Supersonic and land attack missiles for the fleet, Sea Viper reference also interesting. From UKDJ: The Royal Navy will arm surface vessels with land attack missiles. In a speech that can be read here, First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin said: “The surface fleet will be armed with the latest weaponr...

Speculation now that these (two of them) will be contractor-operated, not RAF. The last image lacks an RAF roundel and still carries civilian registration. As they are contractor ownership and run. Will they have defensive aids fixed to them as they are most likely carrying high value vips? If (as ...

Hopefully Merlin replacements included in all this. It wasn't that long ago that it was announced that the UK had joined a cross European team to develop a new medium helicopter to replace both Puma and Merlin. With that in mind, I'm puzzled by folks insistence that an off the shelf helo will be pu...

Small fragment regarding Type 32 from 'Carry On Strategy' (@CarryStrategy) on Twitter: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ExGo8sNWUAcrXOT?format=jpg&name=medium Depending on how that's read, either they will not be the MCMV replacement, or they will (as part of their wider role). However it does seem t...

Phil sayers you are probably right they way things are going ,6 destroyers now, reduced to 3 with the words that they are twice or 3 times as capable as the type 45 ,you know this to be true ,mark my words This will be what happens - requirement to produce 1 ship available at all times to support Q...

Apparently there will be a second A321LR, to be registered as G-GBNI(rather good reg). Sounds like it's coming straight off the line at Hamburg.

Source:
https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/r ... an-airways

As fond as I might be of the BAE-146, this is a big improvement in terms of comfort, range and capacity. An A321LR NEO can happily fly from London to anywhere on the US East Coast. Though it will likely not get the defence aids/countermeasures needed for operating in higher risk locations (which the...

What if we teamed a bay class with a type 31. Seems eminently sensible. However, at some point (rightly or wrongly), I can see the question being asked: "why not combine them into one vessel? Whether that's a 'FF(S) Support Frigate', as AAC suggests above, or a slightly fighty RFA, like Think ...

What if we teamed a bay class with a type 31. Seems eminently sensible. However, at some point (rightly or wrongly), I can see the question being asked: "why not combine them into one vessel?" Whether that's a 'FF(S) Support Frigate', as AAC suggests above, or a slightly fighty RFA, like ...

So what should we call a vessel that could carry out such a variety of missions using such subsystems. Owned by Serco Defence...? :D In all seriousness though, this demonstration makes me think that pretty much every RN/RFA vessel should have the capacity for unmanned systems moving forward, with a...

RFA Mounts Bay showing off some impressive toys: https://twitter.com/RFAMountsBay/status/1373270178084089856?s=19 Particularly interesting are: - The TRV-100, from Berkshire based Malloy Aeronautics, fitted with BAE's Future Lightweight Torpedo, as previously seen: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ew7VwV...

Future of the MCMV fleet is going to be a tough one of the reporting is accurate. [...] Possibly a partial capability gap till the 30s? Sounding like the T32s are going to be the motherships, aren't they? The significance of the gap will depend on how quickly the MCM's are removed from service - ha...

Now that you mentioned cutting edge - as also Tempest is positioned - I've been wondering how the prgrm will be run contractually. There is a book about how it all went wrong with A-12 The $5 Billion Dollar Misunderstanding , which raises the ongoing debate around the appropriate use of contract ty...

I get the impression sometimes that TEMPEST is more a skills/job retention scheme that a programme to actually deliver a new platform to he RAF. The same could be said of nearly every RAF combat aircraft since Jaguar. No shortage of offers from the US to purchase everything off the shelf since the ...

Future of the MCMV fleet is going to be a tough one of the reporting is accurate. Beyond the Bays this is hardly an abundance of platforms to take a full set of the new unmanned systems (even by 2030), much less any shipyard capacity to knock out whatever 'motherships' might be needed. Possibly a pa...

Should we follow the Germans and purchase a limited number of Tranche 4 Typhoons instead of upgrading, or not, the Tranche 2 airframes? This would give the RAF a more homogenised Typhoon fleet, all with AESA and the latest avionics, software etc.. A lot of sense in doing that, the infrastructure al...

Meanwhile in Italy (a thread from Francis Tusa): https://twitter.com/FTusa284/status/1369671233042780173?s=19 5 Star Movement Deputies and Senators add, "...we believe it is only right that Italy should consider reducing our share of F-35s. An irrecoverably defective and now technologically out...

So, this should keep the rumour mill turning for another week:

Great news! Appledore or Cammell Laird? My money would be on CL, due to the recent BAE link over Type 31. However there's been plenty of talk about Appledore getting work soon: https://twitter.com/Harland_Wolff1/status/1368887702167371777?s=19 Had a certain frigate factory been built at Scotstoun, ...

I'm not sure what's mad about fitting a small cat to the left of the ramp for UAV's like LW and having them perform an arrested landing on the existing runway. There's a loss of a few parking stops but if there will be fewer F-35B embarked,I don't see this as much of a problem. I also have a proble...

Removing the ramps to make the QE's better for UAVs is the very definition of the tail wagging the dog. Which is why fitting catapults (of the capability described in the RFI), whilst remaining commited to the F-35b as the primary aircraft for the carriers, seems frankly mad. One of them would have...

The latest models show 24 CAMM and no sonar... I wonder why they don't just transfer the 32 missile farm from the T23s over... I guess we'll have to wait and see... 12 not 24. I think John is referring to the large scale physical model from Amalgam which has either 24 CAMM, or 16 MK41. https://twit...

Makes me wonder if someone's done some ballpark figures on what it would take to develop a STOVL 'loyal wingman' versus a more conventional design. Ahem... The Lockheed Martin VARIOUS from 15 years ago... https://imgur.com/alJffHU Haven't heard about VARIOUS or the wider DARPA programme in some tim...

Personally I have no problem in a carrier operating cats and traps vehicles as well as other aicraft types. All carriers do and have done for the past 80 years or so. If (and it's a long way from a speculative RFI to getting the Rosyth Bobs in, with plasma cutters and pick axes) this were to go ahe...

The navy has been talking to industry for some time over ways to launch and recover loyal wingman drones to complement the daves.. Makes me wonder if someone's done some ballpark figures on what it would take to develop a STOVL 'loyal wingman' versus a more conventional design. On balance perhaps i...