Agreed. Such a pity with the Viking, a slightly lengthened, modernised version would be perfect for some many tasks on carriers. ASW, COD, AAR and as a multi mission sensor platform controlling UCAV’s. I know there is a lot riging on UAV’s for some of those tasks, but....it wouldn’t have done mush harm as a backup at…

The first Stinger kill was by an SAS trooper in the Falklands. He hadn’t been trained on it as the only guy who had had been killed in a helicopter crash a few days before, just a quick read of the instruction manual and then shot a Pucara down.

Never forget that the guys who didn’t make te fighter pilot grade have had the most stick time and combat experience in recent years. Hard to think of a more combat oriented pilot these days than a CH-47 or AH-64. In comparison the fighter pilots look tame...and well.... safe

The RAF guys thought the GR’s were fast as well. But they also had the Tornado and Buccaneer which would outrun a Harrier. The Buccaneer in particular didn’t look that fast, but down low nothing could keep up apart from a Tornado. Phantoms used to give up...

It#s not the type of taking that he needs though. There won’t be a litfting of sanctions or any degree of trust. It doesn’t gain him anything.

Allahu Akbar is a bit of a catch all phrase. It doesn’t mean that the person saying it is a Jihadi. In the West there isn’t a direct equivalent but ‘Oh my god’ or’Jesus H Christ’ don’t mean you’re a Christian if you shout them out....

Most Western air forces are pretty much all PGM these days. Don’t forget that most of these nations have advanced manufacturing capabilities and have participated in wars with the US over decades. Gulf War 1 was the real turning point, Kosovo drove the point home on targetting and adverse weather capabilities. The RAF…

Longer than that the TRAM turrets were starting to be installed in the early 80’s...

SVP-24 was a very, very cheap upgrade to the Su-24. It’s just a bombing computer. It’s not some sort of super targeting system. Its the sort of thing that Western jests have had for decades. Look at the bombing capabilities of a Tornado from the early 1980’s or a Harrier with the Hughes ARB system (which from the…

If we’d put the kit in an A321 they could have cleared up. Particularly as the mision system in the MRA4 is now in the P-8. With an Airbus product you’d essentially guarantee most of Europe on board for the future. BAe were morons. Putting the kit in Nimrod guaranteed no exports at all. The entire project was a…

They seem to have the military procurement budget under control for once, see the latest NAO report for details.

They did use to use it. Particularly when BA was owned by the state.

They don’t rip out first class and reconfigure. They may book out the entire section, but they do not have to re-configure.

The interesting radar bits are all from the British division. I doubt if there is an Italian in sight...some of it is UK eyes only as well.

Something about the Giraffe on LCS?

They forgot that all of their marine GT’s were built in the Ukraine though...they have a big problem now, especially with spares. in reality they have neither the shipyard capacity or funds to replace half of what needs to be replaced. Especially in submaries. They’re already in block obsolescence and it’s only going…

He can’t deliver. The sanctions are in regard to Crimea. France would be persona non grata with a large swathe of Europe and the US.

Hopefully they’ve learned enough from the Italians and from the Vikrant to not get it wrong. If I’m honest it makes no sense to me to build another different design. Why did they not build 2 of the same type. Presumably there will be some cross-over between the systems on Vikrant and Vishal. But having 3 carriers of 3…

The French are reasonably competent. Even more so now they’ve ditched the conscription system. They also usually have a coherent doctrine and build their capabilities around that. Doesn’t always work, and sometimes they don’t have the best kit as a result of ‘not invented here’ syndrome, but it usually delivers. My…

I do remember when the idea of a European Army was being floated in the ‘90’s that the suggestion was that rather than each country having lots of different units, each country would contribute forces based on their strengths. The Germans would bein charge of tanks, the British in charge of Special Forces and…