USS George H W Bush has arrived in Portsmouth..
Discussion
I had the pleasure of a tour around the boat on Sunday.
The sheer scale of everything is what impressed me. 5500 people aboard! Around 80 aircraft!
I remarked to my guide, that it was good to know that someone could still launch a fixed wing at sea.
He said that we all "help each other out". " You see, we can't find submarines to save our lives, but you guys are pretty good at it. You shouw us where they are and we'll sort them out"
The sheer scale of everything is what impressed me. 5500 people aboard! Around 80 aircraft!
I remarked to my guide, that it was good to know that someone could still launch a fixed wing at sea.
He said that we all "help each other out". " You see, we can't find submarines to save our lives, but you guys are pretty good at it. You shouw us where they are and we'll sort them out"
wildcat45 said:
Indeed the t
t.
Don't get me started on that one, Cameron simply is clueless.t.Also scrapping our Harrier force then promptly going in to war in Libya after slashing the equipment that could be useful in Libya.
The guy is proving to be a liability, and a poor PM. I hope that someone with more of an idea what is happening in the real world takes over from him before he can inflict more damage. I wonder whether Liam Fox would be any better. He did warn of the Nimrod cancellation risks and the concern over increasing overseas aid budgets. It may all be posturing and positioning for a future attempt at a PM role. There is no denying that many were left bemused at the Nimrod scrapping, and
many are angry at increasing aid budgets. Cameron needs to either start listening and thinking, otherwise he and the Tories will be swept away at the next election.
Well the Nimrod was paid for bar £200 million to complete. It cost at least £200 million to cancel out of the contract with BAe Systems. Not sure if there were any further penalties with other suppliers such as Rolls Royce.
Compared that with the £1 billion that Libya is likely to cost by the end of this year, or the £11 billion+ in aid/bribes we are giving to other countries over the next few years.
Libya is a separate issue for another thread, but I am not sure who thought it would be a good idea (6 months after these cuts) to go in without a clear plan and exit strategy, leaving it in the hope that a bunch of Rebels will sort out Gadaffi, whilst the public were bulled into believing it was a "no fly zone" and not regime change.
If Cameron could have got his hands on the Carriers he would have axed those aswell, I never thought I'd say this but at least that is one thing to thank "Winky" for, making those contracts so binding. At at least we may one day have a Fleet Air Arm presence. At the moment we are hoping the Americans and French will bail us out.
Meanwhile Cameron is still insistent on the hugely expensive, Nuclear Trident replacement. Is it not going to be a bit of a sitting duck without something like a Nimrod for top cover?
Compared that with the £1 billion that Libya is likely to cost by the end of this year, or the £11 billion+ in aid/bribes we are giving to other countries over the next few years.
Libya is a separate issue for another thread, but I am not sure who thought it would be a good idea (6 months after these cuts) to go in without a clear plan and exit strategy, leaving it in the hope that a bunch of Rebels will sort out Gadaffi, whilst the public were bull
ed into believing it was a "no fly zone" and not regime change.If Cameron could have got his hands on the Carriers he would have axed those aswell, I never thought I'd say this but at least that is one thing to thank "Winky" for, making those contracts so binding. At at least we may one day have a Fleet Air Arm presence. At the moment we are hoping the Americans and French will bail us out.
Meanwhile Cameron is still insistent on the hugely expensive, Nuclear Trident replacement. Is it not going to be a bit of a sitting duck without something like a Nimrod for top cover?
Couldn't agree more with the above. Our politicians are very quick to commit our troops to action but far too tight to give them what they need. Scrapping Ark, the Harrier's and the Nimrods's was a complete and utter cock up.
How to pay for what we need? Well, scrap foreign aid to nations with their own nuclear arsenal for a start. Stop throwing money at chavs for popping out countless bd children. But mostly, stop committing this country to military action and expecting the MoD's normal annual budget to be able to cover it. You can't engage in a military conflict of any size without going into a wartime budget.
How to pay for what we need? Well, scrap foreign aid to nations with their own nuclear arsenal for a start. Stop throwing money at chavs for popping out countless b
d children. But mostly, stop committing this country to military action and expecting the MoD's normal annual budget to be able to cover it. You can't engage in a military conflict of any size without going into a wartime budget.mrloudly said:
What's with the police boat... I guess the carrier can't defend itself... Another waste of "limited" police resources....
FourWheelDrift said:
If you were in the water fuzz and you could sidle up to it and have a look around I'm sure you would too. They are probably saving money by not burning diesel tearing around the Solent like Miami Vice.
I remember when we were at Shamrock Quay they got loads of stick for dicking around in Southampton water. Tossers pulled my lads for no reason in our RIB. Life jackets, fully trained, boats name on the RIBTOTAL waste of taxpayers cash!
Probably more for protection of sailors who get too close by accident. There was a 250m exclusion zone around the carrier.
A JetSkier got turned around.
The tour boats apparent got warned twice for getting too close on the Saturday. I think the Americans are very touchy, especially with what happened to the USS Cole.
They said initially if you got too close they would launch the water cannons. If you still didn't turn around then they would most likely open fire.
I saw at least 3 people on the stern with rifles/guns.
A JetSkier got turned around.
The tour boats apparent got warned twice for getting too close on the Saturday. I think the Americans are very touchy, especially with what happened to the USS Cole.
They said initially if you got too close they would launch the water cannons. If you still didn't turn around then they would most likely open fire.
I saw at least 3 people on the stern with rifles/guns.
Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff