UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

delft said:

Your list of RN tasks is impressive but what is the purpose of the SSBN's? Deterrence of any other country? If in twenty years time London thinks it necessary to attack say Kenya and that country has one nuke which it brings to the Thames and explode at sea level during an Easterly wind: Forget about London, will it repair the honor of the UK to launch one to three submarine loads, 16 to 48 missiles against that country?

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The job of the SSBNs is straight forward. Deterrence. Knowing that if some nation launches a nuclear attack against your country, a force will remain at sea that can hit you with a devastating counterblow.

So, yes, in your scenario, if the government of Kenya (or any other) thinks to get involved with a plot to attack England with a nuclear weapon, they will know that they are going to get annihilated.

Honor and chivalry has nothing to do with it. After such a scenario, England will be hurt but is likely to survive. Kenya would never be a power to be threatening anyone again and the deterrence message will be punctuated. England still able to deliver on it.

Deterrence like this actually works with rational people and governments. It does not work against irrational thinkers like terrorists and religious extremists who think that by killing a million infidels they are going to Heaven and do not care what happens to their own country.

So, deterring those people is not the SSBN's job. That is left to other arms of the military while the SSBNs continue to deter those they were meant to deter.

Diffferent missions...different AORs.

UK simply needs SSBN for credible second strike deterrence, same for France.

Futur RAF

First Tranche 3 Typhoon


160 Typhoon order : 53 Tr 1, 67 tr 2 and 40 Tr3.

The first tranche have very low bombing capabilities, improved to the 2nd and good for 3nd with CM etc ... as Rafale F3.

RAF early 2020 about 160 Typhoons and 48 F-35A total : 208, in 2013 : 230 combat aircrafts.

Maybe Tr 1 will be removed prematurely (not versatile) and perhaps other F-35, it was expected 138 !

Additional

Future RAF


F-35

The initial fleet the RAF is aiming for is for 40/50 airplanes by 2020, up to 80 or 100 planes in the longer term, with acquisition to be completed by 2023.

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A total of 48 F35Bs has been funded and planned as part of the 10-year budget, out to 2022/23. Of these, if the plans do not change, 3 are OT&E airframes and 6 will form the training fleet at Eglin. This leaves a maximum of 39 airframes to use to form frontline squadrons. With a strength of 12 airframes each, the squadrons that can be formed with 39 aircrafts are, most likely, only two, unless the MOD shows more “audacity” that it is usual and forms 3 squadrons,

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FORBIN said:

Additional

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The two statements contradict each other. One says 40-50 by 2020 and up to 100 by 2023.

The other says 48 by 2023 and that is all.

I would be surprised if the UK did not end up with at least 48 operational, front line F-35Cs for the RN. That would allow two squadrons for each carrier, which in times where both carriers are not available at one time, would allow them to be used for other duties and deployments.

They would then need, IMHO, 4 for testing, and another eight for training, making a minimum total of 60 aircraft for the RN alone. Which does not speak to the RAF, Perhaps the RAF will acquire F-35As?

Obi Wan? Any ideas or views or comments on this from your side of the pond there on the Island?

I think a second order possible after 2023 for about 50 F-35 max.

And for the moment RN keep sure only one CV maybe 2 ? i hope.

The Guardian is reporting some bugs with HMS Astute. Excerpts below:

The Guardian can reveal that Astute, the first of seven new submarines costing £9.75bn, has been unable to reach its intended top speed.

At the moment, the boat, heralded as the most sophisticated submarine ever built for the navy, cannot sprint to emergencies or away from an attack – an essential requirement for a hunter-killer boat.

It would also be incapable of keeping pace with the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers, which will be able to travel at more than 30 knots and need the submarines to protect them. One source told the Guardian the boat had a "V8 engine with a Morris Minor gearbox".

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Other problems that have affected the boat in recent months include:

• Flooding during a routine dive that led to Astute performing an emergency surfacing.

• Corrosion even though the boat is essentially new.

• The replacement or moving of computer circuit boards because they did not meet safety standards.

• Concern over the instruments monitoring the nuclear reactor because the wrong type of lead was used.

• Questions being raised about the quality and installation of other pieces of equipment.

• Concern reported among some crew members about the Astute's pioneering periscope, that does not allow officers to look at the surface "live".

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Some of the instruments which tell commanders about the state of the nuclear reactor were also feared compromised, the Guardian can reveal. The detectors which measure the power coming from the reactor are in a lead-lined water jacket that surrounds the reactor core.

The lead has to be "virgin" metal, mined from great depth, so that it does not carry any electrical charge of its own that could generate a false reading.

However, the lead used in Astute was not of the right quality, which means instruments gave incorrect readings. Using impure lead can also have a knock-on effect during maintenance – the charged metal can create increased and persistent radioactivity within the reactor compartment.

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Rather than building a new power plant for Astute, the MoD chose to use the Pressurised Water Reactor 2 (PWR2) from the much bigger Vanguard-class Trident submarines. It was linked to a steam turbine system based on the model used in the aged Trafalgar Class attack submarines.

"This was always likely to be a big problem, and so it has proved," said a source. "The PWR2 was meant for a much bigger boat, and Astute had to be designed around it. That may have cut costs, but it has caused problems. The power from the reactor does not translate into forward movement."

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Great progress being made on the UK's :

Wow just leave it as is it, don't bother fitting the ski jump can't be that expensive and timely can it lol

It's taken shape of the final look twin islands flat deck looks stunning