Well that is going to really stick in Japans craw!

Maybe the Japanese government will now be more inclined to OK the 22DDH helicopter destroyer.

Boeing To Revise Bid For U.S. Military Tanker Deal

How does that work?

If EADS so much as suggests revising the colour of the seats installed in the cockpit then the Boeing fan chorus would be up in arms about not keeping to the contract requirements!

One rule for Boeing and get stuffed for everyone else!

I almost started a thread myself about Beedalls recent post and in the end I decided not to. Whilst he used to be an excellent source frankly over the last three years the quality has dropped and these days its more “woe is me polemics and its the evil RAF’s fault”. I get a vibe that a few years back he was working on the inside when it comes to the industry (remember some of the amazing pictures he used to post!) but isn’t now. He hasn’t updates any of his information pages for two or three years and he now does a once a year overview.

As for his recent analysis whilst I agree with certain points he is also far too negative in other respects and in certain areas what he is saying doesn’t gel with what has been announced. He is dead set on the idea that QE will enter service as a helicopter carrier without CATOBAR gear despite the government and industry saying otherwise.

I agree that Harrier shouldn’t of been retired and I also agree that to a degree there was some interservice politics involved but in the end the RAF own the aircraft and retaining Harrier over Tornado would of involved more capability holidays for the RAF…no more SEAD/DEAD and Storm Shadow among other things. Also as the UK is now going CATOBAR the Harrier didn’t offer the same transferable skills.

There has been no evidence of the government trying to sell PoW and I don’t see a market for it. The navy has a few years to make its case to keep both.

In respect of the Type 26 program being a bit more frugal in scope I see that in a positive light, as far as I am concerned that means no RN gold plating and unique bloatware systems. What we will get is a ship with tried and tested off the shelf systems in a modular format which will make it far more competative on the global export market. I think that you could get alot for the suggested £260million rather then the lightly armed frigate he suggests if we go for off the shelf CMS, Sonar, Radar, missiles and gun. Anyway a helicopter with a dipping sonar is most important these days so ensure the Frigate has a hanger big enough to fit Merlin if required…as they say steel is cheap! Most importantly competative tender those systems rather then let Bae Systems dictate an untried bloatware solution.

Well if it is more modular there is no reason why a more AAW focused variant couldn’t be marketed.

Most nations don’t need the wide area defence capability required by the RN and USN when it comes to an AAW vessel.

Actually there are many nations who regard Sea Sparrow of ESSM more then adequate for their naval AAW needs.

If Bae Systems can keep the design modular enough it could happily meet the requirements for a moderate AAW frigate.

For me I see it as critical that this design is made as attractive as possible on the export market even if the RN has to compromise to a degree on gold plated capabilities. The fact is we haven’t had a decent highly exported class of ships since the Leanders which if you look carefully had all sorts of compromises that made it more attractive to global customers…in effect we need a new Leander class!

WOW! King Abdullah of Jordon has just dismissed the government and ordered true electoral reform for the country.

We are really living in momentus times this year!

Carrier programme accommodates changes

http://www.theengineer.co.uk/blog/carrier-programme-accommodates-changes/1007239.article

Things are moving quickly now, look at the size of the lower bow section! Just think that alot more is going above that, this thing is going to look huge in the Rosyth drydock!

Goliath crane also on its way to Rosyth and LB03 nearly complete from the flightdeck down.

So were Irans. Big links between Iran and Muslim Botherhood, who are fueling the fires. the US needs to reinforce its support of the Eygptian goverment or it will cost them $100 billion in defence aid to Israel and the Suez Canal

To be honest F111buff26 I suggest you do some more detailed research into Egyptian politics before making that connection.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been around longer then the modern state of Iran and they DO NOT have a close relationship. Most importantly they have a different ethnic background with the Brotherhood being Sunni and the Iranians being Shia.

The goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is to eventually form the global Caliphate whilst for devout Shias they are waiting for the twelfth Iman also known as the Mahdi who will save mankind. Shia’s would regard the imposition of a Caliphate in a very negative light! Actually both Shia and Sunnis have gone to war before over that very matter!

The most that can be said is the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt has had some limited communication with factions in Iran but they certainly wouldn’t regard them as a major source of support.

You will find that after being caught by surprise over the uprising the Brotherhood have put their dreams of the global caliphate on the back burner and clearly stated that they would be happy to participate in the democratic process and have agreed to back the secular, liberal opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei as lead spokesman for the country’s opposition groups in reform negotiations. Hardly the actions of a group fanatic mad mullahs under the control of Iran.

Lets see how things play out rather then look for non existent Iranian puppet masters.

Edit: Taken words “ethnic groups” and replaced with “Shia and Sunni” on Swerves suggestion for clarification.

Actually I just realised this must be old as the satcoms domes, Top Plate, CIWS and anchors are not installed.