RAF & Navy hardware looking quite modern nowadays
Discussion
OK so quantity-wise we haven't got a lot of hardware these days, but the quality of what we have now in the RAF and on its way for the RN looks pretty good compared to most countries:
RAF
F35
A400M
Typhoon
C17
Sentinel
Shadow R1
Voyager
Hawk T2
P-8A Poseidon (2020)
Chinook
Navy
T45 Destroyers
T26 & 31e Frigates to come
QE carrier with F35
PoW carrier to come
Merlin helicopters
Wildcat helicopters
Astute subs
Dreadnought subs to come
How's the Army doing in comparison? Maybe its turn for a spending spree?
RAF
F35
A400M
Typhoon
C17
Sentinel
Shadow R1
Voyager
Hawk T2
P-8A Poseidon (2020)
Chinook
Navy
T45 Destroyers
T26 & 31e Frigates to come
QE carrier with F35
PoW carrier to come
Merlin helicopters
Wildcat helicopters
Astute subs
Dreadnought subs to come
How's the Army doing in comparison? Maybe its turn for a spending spree?
From the outside, the Army does seem to be getting the shortest investment straw at the moment. Excerpt from today's BBC News website:
"Army numbers fall
The reports come as Ministry of Defence figures, published on Thursday, show the size of the Army is at its smallest for more than 200 years.
The UK's regular army has just over 77,000 troops - well short of its target strength of 82,000."
"Army numbers fall
The reports come as Ministry of Defence figures, published on Thursday, show the size of the Army is at its smallest for more than 200 years.
The UK's regular army has just over 77,000 troops - well short of its target strength of 82,000."
Martin4356111 said:
On the contrary, I'd say we're still in quite a dark place as far as the RAF is concerned.
The A400 is still falling well short of its promised capabilities with a terrible serviceability rate.
That seems to contradict what was posted by "Fluid" on the A400M thread yesterday:The A400 is still falling well short of its promised capabilities with a terrible serviceability rate.
"I have a friend who is a Flight Sergeant techie on the Atlas Force and he can't praise the A400M enough."
The Commons Defence Committee has now got its begging bowl out and makes the following recommendations according to BBC News website:
"The committee warned of "serious deficiencies in the quantities of armour, armoured vehicles and artillery available to the British Army".
The lack of vehicle-mounted anti-tank weapons and self-propelled artillery and the need for modernisation of rocket artillery left the Army "at serious risk of being outgunned by its Russian counterpart", it said.
Other defence needs identified included:
Greater anti-submarine warfare capacity
The maintenance of the Army at a minimum of 82,000 personnel
A layered air defence system
A Royal Navy carrier group capable of protecting the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers"
So as stated in my original post, it's officially the army that's been getting the short straw these past few years when it comes to Defence spending.
"The committee warned of "serious deficiencies in the quantities of armour, armoured vehicles and artillery available to the British Army".
The lack of vehicle-mounted anti-tank weapons and self-propelled artillery and the need for modernisation of rocket artillery left the Army "at serious risk of being outgunned by its Russian counterpart", it said.
Other defence needs identified included:
Greater anti-submarine warfare capacity
The maintenance of the Army at a minimum of 82,000 personnel
A layered air defence system
A Royal Navy carrier group capable of protecting the new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers"
So as stated in my original post, it's officially the army that's been getting the short straw these past few years when it comes to Defence spending.
LotusOmega375D said:
The Commons Defence Committee has now got its begging bowl out and makes the following recommendations according to BBC News website:
"The committee warned of "serious deficiencies in the quantities of armour, armoured vehicles and artillery available to the British Army".
The lack of vehicle-mounted anti-tank weapons and self-propelled artillery and the need for modernisation of rocket artillery left the Army "at serious risk of being outgunned by its Russian counterpart", it said.
Thread revival."The committee warned of "serious deficiencies in the quantities of armour, armoured vehicles and artillery available to the British Army".
The lack of vehicle-mounted anti-tank weapons and self-propelled artillery and the need for modernisation of rocket artillery left the Army "at serious risk of being outgunned by its Russian counterpart", it said.
The above quote is nearly 3 years old. Yet here we are with same old same old. Still plenty of MPs sitting around in meetings and complaining, but very little action...
https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2021/03/...
I always thought the A400M was bought to replace the Herc anyway? Hardly worth keeping it on, just on the odd chance of an SAS mission. Use the Atlas. It’s not as if the Herc was that small anyway that it doesn’t make an easy ground target itself, if using a dodgy airfield. Hopefully we won’t dispose of them for peanuts though.
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