Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)

Status
Not open for further replies.
TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
I guess they will get right on that.... right after there new Carriers...
Seriously though Russia is not really hoping to hurt France. They really are trying to have there Cake and eat it to. The Cake they want is the Vladivostok the Cake they want to eat is the sanctions. If France delivers the Ships, it sets a precedent that destroys the heart of the Sanctions Freeing Russian investment.
 
asif iqbal

asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
Jeff Head said:
The Albion class are new. Commissioned in 2003 and 2005 respectively. It will be another decade before they seriously start a replacement program.

IMHO, it is premature at this point to say that the UK does not plan to replace them, unless, outside of my knowledge, the UK has officially made such a statement.
Click to expand...

No that's not correct

Firstly No government is going to state what they are going to cut and not cut 10 years in advance but there is a trend which we can follow and anyone looking at the trend can see some serious alarm bells ringing

There is a serious inbalance in UK military expenditure, RAF far out weights RN in budget and resources allocation even although they are manned by a similar sized force

True RN getting two carriers but don't let that blur the image and not let you see beyond that, between 2010 and 2011 RN lost 12 vessels and only 4 were commissioned net balance -8

By 2020 RN will have not more than 30,000 regulars maybe just 2,000 reservists

After the recent refit HMS Ocean is due to serve until 2018 not beyond and only 10% of the MoD allocation of £159 billion 10 year plan is for new ships and "new ships" covers

2 x QE
Remaining 2 x Type 45 DDG
Design and deployment of Type 26 FFG
and 4 x MARS tankers of Royal Auxiliary Fleet

Money for the Astute's and Vanguard replacements is not included in new ships allocation as it's classed as a sub surface fleet

More importantly no funding is there for replacement for HMS Ocean or two LPDs

It's true the government has not announced anything but it's not hard to work out what the reality will be by piecing together the procurement plans
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
asif iqbal said:
No that's not correct
Click to expand...
Sorry Asif, I think it is premature to announce or firmly believe that the Albions will not be replaced. I do not believe that those procurement plans would be on the books at this stage in any case.

Despite the spending habits, the fact is those two ships are relatively new with a LOT of service life left in them. Particularly with the loss of the Ocean coming in another five years, the Albions will be assets that the RN will depend on significantly...more and more as time goes on.

Political winds change. They changed in the UK over the last ten years...they can change the other way too.

I personally believe that the RN will replace the Albions when the time comes. We are going to have to wait about ten years to find out what their specific plans may be either way.
 
asif iqbal

asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
Correct they are new and in very good condition but that hasn't stopped the establishment from mothballing one of them and having one in reduced state of readiness to save money, currently one is active and another in a "extended readiness" already signs of trouble ahead in my opinion considering HMS Albion already came under review during the SDR in 2010 just 6-7 years into service

I find it very hard for RN to justify procurement of new flat deck ships when both carriers are commissioned and on active duty the case for anything else seems hopeless not to mention that with two carriers and just 19 warships in addition to UK international and NATO obligations how they plan to escort a amphibious task force

I have changed my views on RN in the last 12 months in light of recent events maybe few years who I was more optimistic anyhow let's look forward to the carriers!
 
FORBIN

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
But Ocean not very old, 16 years, have a shelf life of 20 years only or budget reason ?
 
Intrepid

Intrepid

Major
HMS Astute said:
France backs off sending Mistral warship to Russia in $1.7 billion deal

French officials said Wednesday that they will not deliver the first Mistral-class amphibious warship that Russia had ordered from Paris as part of a $1.7 billion weapons sale, a strong rebuke after months of aggressive actions by Russia in eastern Ukraine.​
Click to expand...

In a beginning new cold war these ships are usefull for France or its allies. So it is not neccessary to sell them to russia anymore.​
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
FORBIN said:
But Ocean not very old, 16 years, have a shelf life of 20 years only or budget reason ?
Click to expand...

No, mainly becasue she was built to a complete commercial standard, and cost far less than half of what a military built standard LPH of that size would have otherwise cost them.

But she has been used for military tempo operations and thus her service life is very short, and now the UK will reap the down side of that decision.
 
Brumby

Brumby

Major
Jeff Head said:
No, mainly becasue she was built to a complete commercial standard, and cost far less than half of what a military built standard LPH of that size would have otherwise cost them.

But she has been used for military tempo operations and thus her service life is very short, and now the UK will reap the down side of that decision.
Click to expand...

Sometimes it cut both ways. There are many examples of the USN prematurely decommissioning vessels way before the end of their built service live because of political or technological reasons. They are wasted investment of good money.

Interestingly to see how the issue with USS George Washington will eventually be resolved. I can't understand how one can justify pulling out such a vessel to save $3 billion on mid-life refuelling but rather spend $15 billion on a new Ford.
 
Equation

Equation

Lieutenant General
Brumby said:
I can't understand how one can justify pulling out such a vessel to save $3 billion on mid-life refuelling but rather spend $15 billion on a new Ford.
Click to expand...

Streamline of factory managerial and engineers perhaps because the new Ford class will the be the current US Navy carrier for decades to come perhaps?:confused:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top