River Class (OPV) (RN)

Contains threads on Royal Navy equipment of the past, present and future.

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Tempest414
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by Tempest414 »

So the B1's could be kept going until 2028 which is the same time as the type 31s come on line allowing the B2's to take over from the B1's

Repulse
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by Repulse »

Looks like a sizeable RM detachment onboard.

”We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow." - Lord Palmerston

Ron5
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by Ron5 »

All looks a bit gay (nothing wrong with that), where are the ladies?

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SKB
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by SKB »

Ron5 wrote:All looks a bit gay (nothing wrong with that), where are the ladies?
Watching the volleyball contest of course. :mrgreen:

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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by Repulse »

The ships’ flight decks double as ‘mission decks’ for storing containers or, in the future, RN PODs for drone/autonomous minehunting kit, relief supplies, or a control or command hub for Royal Marine raiding teams; the patrol vessels have a 50-berth mess set aside for additional troops/commandos.
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... r-and-spey

Let’s hope we start to see some PODs on the B2s soon, would be great not only for capability but also for export opportunities.
”We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow." - Lord Palmerston

Ron5
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by Ron5 »

I bet those guys working on the "pods" are mightily embarrassed. Working on a simple project to develop a standard mounting/attachment for commercial containers (to supply power etc.) got bigged up by some Navy top hat looking for a headline.

donald_of_tokyo
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by donald_of_tokyo »

Commonly known? UK has 4 offshore supply ships as "fishery patrol vessel", (Ocean Osprey, Ocean Troll, Ocean Marlin and another one).

...four patrol vessels were operational at sea 24/7 to provide overt presence to deter and detect illegal activity

So, it is not only the 3 River B1s, but 4 PSVs/MRVs on task to watch over the fishery protection around UK water. Understandable, only 2 of the 3 River B1s are used for the task.

https://marinedevelopments.blog.gov.uk/ ... l-fishing/

See also
A view of the fishery patrol vessel Ocean Osprey, as members of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) take part in a pollution training event at Portland Port in Dorset. Picture date: Tuesday September 14, 2021. on Alarmy (https://www.alamy.com/a-view-of-the-fis ... 23641.html)

Image

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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by donald_of_tokyo »

HMS Medway at work, looking good. Five of the five River B2s are forward deployed now, with local maintenance.

Falklands Island, Caribbean sea, Gibraltar (now patrolling west Africa), and two at Pacific Ocean. Great availability.


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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by donald_of_tokyo »

HMS Trent visiting Nigeria. Good job, enhancing mutual relation. Exactly what RB2 shall/can do. Even if she is "not strong" in war fighting, she can do many things, showing presence and making friends. Clear contribution.


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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by donald_of_tokyo »

One of the finest photo of River B2 I've ever seen... HMS Tamar, in Pacific. Image from HMS Spey twitter. (see "")

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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

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Image

Scimitar54
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by Scimitar54 »

Not quite Midway then ! :mrgreen:

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SKB
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

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ImageImageImageImage

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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by donald_of_tokyo »

HMS Forth at South Georgia.

Nice weather, and looks like a Good adventure!


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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by Ron5 »

Bet that sea is fucking cold.

Lord Jim
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by Lord Jim »

Well that is one way to deter any "Scrap Merchants", setting up shop on the island.

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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by donald_of_tokyo »

A very impressive movie on the UK activity at Ghana, onboard HMS Trent.

Especially after 0:38, the night session is very impressive and beautiful. :thumbup:


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Tempest414
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by Tempest414 »

I was lucky enough to take 20 Cadets on a night visit to HMS Seven when she was in the pool of London some years back great visit great crew

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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by wargame_insomniac »

Tempest414 wrote: 07 Aug 2021, 11:22 I still feel that we should be looking to form a CANZUK battle group made up of

1 x Carrier ( UK )
1 x LHD ( A )
2 x Bay class ( 1 A and 1 UK )
3 x Destroyers ( 1 A and 2 UK)
9 x Frigates ( 3 C , 3 A , 2 UK & 1 NZ
4 Aux ( 2 UK , 1 C , 1 NZ )

I would be pushing Australia and Canada to get 12 F-35b's each this would allow the carrier airwing to be made up of 30 jets 10 from each country . This group should come together every 2 years
I would be all in favour for a CANZUK Expeditionary Strike Force including both CSG and LRG.
But unless it advance deploys at an allied base (e.g. Singapore / Malaysia / South Korea / Japan) then it is still going to be far from South China Seas.

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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by wargame_insomniac »

Tempest414 wrote: 07 Oct 2021, 09:41
Repulse wrote:A £130mn B2 River with a £20pa running cost, is a good solution to forward presence. A £400mn T31/T32 with probably double the running costs is not. We should be spending the money instead on more of a low (Sloop) / hi (T26) mix.
I think you are wrong here all RN ships today are paper ships if we use some peoples logic. Current type 45's only have 48 AAW missiles and some out of date guns , type 23 has less AAW missiles and guns the B2's weapon & snazzy paint is a token and the Carrier need to borrow a air-wing

Of course with a one off funding effort of 1.5 Bn a lot of this can be fixed

400 million for 19 sets of NSM
500 million for 24 CAMM on T-45 and 30 CAMM on T-31
300 million for 11 57mm guns for T-45 and B2's plus 12 40mm for T-45
100 million for 5 UAV's for the B2's
200 million for 5 sets of containerized VDS for type 31 & B2's
I like most of thes suggestions but not sure about 12*40mm for 6*T-45.

From what I can gather the 30mm has a higher rate of fire than the 40mm, and I am presuming that rate of fire is most important against fast moving boats / drones etc.

I wonder if the River B2's could take a pair of DS-30M Mk II mounts, one per side? That and the 57mm main gun give them at least the ability to defend themselves against similar sized PV / Corvettes.

Lord Jim
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by Lord Jim »

I still like the option of being able to install LMM on the River's 30mm mount if greater spikiness is needed. Certainly a low cost option if combined with M2 .50 Cal HMGs on the wings.

BB85
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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by BB85 »

The R2 won't be taking on Corvettes, they will be tracking and intercepting drug runners, people smugglers and anti piracy patrols. All of which can be performed with UAVs and DS-30 MkII. If they where to take on corvettes they would need armed with anti ship missiles, a better radar and CAAM

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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by wargame_insomniac »

BB85 wrote: 22 Nov 2021, 17:25 The R2 won't be taking on Corvettes, they will be tracking and intercepting drug runners, people smugglers and anti piracy patrols. All of which can be performed with UAVs and DS-30 MkII. If they where to take on corvettes they would need armed with anti ship missiles, a better radar and CAAM
For patrolling in home waters, Caribbean, Gibralter and (currently) Falklands, then yes, River B2's are fine with a single DS-30 MkII. For being long term advance deployed without additional support EoS, then, IMO, they are inadequately armed with just one DS-30 MkII and some miniguns / MG.

They will be outgunned by most navies's Coastguards!!
:(

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Re: River Class (OPV) (RN)

Post by donald_of_tokyo »

wargame_insomniac wrote: 22 Nov 2021, 21:19
BB85 wrote: 22 Nov 2021, 17:25 The R2 won't be taking on Corvettes, they will be tracking and intercepting drug runners, people smugglers and anti piracy patrols. All of which can be performed with UAVs and DS-30 MkII. If they where to take on corvettes they would need armed with anti ship missiles, a better radar and CAAM
For patrolling in home waters, Caribbean, Gibralter and (currently) Falklands, then yes, River B2's are fine with a single DS-30 MkII. For being long term advance deployed without additional support EoS, then, IMO, they are inadequately armed with just one DS-30 MkII and some miniguns / MG.

They will be outgunned by most navies's Coastguards!!
:(
Why River B2 "EoS" cannot do the same tasks those on Caribbean, Gibralter and Falklands are doing? Those three OPVs will ALSO be outgunned by local Coastguards there. No difference.

Why many here think the condition at, say, West Africa (with HMS Trent) is more friendly than that on EoS?

We saw how HMS Trent did a good job on visiting west African nations, with RM aboard. The same thing can be done with HMS Spey and Tamar, I think. Indo-Pacific is a huge area, and there are many "basically friendly" nations there worth improving good relations with UK, not to fight-against, I think.

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