Dr. S – I’ve watched Kuznetsov grow from when he was a keel-block. I’m fairly certain that the Russian ingenuity in engineering skills will see the ship back and working again – you just have to be patient. Nothing happens very quickly over there – but their capacity to surprise is impressive. Please resist the temptation to call Kuznetsov ‘she’ as this is simply not correct. If you can’t bring yourself to call him ‘he’ then please refer to the vessel as ‘it’.

Why not give them to the Scottish Government to use alongside their Fisheries Protection Ships? Base them in Rosyth, Scotland pays for their upkeep, crew them with RN Volunteers of a northern descent. The RN could co-ordinate their patrols, freeing up a Type 23 or a Type 45. They stay within Scottish waters … just a thought.

‘Gorshkov’ on His way to Kronshdadt: I think you’ll find, or on Its way but not, oh deary me on Her way.

I’m with you Fed, the masts do look like those of a Type 209. I’ve compared the masts in the video with those of the other Indian boats and the Type 209 is the closest fit.

Open door

<br />
Quote Originally Posted by pilatus View Post<br />
The Russian submarine has a missile silo door open. Is this common practice when sailing in international waters?

The photo of the Delta IV SSBN with the silo door open would have been taken when it was returning to port having conducted a test fire of one of its missiles. (as TR-1 said) They do this to allow the silo to vent the noxious fumes after a rocket engine firing in such a confined space. They do NOT routinely wander around in international waters with the door open over an empty missile tube.

R

Delivery for Queen Elizabeth

Originally Posted by Jonesy

”For Reaper type UAVs likely we could buy or borrow from US inventory and deploy them to theatre, in crates, with a C-17 in a day or two. RAF can handle that.

A random thought just popped into my head. I wonder if the new carriers could take a C-130? I’m sure it’s possible, the cousins did it years ago.
the attached photoshopped image is just for fun.

As for the poor old RAF, sadly I’m sure they could very well deliver a crate or two to just about anywhere these days. It has largely become a freight haulage business, the chances of them launching anything apart from a couple of pairs of Tiffies are zero.

Royal Navy Carriers 2015

It’s interesting to see where this thread went …
A lot of talk of what is an ‘…attrition-tolerant platform…’
Well really … guess what?
Everything that flies can be shot down …
Everything that floats can be sunk …
It’s not always easy though and that’s the trick. Tactics, Intelligence, Experience, Cunning and a good deal of luck all come into it.
Remember, a war without casualties isn’t a war – it’s an argument. Deaths will occur on all sides, some of them unintentional. It’s hard, it hurts and it rarely solves the problem, but when we serve we do it anyway.
When it comes down to it we will have to fight the next fight with what we’ve got, not what we want or even what we need.

Hi Jinan,

Originally posted by Jinan
”Or it is just crustiness from painted over rust. What’s with that wire?”

I’m sure you are right about the supposed RAM covering just being another bad paint-job. And who knows what that curving wire is under the paint! It’s almost ‘Soviet Union era style’ in its untidiness.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]242724[/ATTACH]

It’s the tube on the hull that still interests me. I’m sure you’ve noticed how the similar tube on Yaroslav Mudry is a much more elegant design, lacking the obvious brackets of the original tube on Neustrashimy.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]242725[/ATTACH]