One of the issues with the whole "Strike" Brigade concept is the moving of the Ajax units at the same time as the ones equipped with Boxer. Whilst the latter can easily self deploy the former will require transporters to get them into theatre and this is going to require almost 150 medium ...

I wonder if they could adapt the AMRAAM/Meteor stations to allow the fitting of slimline ECW pods, possibly by increasing the number of power and other connectors. Installing two such pods on the front two stations would produce less drag as a minor benefit and not take up existing pylons. Just a th...

The minimum number of variants for the Mechanised Battalion to be able to function as well as replacing many of the FV432 series still in service is, APC with 12.7mm HMG and Javelin ATGW RWS. Command with 12.7mm HMG and Javelin RWS. Ambulance possibly 7..62mm MG RWS. Engineering vehicle with 7.62mm ...

The reason the Round Tables were not armed was that the policy at the time was for the RFA fleet not to be armed where as Fearless and Intrepid were part of the Royal Navy. I am not suggesting that the Bay replacements and the possible new smaller amphibious assault vessels are permanently armed, th...

The Army is still working on what variants it actually needs. The list released is simply a generic one not what we will end up with to equip the Mechanised Brigades.

Obviously where and when a full Commando led battle group would be employed is very dependant on the circumstances, but one standing commitment for such a force is the reinforcement of northern Norway. The Royal Marines do bring additional skill sets to the table compared to say 16 Air Assault, and ...

Most likely including the tail and supporting units like an Artillery Battery, Air Defence troops, Engineers and so on.

Reading articles on the reorganisation of the Royal Marines, where they are to concentrate on their historical raiding role, their desire to distance themselves from the Army, adopting unique digital camouflaged uniforms and adoption of the C7/8 rifle throughout the force, really outs a focus on whe...

Should we start a "Bring back Penny", campaign, as she did seem to be making some positive moves even before she even got her feet under her desk at the MoD. Her removal was a strange move by Boris in my opinion.

I do believe there are actually two squadrons formed, with one being a joint UK/Qatari outfit. How they are actually organised and whether they actually have planes allocated I cannot find any info, so we could just be keeping the Tr1 airframes in the pool, with the majority of the usage being carri...

Thanks for that, well that is more than enough to get things started, equipping the four Mechanised Infantry Battalions, plus replacing the old FV430 series in other units including Signals, REME and so on. The Trials unit the Army has established is pretty certain to identify additional variants ne...

I must admit I do like the Archer, if people haven't already guessed. Yes 5 min may seem a long time but it is done with the majority of the crew under armour , thin though it maybe and as far crew the Limber has only 2 to three and the same goes for the gun itself. You can load individual rounds if...

Excluding the two Tranche 1 squadrons, the TAF will have five frontline squadrons with Tranche 2 and 3 airframes with only the Tranche 3 getting the new radar initially. With 12 operational a/c allocated to each squadron plus the reserve and OCU/OEU that would be around 80 to 90 airframes.

I know it is against Government policy to build Warships overseas, but you missed my point. the way things are going with the stop/start drip feed of order for warships, it is only going to be viable to retain one shipyard building complex warships. Even then that yard will probably not be as effici...

Just out of interest how many crew are needed to reload a Caesar with 36 rounds in 3 minutes? I am not saying Archer is the fastest but it is certainly not a cumbersome reloading process. I think it is safe to say you are not a fan of the Archer, either in its original form or the latest as shown at...

Without Government Investment, the NSS in any shape or form is dead. The UK will be left as it currently is, the T-31 programme is not going to allow Babcock to become a truly sustainable warship manufacturer, so it will really be BAe or nothing moving forward. And if they do not a get a long term o...

Yet again the curse of Brain, Fingers and Eyes not working together strikes.

Was that 2026 or are we already three years behind schedule?

According to Jane's the Anglo/French next generation AShM/Cruise Missile (FCASW) has met a bit of an impasse as the requirements of both nations seem to be diverging and until this can be resolved the next phase is on pause.

P-8 integration makes sense as it is a Maritime Patrol platform and most likely to find targets of opportunity for any LRASM carried.

Quite likely, though the usual plan is to release negative news as quietly and in as small a print as possible. The next release regarding FSS will probably be to say they are gong to be built in the UK now, but no date will be set publicly at least.

In my view the funded 30 year plan is probably the most important part as it removed the year on year budget bottleneck that plagues existing large procurement programmes, and is something the Treasury continues to resist as it makes their spreadsheets more complicated.

Yes, with similarities to the amount of work undertaken on Argus throughout her career.

am I being to much of an optimist. In a word, yes in my opinion. Until we have a steady stream of naval orders instead of the current stop start, and Governmental investment into ship building beyond actual orders, we are going to struggle to retain more than one and a half warship building yards. ...

How many Boxer's the UK is actually getting has not been clarified beyond the "Will receive more than 500 Boxer 8x8 high mobility, network-enabled armoured vehicles". Knowing how the MoD and Treasury like to keep the annual account simple, the contract probably covers all spares, repairs a...