Are not these cuts being made to free up resources to purchase better communications equipment?

Given that the type 42 are all twenty years old,that’s not so much a cut as a retirement. 10,000 ‘lost’ posts are civilian.

In short this is for a more mobile, quick-reaction British force (to get to “hot-spots” in 24 hrs.); keeping with the general trend of better C4ISR between the American and BCA militaries.

PS: The Jaguar – Old Aircraft and was going to be replaced by Typhoon anyway.

So, depending on one’s point of view this is either bad news or good news; I lean towards the latter. The British Press are spinning this as a “doom and Gloom” scenario needlessly.

The problem is that you have to fight because they are committing British forces to combat or the like on a monthly basis and then stripping back the numbers. Then they commit even more and strip them back again. I have no trouble with retiring older equipment but these idiots are not going to replace them. Whats the point of two large aircraft carriers if one is in for service maintenence and there a 3 theatres of operation where they are needed?

Also the intimation that we are going to snuggle closer to the Americans is beginning to make me feel ill. Don’t get me wrong I have no problems working with the Americans or anybody else. Hell I don’t even mind British forces being commanded by local cheifs but we are a free and independant nation, not a subsidiary of the United States or anybody else. It seems to me that the British government are doing all they can to seed (spelling?) all of their responsibilities to others because they are either too stupid, too lazy or too ambitious (or all three) to get their heads down, do their jobs and govern this f***ing country as they are paid and elected to do. Otherwise get out out and let somebody else do it. I look forward to the next general election.

Flight Daily News – 20th July, 2004

From: “Situation Awareness in Air Combat”

Phil, you’d better hope the Tories don’t get in: the only parts of the recent spending plan they have agreed to keep in place are for health and education. So you can strike the £3.9 billion increase allocated to defense for 2008 straight away.

By the way, why do you blame the elected government for the farce that surrounds major project procurement?

Best regards

Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News

Elected yes but they can be unelected. I am blaming them for their management of these procurements to date you can’t say they have had no influence. As for the Tories. Yes I reckon you are right they are all as bad as each other. I certainly don’t want the right wing bunny boilers in either so in that respect I’d say we could be in trouble because all any government wants to do these days is stretch the lads and lasses to the very limit of their capabilities and then strip them out. They seem to want to turn the UK armed forces into a smaller, watered down version of the US armed forces and then make them subordinate to them.

Now I have issues with the way the US organises and trains their forces because I think it is wasteful and sometimes ineffectual. They rely almost purely on technology and sheer weight of numbers. That is something the British cannot afford to do. Yes we have the technology but not the numbers, we have to be able to punch above our weight and this white paper, at first glance, does not seem to address any real issues. We have few enough vessels in the navy, few enough boots on the ground and few enough aircraft in the air force, yet here are the government committing them to new threats on an almost monthly basis whilst stripping them to the bone. Hence my quip about criminal incompetence.

If you mean how good are the pilots then they range from ace to complete novice, just like in real life. Playing online can be frustrating, gratifying, a little scary (beleive it or not because sometime you find your heart pounding) and sometimes it looks like you are deep inside some WW2 air combat movie. Sometimes though it can suck, thats VERY rare though. Mate I’d say you’ll love it but its best with an online squad.

So if not for the French, we’d still be speaking… English. If not for the USA, the French would today be speaking… German, eating sauerkraut instead of cheese, and saluting each other “Heil Hitler”.

I’d say they owe us a hell of a lot more than we owe them.

Ah. I recognise that. Its the yankee dollar speach that is. 😀

Incognito said:
“I’d like some supporting documentation, please.”

Why? You won’t read it. Anyway you lazy git get off your arse and go and read some books about it. Google it, go to the library or the bookshop and study it. The problem with that is that you would first have to be interested in the subject and all you are interested in is insulting people.

Incognito said:
“I don’t know how many he had, but the number of French troops who landed in Normandy was something in the neighborhood of 12. The “Free French” played virtually no role in the liberation of France, except turning their noses at the British vintages and cooking while taking a 4 year break from war in Britain.”

Sorry to burst your bubble but thats only true in American primary school history books which it sometimes seems is all some Americans ever have to do with the subject of history.

bring it on. Sorry mate I will get back on topic but this bloke has got ‘target’ written all over him.

Was there not a single-pilot, delta-winged version of the ADV Tornado planned?
I remember seeing a pic.

fightingirish

Yes its called the Eurofighter Typhoon!