or even Svalbard if the Russians were to threaten with a small raiding force. Folks may remember the GPS jamming in the High North during Zapad 2017 (which was not repeated during the next one)? Well, how come Norway, in the same year, deviated from the policy of no foreign troops on its soil perma...

The UK so far has taken delivery of 23 of the 48 F-35Bs it has on order. Three of those aircraft are based in the U.S. to support operational test and evaluation. Deliveries of the first tranche of aircraft are due to be complete in 2026-27. 2028 a year to look forward to: both carriers can have an...

This will give us a LPD with - up to 4 LCUs in the well-deck - 2 LCVPs and 1 RHIBs starboad-side - 3 Merlin HM4 in the hanger at the port-side. Not too bad? Not bad at all, but in a LRG role the LCUs are too slow. @ Donald can surely say whether either version of the Caymen would fit (and one in th...

On 29 March 2022 the MOD published a paper on UK's Defence Contribution to the High North: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... _North.pdf In it, these words can be read in many ways: "build on the Mountain and Cold Weather Warfare expertise of our Commando Forces and comprise dedicated...

Lord Jim wrote: ↑16 Jun 2022, 17:48 I forget which one, but one of the Baltics now has ex British Army CVR(T)s

Latvia; Lithuania went a step 'up' and bought Boxers (under a different name, of course).

isn't IAC2 going to be a CATOBAR carrier ? That was in the 2015 Request Letter to shipbuilders. While not mandating an "electromagnetic aircraft launch system" (EMALS), the letter mentioned it as an option. - in 2017 the US manufacturer was allowed to share the tech info around EMALS Unaw...

I think India has been looking at its time with the MIG 29K and has come to the point of view that Russia dose not have the carrier game sortied. The funny side of this sad saga is that the Russian navy only got their carrier Migs bcz India paid for the redesign - the previous carrier a/c could not...

Bear in mind there has never been a cats and traps ship powered by GTs The idea of changing was idiotic! It didn’t however stop the Royal Navy pushing it and getting it selected for sdsr2010. That was then championed by all the online pro naval media Interesting that this blows up again... as, offi...

The IN had been unsatisfied with the reliability of its Mig-29Ks for years. It has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine. True. But there was the more general point, years out, to what extent the IAF (and IN) can rely on Russian support (clearly a key to any new purchases) [quote=Icedragon9 post_id...

The most logical choice for India is to buy more Rafales as it has commited to the type already Agree. But the conglomerate that built the factory to err build Rafales only entered 'defence' with this deal - not going to review how that happened - here. - no wonder, though, that the first batch was...

Russia will not be able to support export platforms there for its Mig's and Flankers are going to become less and less effective A good point, but land-based Migs are on their way out (and while the carrier-Migs have proved unreliable, they are the only [?] fit with the carrier they got from... Ukr...

The Madrid summit and with it a new concept (political) to be the cornerstone for military planning over the coming 4 years... The new concept to be backed up by raising the quick-response force to be 300k strong. Have I seen any comments on these on these pages? May have been under my sombrero in ...

permission to carry firearms by the religious authorities (most of whom were hostages inside the sanctuary). They took very heavy casualties. In the end the storming was co-operated by the French SF (from outside of Mecca, of course). The British also offered, but the French were preferred (why; do...

F18 took off from an indian ski jump with 2 harpoons Interesting from two points of view: will they have EMALS (then this experiment would remain just that, an interesting experiment. Second, their Flankers can carry Brahmos for anti-ship use... so how far out is the Indian navy planning to operate...

On the 3rd of August we will know... how an oil price cap (?) may dent the hold on the gas supply to Europe - the two fossile energy sources being close substitutes If the lights go out :crazy: in Europe, then I am sure the US THAAD batteries in or near to Riyadh will :D pack up ... whose side are y...

three RN LPDs with less manning requirements than the Albions is the right answer, just need to get there. Devil's Advocate answers: one with the carrier on northern duty; the carrier having the early, recce elements onboard (one of the good things with the Merlins is the range - not so much the li...

I can see a B-2 there (on the human evolution scale, the 'man' who walked on his knuckles)
- but clearly, the one emerging at the top of this graph ... is a 'Vulcan'

An Argus + Bay combination for LRG(S), and 2 Bays allocated to JEF (alongside the Dutch LPDs) is still a credible interim capability. Interim as a synonym for going down in capability does not chime nicely in my ears: so the vehicle'ed parts of the remaining Cdos would be delivered from UK (RN+RFA)...

the geographical areas we are interested in I would say logistics! As we have become accustomed to buying from remanufacture/ special edition limited-run queues (Apache/ Chinook SF), so why don't we tap into a "nearly new, but to be decommissioned" plans, likewise... at a good price! http...

SW1 wrote: ↑15 Jul 2022, 19:41 Two chinook [and 1 medium] sqn

Was it 16 "Gs" that we placed the order for? In my speculation (further above) I was unaware over what period they all would 'land'.

Hopefully he’s telling putin not to facilitate giving Tehran the bomb! Especially as the two (Turkey and Iran, for this occasion) have announced to be ready to go to war (if Turkey's incursions give enough cause for that). In 2015 Iran was complying with the nuclear reactor deal terms and sending s...

The main puma role is there special forces role in support of urban and confined operations I would rather say that is the differentiator (within the existing fleets). But I think your comment and this RAF statement will explain why we can go 'halves' on this one, ie. how only half of the existing ...

That was unnecessary: The King David Hotel (1946) vs. Brighton hotel bombing comes first to mind. But beyond 'bygones': Biden has already gone off to the KSA. To announce (?) to much fanfare that the KSA and Israel will be linked by a direct flight connection. - building up/ cementing against Iran? ...

France has placed an order for 169 H160s, which rather puts into perspective our relative lack of ambition. Indeed they will also have 15 a330mrtt and 50 a400m they seem to be investing in the logistical and support assets quite heavily. WE did lend out call sign "The Borrowers" to them, ...

- Both Albions - An LSD + Tanker (combined compares to a JSBL) Both Albions ideal, BUT - would 2 Bays be a substitute for one of those - especially as an Albion is easier to convert for "high endurance" which clearly is a rqrmnt for LRG(S)? u could argue we provide the vertical lift to th...