). A corvette armam...

Repulse wrote:Looks like 12 SeaCeptor VLS tubes to me... the let down begins.

Agree, looks like 12 CAMM. Interesting.
Not sure it is "critical" or not, but it does show how limited the resource is (with no surprise).

#Any more of my arguments will move to escort thread...

From French navy thread https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2019/10/video-french-navy-offshore-support-and-assistance-vessel-garonne/ Looking at the French navie’s utility ship usage (the movie is worth watching), I do think the so called “flight deck” of River B2 shall be considered as a multi pur...

No the RN dose not have RAM but it dose have Phalanx = half the system Far less than half. Replacing the 20mm gatling with 11-rounds RAM is much more expensive than a full set of Phalanx. Don’t get me wrong, RAM is a good system, I agree. My only point is, CAMM has a big overlap with RAM. Not surpr...

Then, how about a 2000t level (like River B2 or Cross-over-like) vessels? Without good SAM and soft-kill tools, it will be a good "game" for "a dozen of" NSM or even SeaVenom (=smaller family of modern ASMs). Then, how about Bays and Albion = the same size as currently used? Wil...

May be just meaning, LPD and LSD replacements shall be several LSDs, and not LHD with which I guess only two can be built?

That is a great article, and even though it's about the USMC as I'm reading it so much is applicable to the Royal Marines too. There are clearly people in the British and American Marines that recognise they must change to stay relevant in the future, and I hope the vision in this article wins! Que...

Caribbean anti smuggler operation is allied operation, not in singleton. So hangar is very good to have, but not critical. Why does an 'allied operation' change how valuable a hanger is? If the Royal Navy as suppose to be the best, it is right the RN need allies to babysit them because the MOD are ...

from "https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/1179711179352084480" RFA Tidespring (with Phalanx now installed) seen from RRS Sir David Attenborough in the wet basin at CammellLaird Birkenhead I'm afraid the forward CIWS fire arc does not cover well for surface threats, because of the bulwar...

Guns haven't defined a warships AA capability for 70 years. Get real folks. Not exactly. In the late years of cold war, USN Knox class frigate replaced SeaSparrow with Phalanx CIWS. Together with vintage 5in gun, it was her main AAW asset. I am NOT saying gun does define the AA capability of escort...

Won't the FTI's cost about $800 million each? How much of the total cost is due to the FTI's AAW capability with the 16x ASTER 15/30 as opposed to the KingKlip and CAPTAS 4 Compact? If the ASTER was dropped for Mica, the price would probably reduce considerably. Perhaps a more even comparison with ...

Mk.41 is just a launcher. What missile do you have in your mind to carry? Just having a Mk.41 does now allow you to use every missiles compatible with it. For example, TLAM needs its dedicated electronics box (TTWCS), which is not that cheap. CAMM also needs its own electronics box as well as ExLS c...

As par the future ASW, I am for drone-based ASW capability. I will rather invest in such assets, than making Arrowhead 140's ASW capability to be FTI-equivalent (normal noisy hull with CAPTAS4-CI, which is different from CAPTAS-4). On drones, there are two approached to my understanding. Survey- (ma...