How similar this is to (what must be current) discussions on affordability/task of CVF. If those 2 Task Forces consume £6Bn. in acquisition over 10 years, that is £200 (=£20p.a/50p. p.week) for each of 30Mn. economically-active Brits. who know they are facing 1929-style pain. Most would prefer to spend that 50p any other way.

So: tell us here why the National Interest of UK, a willing coalition partner, requires more Power Projection in 2020 than we have ever deployed.

While you’re at it, explain to unemployed septics why they need 12 CV Groups. USN (and the Imperial Japanese Navy) went to floating bases because they had no (colonial) ports from which to spring. Now US does, in willing coalition partners. Inconceivable to try to assault someplace with no nearby haven. Naval Aviation is grotesquely expensive; land-based Air can cover any invasion and convoy protection task, if so prioritised. If carriers had not yet been invented, we would not do so now.

the figures divide better than that. about 47,000,000 x £24,000 P.A which i work out as less than 25pence a week. you’d struggle to buy a bog roll on that. or is 25pence of gas going to make a difference?

and any military aviation is immensely expensive (£21bn EFA project anyone?) in terms of just unit costs of a carrier and it’s air wing. The carrier would cost 40% if not less of the total sum, before you even start on R&D

i thought that vincy and lusty had their Phalanx’s removed and replace with 3 goalkeepers? and only ark royal retained the phalanx (for unknown reasons to me MOD has 15, 4 on the T22B3, 6 on 2 carriers 1 for training.. so there are the numbers however i digress)

I’ve got more pdfs. 😀
The Navy League briefing from April 2007 says bring back weight is 4940lbs which is enough for ~1000lbs of fuel.
The JSF Range & Airspace Requirements briefing says empty weight is 29,695 lbs which is around 2500 less than those 14.5 tons (as stated in earlier reports too). Guess thats the result of the weight saving.
Of course, it remains to be seen how accurate those numbers turn out. But obviously 14.5 tons empty weight and 180 kn vertical thrust would result in very poor and imho unacceptable STOVL performance.

almost definitely, what are the prospects of future upgrades to the engine?/does the RR/GE engine produce more thrust?

Yeah, you’re right.
The problem is that the last time some shipyard worker at Sevmash ignited a cleaning cloth, all Western newspapers (and Russian news as well, to be fair) titled “Fire aboard a Russian nuclear sub”. Whereas when HMS Tiresome suffers real powerplant failure in the middle of the Med, or when USS Blind Rouge hits the bottom and maims a few crew members, no one is crying havoc.

do you mean HMS Tireless!? or is that a nickname that i’m blissfully unaware off 🙁

Any joint european CAS airplane in the a-10/su-25 class?

Any way, i would leave;

The french to build fighters
The brits, attack planes
The italian, radars….and helos
The germans maybe for weird stuff…

sod that, us brits’ll build the engines for anything and everything the rest can fight it out between themselves

the AAC have 67 (WAH-64)Apache AH.1’s not AH-1 Cobra’s
and the RN have 30odd Merlin HM.1’s aswell aswell as the RAF’s 30 odd HC.3’s, rather than all HC.3’s

and bloody hell i knew there was only a few FLynx’s to replace many more old lynx’s but i didn’t know it was that bad.

Frankly I think the likes of this are beyond Georgia right now. Mobile land based AShM’s would be a good bet along with KAAN 33 type missile boats (120 tons full load) from Turkey. Midget submarines might be useful but I cant think of anybody who makes decent ones right now.

you’ve found yourself a niche market then!! haha

Missile boat looks bloody capable.. who do you work for!? :p

i saw the red arrows take off from ncl on the monday after they did the flypast over the great north run, bloody posers walked out and timed it so they all got in an aircraft at the same time.. and i never realised they took off 3/3/4 at a time

There had to be a Sleazyjet in the pics about 4/5 of the TO/Landings are Sleazyjet or Emirates.