Exactly - if the order is not placed this year what is the point? Roll it into Tempest. I really do wonder what the French are thinking when they watch this melodrama Also - I suspect if we were France the entire Boxer program would have been cancelled by now You know we were part of the original c...

Really good and informative clip.

What I didn't realise is how close this is - aiming for production, in some form, to start in 2031, 2035 for IOC. It seems there has been much pre work underneath the radar on both Tempest and F-X

I love Binkov- who produces these?

National News UK article suggests that RAF maybe planning to buy the Israeli Rampage missile to replace Storm Shadows sent to Ukraine https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2023/06/30/uk-targets-israeli-rampage-missiles-to-replace-storm-shadows-sent-to-ukraine/ So that's two interim solution...

Exactly - if the order is not placed this year what is the point? Roll it into Tempest. I really do wonder what the French are thinking when they watch this melodrama

Also - I suspect if we were France the entire Boxer program would have been cancelled by now

Yeah "Privately urging" on the same day the King is in France on a State Visit getting the full red carpet treatment

Has the PM suddenly grown a pair? But the Civil service are still pathetic though "risk poisoning Anglo German relations" sheesh that's a great negotiating position

Make no mistake: the outcome of GCAP really matters to each of the three nations involved, but so far there have been no forecasts released suggesting the potential scale of their combined future buys. This means that also selling the type on the international market will be a key contributor towar...

There's a recent interview on one of the defence sites with the Head of BAE Systems Combat Air, he said they're aiming at export orders in the hundreds, currently in talks with several parties, all this is being firmed up as part of the maingate business case. Obviously not naming names. I'll try an...

Totally agree with the above as an end state. Predicting there are going to be some delicate trade offs around timing. In terms of the last 27 I think we have already missed lot 18 and 19 which are in the 2026-28 delivery space. That window is gone. Lot 20 seems to be a different ball game as it is ...

Guesstimate of hope : . Joint RN-RAF loyal wingman programme, for what protector is for an uncontested environment, this is for contested. Focus on numbers and affordability. . 74 Bravo lightnings, split RN-RAF ops pre-tempest, all transferred to RN post tempest. . Tempest in volume replacing both ...

Sure, plan B, buy a bulk amount of F-35's, but GCAP must maintain first and formost. That’s the point. The UK is supposedly going to lead on GCAP whilst simultaneously purchasing 138x F35b. Not realistic. If the priority is Tempest until Tempest isn’t the priority then where does that leave the F35...

I kind of agree. Also won't later tranches be cheaper ? I understand Lot 20 is already spoken for, you're likely already looking to a 2030 delivery even if contracts were signed soon which is well into Tempest territory. 48 F35Bs, less 1 crashed and 3 permanently in the US. So 44. A dozen in deep ma...

We're down to the seventh largest fast jet fleet in Europe (see the article I posted in the Tiffy thread yesterday). How can any foreign supplier take us seriously when we've allowed our air force to be hollowed out almost completely over the last decade and a half? Aah but fear not! We have Ajax a...

Coming from the other angle https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/21/global-combat-air-programme-uk-italy-japan-fighter-jets/ I really like this quote “There will always be a HQ as an administrative central point to coordinate all, and it makes sense to have it in the UK. But the bottom line is i...

Coming from the other angle https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/21/global-combat-air-programme-uk-italy-japan-fighter-jets/ I really like this quote “There will always be a HQ as an administrative central point to coordinate all, and it makes sense to have it in the UK. But the bottom line is i...

Wouldn't the position of the intake be problematic, it looks like a giant hoover

As others have said, I'd wager Spain and Germany end up leaving and buying F35s in various versions The Franco-German thing gets refocussed on drones, electronics France do a mega deal with India involving Rafael evolutions, nuclear technology, submarines and eventually FCAS in the late 2040s. (only...

I think it's going to be like the 1970s except the music and drugs won't be as good

One thing the Australians have done well - cross party consensus on defence. The new labour government may be talking about tweaking Hunter Class numbers but the broad program parameters have cross party upport

IMHO Foxhound, Jackal and MRVP should all have been the same platform, right now it would be in service in a dozen countries around the world. If someone had a bit of strategic foresight, to break down the silos and pull everyone together to compromise a little on a common set of requirements. Inste...

Everyone that could order a 6th generation is in the team making process. As by now hypothesis since they keep changing Germany <- Korea -> UAE as the latest news ( UK + ITA + JAP ) <- KSA France -> India (this is my hypothesis and all starting from SCAF not going very far) NGAD+ Israel since the K...

Everyone that could order a 6th generation is in the team making process. As by now hypothesis since they keep changing Germany <- Korea -> UAE as the latest news ( UK + ITA + JAP ) <- KSA France -> India (this is my hypothesis and all starting from SCAF not going very far) NGAD+ Israel since the K...

Agreed. Thales in France have that model.

The problem I have had with BAE is the lack of forward thinking they may not want to be a builder of low end warships but they have not fall filled there own brief like if they want to be a system intergration company where is there intergraded mast they are a design company but where is there low ...