UK Defence Forum

Bloody crab air!!!! USMC all standing at ease, Brill -cream Boyz all lounging about. Hope they fly better than they look. Seriously, not a good advert. I hope the CPO applies a leather enema to those concerned (if that was the mob the Rasman would be fucking apoplectic even for us Ruperts).

jimthelad wrote:Bloody crab air!!!! USMC all standing at ease, Brill -cream Boyz all lounging about. Hope they fly better than they look. Seriously, not a good advert. I hope the CPO applies a leather enema to those concerned (if that was the mob the Rasman would be fucking apoplectic even for us Ruperts).

You might want to check the far left of the photo to see how the navy lot are assembled before calling out the crabs.

Just spoke to nipper whilst he is on his IOW sight seeing cruise, he reckons there might be a certain photo being taken today.

PhillyJ wrote:Just spoke to nipper whilst he is on his IOW sight seeing cruise, he reckons there might be a certain photo being taken today.

Spotters assemble! W@nking socks to the ready!

Danish ship area as well https://photos.app.goo.gl/PfLtN53FEfmzmWhH6

F342 is HDMS Esbern Snare - so we have an Absolon-class modelling for a T31

.... or maybe a T32

PhillyJ wrote:Just spoke to nipper whilst he is on his IOW sight seeing cruise, he reckons there might be a certain photo being taken today.

Awsome

You can bet though if there are no F35 onbaord yet, you can guess the naysayers reaction

SKB wrote:

Sailor at the helm must have nerves of steel. Impressive.

Good article from the Marine's perspective ..

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/29/blende ... nt-to-date

area now has opv’s around it
https://photos.app.goo.gl/uX6soiNPsfGBBu9i7

I am hoping they are waiting for all the ships & aircraft to come together for a great promo shot !!! i would imagine this will be no easy thing to assemble to get the photos just right hopefully with a full deck, im not sure if the F35 are aboard yet ? sure it will be worth the wait

Perhaps HMS Albion will make a brief visit for the perfect shot since she is in Plymouth... not hoping for much am I

Thanks AeroResource

Hope they land on the “intended” Carrier!

Somehow, I don't think they're south of the IOW anymore....

Any update on those four F-35Bs? I'm guessing they haven't been flying around all afternoon.

SKB wrote:Somehow, I don't think they're south of the IOW anymore....

I've heard nowt since the early 0830 phone call (on a bank holiday Sunday no less) from nipper so no idea where PWLS is or if any pics taken with her sister, but QNLZ seemed to be off Cornwall earlier.

Max Jones wrote:Any update on those four F-35Bs? I'm guessing they haven't been flying around all afternoon.

I saw 4 F35 come out of Lakenheath yesterday right over my house , I'm about a mile from the end of the run way

It will not happen but it would have been good to have got a photo of both carriers QE in strike with F-35 and POW in LHA with say 6+ Chinook and 6 Apache

Still it will be great if they got the photo of the two together

The CSG will take part in air strikes over Syria:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/f-35 ... rike-group

The Armchair Soldier wrote:The CSG will take part in air strikes over Syria:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/f-35 ... rike-group

I'm probably reading way too much in to this but that could be interpreted as a bit of a two-fingered salute to Russia's disparagement of the Queen Elizabeth Class given that before being damaged by the sinking of a floating dry dock and then getting set on fire, their own aircraft carrier's last deployment was a similar one that resulted in the loss of a few aircraft due to defects that led to the air wing being transferred ashore to continue operations.

It'll also give the rest of the CSG something to do other than port visits around the Aegean while two of the escorts are on detached patrols on the other side of the Bosporus.

I figure it sounds like a fairly low risk option to test how well QNLZ manages large numbers of aircraft doing sorties with live weapons, while also contributing something useful (and maybe extra integration with Typhoon)

Is anyone else getting a slightly pompous vibe from the Commodore's posts?



Big achievement as it is for the RN to get this far it might be wiser to take a more modest approach this early in the deployment.

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