The same argument could be made for service personnel to not have to pay income tax to improve retention and tax breaks for those who join the reserves. The numbers are relatively small compared to other departments. Big but though, senior officers would lose the majority of their perks such as reta...

In principal the RAF could get a more efficient and effective airplane out of the Typhoon that it could from the F-35 and I strongly believe that if the pro-USA lobby in the MoD could be gagged that is where we would end up. The usual problem exists though in that money is available for initial prog...

There isn't any really. I mentioned it as it had been done so previously and I was making the point about the Poseidons using US sources weapons. I think some posters are getting confused as we used the Nimrod in Afghanistan, though as an ISTAR platform, and the Nimrod MRA4 was touted as a Storm Sha...

Given the state we are in and the downward slope we are on, shouldn't we suggest to Donald that he can hire the UK military as America's Foreign Legion, as long as they re equip us?

I cannot see our Poseidons being tasked with anti-ship duties given the small number of airframes we are purchasing and the size of their primary tasks. As pointed out it is far too vulnerable tough looking to the future it could be used to control a number of LO UCAVs carrying say LRASM, providing ...

I would say it is in the USA's interest to limit the number of non-US weapons able to be used from the Poseidon. I am pretty sure they will sell both the Mk54 and SLAM-ER at very attractive prices, maybe even letting other NATO members utilise US stocks as it reduces the competition for US manufactu...

Mind you they have left on all the bolt on accessories unlike in the A400 pic.

In your fantasy are you giving each CVF 10 escorts?!? Even a 1980s USN CVBG only had 6including a SSN.

He will probably be succeeded by a quiet nobody, who will follow the party line and be good at reading out statements written by the Ministry of "Spin"

The idea of turning the Army's wildcat into an "Armed" scout has merit but it could never supplant the Apache as long as the Army still operates it.

Ajax should be rebranded as the replacement for the FV430 and CVR(T) series with Warrior possibly also. Instead of trying to develop a "Medium" force the Army should put its efforts into actually equipping its light and heavy formations properly. Few if any UK formations are actually up to...

It is a very simple situation the RN finds itself in. It is either take the T-31 as currently planned or get nothing and make do with 14 escorts. I am sure the RAF and Army would love the extra £1Bn to spend. We all know what the RN should be getting and that is why there is a Fantasy Fleets thread.

If we are doing fantasy fleets then I vote for the RN to have at least twelve UK spec Arleigh Burke class backed up by 12 T-26 using the came weapon systems. Both would use CAMM as an inner ring defence system with SM-3 as the outer. Both would use Sea RAM as the CIWS and use the LRASM. We would hav...

The T-31 that enters service with the RN and the T-31 that retires are going to be totally different vessels with regards to their capabilities. Just because the current designs for the vanilla T-31 do not show CAMM or an ASM and so on does not mean they will not be fitted over the life of the class...

AN export standard T-31 is probably exactly what they are looking for. They seem to be more inclined to look at hull numbers and have little interest in high end capabilities. They would probably want Evolved Sea Sparrow as against CAMM and the option to fit whatever ASM Australia in using at the ti...

People have probably already seen this but the USN has conducted live fire trials of a HIMARS of the back of USS Anchorage using a GMLRS rocket. It was successful and with an eye on the future, having the option to fire either the 70Km range GMLRS or 300Km ATACMs consideration should be given for th...

I couldn't watch this all the way through as it made me feel sick. What actually is the Defence Budget for? It seems it is being made to cover more and more aspects of the Security side of things that were historically managed by civilian departments and agencies without any additional real funding ...

Short answer, Yes.

The Russians/Soviets fitted actual Helicopter dipping sonar to the following classes of frigates (we would call them corvettes); Petya I, II and III Classes - 37 vessels Mirka Class - 18 vessels Parchim II Class - 11 vessels Koni Class - 1 vessels Grisha I, II and V Classes - 64 vessels. The4 Krivak...

For anything other than a top level MBT at long range yes. With the Israeli APAMs it can even effectively have a go at Helos and UAVs.

The Russians have been using dipping sonars on their small ASW vessels for decades. Should be feasible to mount the actual sonar on an unmanned platform together with a secure datalink to allow it to communicate to the T-26 mothership.

A T-23 hit by a ASM such as Exocet or Harpoon is at least going to be a mission kill if not worse. This is one reason why I believe the RN is concentrating on defending the T-31 rather than giving it more offensive punch. The ANZAC could be compared to the T-21, more modern I grant you, with the cap...

Not if you cannot get the troops etc. where they are needed, when they are needed and then support them.

Problem is even when funding is in place often nothing gets done, just look at the Army's AFV programmes as an example. Concept then assessment then back to concept, assessment, start development then back to the beginning. And I am not saying throw money at a problem either, we tried that as well a...

Is anyone surprised.