i can see the whole arguement about secret systems, and i don’t doubt that Russia has plenty of projects that it won’t disclose or market.

I just wonder if a country like the UK is in the position to develop and deploy a system like the RQ170 Sentinel (recently revealed in Afghan by the US), or if all we do is make secret test aircraft that prove we can do it (like Replica) or feed systems into acknowledged programmes.

I would love to think that Taranis would lead to a secretive unit that operated (uk only aircraft) wherever the UK was engaged in a conflict.

I suppose the operation and deployment of Mantis might give some clues…

I think the range of systems that BAE has developed in that area, mainly secretly and alone, suggests that we could secretly build an RQ-170 type UAV on our own if necessary.

Isn’t there a test range for missiles in the Isles of Scily or Sheltand isles?

I think so yeah, don’t the RN go up there to test Seawolf etc? But is there a land facility up there too? Either way, I know Starstreak was tested in S.A, but that might have been a company test range or something.

so, with hook arresting, it stops in 800m?

rafale stops in 450m according to this link and not using its hook:

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/11/09/334383/flight-test-dassault-rafale-rampant-rafale.html

me thinks that, if gripen stops in 800m it would be without the hook, but still, needing that long to stop such a light aircraft it’s way too long… unless your road is covered in snow and ice, you should be able to break and stop much faster

even the mirage 2000 lands in less; 640m according to this site:

http://aviation-militaire.kazeo.com/?page=article&ida=1747034

the f-16 lands in 762m with maximum landing weight

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=133240504818

of course, the two latter are closer to the 800m claim you make, and on runways only, but still, it shows that 800m isn’t something so spectacular for a modern jet fighter, far from that

I think the 800m is actually the maximum specified distance it has to stop in. A requirement put in place to ensure it can land on roads, not the actual stopping distance with a hook.

The Royal Navy is apparently deploying RFA Largs BAy to Haiti to arrive towards the end of the month.

Considering the tragedy I guess we better stop rantings and insults. By the way there are a lot of critics around the world on how the US is managing the crisis, also the Italian PM, generally considered as a US friend made a note about it. Italy is sending his Director for Crisis (Protezione Civile) in Haiti to help. He has done very well with the last earthquake in Italy, hope he can help.

I guess the problem with US help is that they are really focused and trained to follow procedures, with a disaster like that there are no procedures mainly initiatives.

Oh well if Berlusconi is criticising the US, we better listen, it’s not like he turned up to the scene of an earthquake in Italy and made light of the situation before the dust had settled or anything…oh wait.

Personally, I think the US is doing a decent job of it. They’re also doing what no other nation really has the capability to do. The UK certainly couldn’t send 10,000 troops to perform disaster relief. Who cares if they are normally used for war, there is no indication they are in this case. It’s not like they’ve tried to deploy F22’s under the guise of helping Haiti, so it’s unlikely to be an evil underhanded invasion.

From the reports i’ve heard the Haitians are happy they’re there. When the French and whoever else is making snide comments about it decide to get up and do something instead, so the US isn’t needed, it might be a little better.

F22 FANBOY is no longer able to respond to any queries, as he has been banned.

Oh thank you sweet mod.

Fair enough, I’m just dossing round the forum looking to get a bit more educated in any case.

cheers

Don’t worry, that’s pretty much what I do, I guess I’ve just been doing it for longer.

I wish my uni library had more of the Jane’s books, it’d be so much easier.

Didn’t Pearl Harbour have shots of Kidds being blown up?

Maybe they assumed that the line “World War 2 just started” would trump any other historical inaccuracies.

Haha. Who needs fact when you’re in Hollywood.

Sounds like he wants to reform the entire military around counter insurgency and that’s it, basicaly we’d end up with an army built to fight Afganistan and an air force and navy that can do next to nothing.

That basically sounds like what the head of the army was proposing, except we’d also be able to cripple the Taliban’s economic and cyber ops :S.

If a nation has decent cyber war capabilities, chances are they aren’t just going to use them, they’ll be used in conjunction with conventional tactics (e.g Russia vs Georgia), so the idea that a counter insurgency force, backed up by cyber ops is what we need is laughable.

Head of the Navy is talking far more sense. Staying flexible.

there are 3 un-named nations running black testing at woomera au but i guess every country would have black of one sort or another

I’d assume that the British, via BAE would be one of the 3. They do all their extensive testing of UAVs there. Maybe we’ll soon have another cool UCAV to add to BAEs profile.