Think Defence hopes to start sensible conversations about UK defence issues, no agenda or no campaign but there might be one or two posts on containers, bridges and mexeflotes!
Chris b works for everyone apart from the forces why are we always the hornets nest you can poke with impunity?
Chris.B.
@ X
You would definitely have to start with normal typeface, upgrade to italic, upgrade to underline, then bold, the start combining them.
@ APATS
“Chris b works for everyone apart from the forces why are we always the hornets nest you can poke with impunity?”
I’ll be honest, that didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Jackstaff
Chris B.
We’re happy to support regional cottage industries within the larger whole. Would you perhaps consider Vinnie Jones a grant-in-aid?
X,
Well I would hate to see the proper British axe handle go the way of Avro or Ferranti.
APATS,
Swap RIC for RAF Regt squadron to MPA just as you said. C2 doesn’t like the soil stability down there, but park 1 RIFLES down there the rest of the year along with a battery of AS90 in Stanley (mobile coastal artillery?) Fly down a Harpoon set for Dauntless, test and prove on active service. If there are twelve FGR4 rated Tiffs in service bung ‘em all down there. Spearhead to do at least one deployment excercise in those six months.
Jackstaff
Also permanent SSN accompaniment for Dauntless and Clyde. Maybe even deploy the RM company from SFSG as counter-infiltration, there’s berths for them on both ships.
All Politicians are the Same
Chris B, we should all turn the other cheek to Argentina, forget the losses and the sacrifices made, They continue to prod yet posters on here say, ogh dont annoy anyone one. Why should we bed the only ones allowed to be annoyed?
Chris.B.
@ APATS
Argentina wants to provoke a reaction. They want us to get all up in arms about it. They want political attention and they want people to sympathise with them.
If you respond then you’re playing into their hands. Ignoring them is the best thing we can do.
All Politicians are the Same
Chris B, Cheers Neville.
Chris.B.
So what would you rather do?
Make a big hurrah about it in the press, have the Prime Minister go on TV and tell the Olympic committee he wants them banned immediately, pass a new edict denying Argentines of any form access to the UK.
Congratulations, it’ll be on every TV news station from here to Singapore, giving Christina the opportunity to come out on TV and spout her bollocks about how the evil colonial British talk about freedom of speech while suppressing anything that casts them in a bad light, and trying to use their political weight to deny the free and wonderful athletes of Argentina from competing in the games in London, just like the UK stops Argentina from settling on its own home territory etc, and more of her usual bullshit.
It’d be a media storm that would absolutely play into her hands.
If you want to send a reinforcement to the Garrison “on regular scheduled exercise” then by all means, but don’t do their political work for them.
ArmChairCivvy
RE ” “on regular scheduled exercise”
- wasn’t the regular roulement a clear enough message, the next company being from the Para of Mt. Longdon fame
James
re pick helves,
yes, better than baseball bats. I recall as a Trooper in Catterick in early 1984 doing guard duty with one. Nice solid piece of wood (ash? never very good at my wood recognition), with metal head. A bit more meaty than a baseball bat anyway. Also good for herding sheep that get into the barracks through a broken fence, although any professional collie dog would have been laughing at the general ineptness of the barrack guard attempting to round up half a dozen sheep. Keystone Kops.
I’m pretty sure that the pressure for WPP to sell off their Argie advertising agency subordinate will prove irresistible.
paul g
pick helves are awesome, late 80′s they found maps of arborfield in an IRA owned car in london. So just in case we doubled the guard so more pick helves and we never got hit, what a secret weapon!!
@chris b in my earlier comment i should’ve been clearer, it’s only the fucktard that was in the advert that i would like to see taken off the bus, and that decision to be taken independantly by the IOC with no demand from us as he has clearly broken rules on using the games for political means. In the meantime i look forward to the creative minds of the forces doctoring/spoofing that video, even now i can see someone using CGI to place a huge cock underneath matey in the squats on the benches bit outside the pub!!!
James
I’m just wondering whether a British film crew on a civvy boat might be in position to get a 90 second clip of an SSN sailing by on the surface in front of a clearly identifiable Buenos Aires? Rent the boat in Uruguay just over the water, quick bit of filming, sub dives and is out of reach to Carlos Fandango, and film crew scarper with the turbo engaged.
I can just see the closing headline: “To protect British territory, we train in foreign waters“, with a fluttering union jack.
wf
@James: excellent idea. Why not send some Falklands vets to BA in Para/Commando T shirts, have them run in formation past the Presidential Palace for a week, shouting “The Falklands are British, bitch” in Spanish?
Hope I don’t break anything by posting here before TD announces he’s done with the housekeeping. And I also hope that this isn’t covering old ground. I couldn’t find an earlier mention, but that proves nothing.
The Times has had two reports in the last fortnight (28/4 and 7/5) relating to the mass killing at Batang Kali in now-Malaya by a patrol from the Scots Guards on 12 December 1948. Apparently the reason for this being deemed newsworthy again is that the High Court will be hearing a request to open a formal judicial inquiry into the events this Tuesday.
Is it still you TD? Am worried its a hostile take over by PTT. Any way, glad you are back. I was worried I had lost an outlet for my rants. After all, who else would have me?
martin
Interesting Article today in Telegraph about cap badges.
Despite the fact I can’t stand the people he works for Hammond seems to be doing a decent job so far of trying to bring sanity to the MOD. It really seem’s Cameron is a terrible meddelor who see’s the MOD as nothing more than a political football. Now he can no longer use it to beat the last government over the head he is loosing interest. This would be fine if he did not share the same political bias as former labour leaders for bombing people and deploying ground forces.
Some good news perhaps in the article about Philip Hammond? He does warn that the Armed Forces have been cut “as far as it is prudent to do so.” He also insists that, despite the fact that George Osborne has warned that another two years of austerity is needed to hit targets for reducing the deficit, defence is a department that will be shielded from any further reductions.
I don’t know whether I am being naively optimistic or clutching at straws or whatever the expression is and people might think that what I am about to say is either bonkers or not even of the slightest importance. However, here goes!
Mr. Hammond talks of Army reductions, saying “Clearly the Army can’t get smaller by 17 per cent without losing some units”. However, the figures quoted in the article talk about manpower shrinking “from 102,000 to 82,000”.
Now, by my calculations, if you take away 17 per cent from 102,000, you are left with 84,660. Could it be then that we shall be left with 2,500 more troops than the 82,000 generally bandied about in these discussions? Just a thought but an extra two and a half thousand troops is quite valuable (3 infantry regiments?). Or was Mr Hammond talking in very general figures?
Interesting stuff, don’t think you are bonkers at all but you know what they say about politicians!
Mike W
TD
Thanks for the reply.
“but you know what they say about politicians!”. Yes, I do. Only too well!
martin
I doubt Phil the Spread sheet talks in general figures. I am also interested in what they talk about the Armies logistic footprint and tail to teeth ratio. I can’t really figure out if this means that the army will have less infantry and armour and more engineers and logistics or if as Cameron seeks to avoid any political fall out we are going to keep the same numbers of front line forces at the expence of the backbone.
Yes, an army composed of Hulk, I don’t know if this entering in the budget of Mr. Hammond.
Jackstaff
TD,
Welcome back, boss! I had started getting twitchy and started seeing ISO containers where there weren’t any….
Ali,
Thunderbirds are go! Always thought SHIELD has done a fair amount of naked R and D theft from their elder British counterparts….
Martin and Mike W,
I am on similar grounds to martin’s ready to root for Spreadsheet Phil if he’s actually willing to put the case for why you can’t get any more blood out of the MoD stone than what he’s suggesting (I’m alright with seeing an 85k Army but you really can’t cut below that, I’ve kept bumping against the number in fag-packet maths for a while now.) And since Nick Carter’s report has gone missing (presumably it’s completely unpalatable to the higher ups, who see MoD as an easy source of cuts to keep from either slicing into the “corn dole” that keeps relative peace on the estates so the financial sector can get on with making loadsamoney, or actually try to — horrors — fix the economy) it’s good to see something from his civilian boss on the matter.
Ali
Ever wondered why numbers are being reduced?
It’s to create a number of Hulks for the army that are ‘fitted but not fitted with’ with a parachute by BAE…
Does anyone know what has happened to Carter’s report?
Jackstaff
Ali,
Carter has a (generally deserved) reputation for unpalatable honesty in his opinions. I expect offering up a report, whatever it may hold, that isn’t a fudge available to be remolded as needed by the pollies has been, erm, inconvenient. Especially since no one except Spreadsheet Phil seems even to have suggestions on the political side, and the big boss men on the sofa (Dave and George) really don’t give a flying copulation, they’re just juggling budget numbers to make Britain once again a land fit for bankers to live in while saving some social-program sweets to dole out in the election budget down the line.
Jackstaff – “I’m alright with seeing an 85k Army but you really can’t cut below that, I’ve kept bumping against the number in fag-packet maths for a while now.”
I can only presume the MoD planners came to the same conclusion eighteen months ago, as for all the horror stories the only consistent number that has been touted is the 82,000-85,000 range.
Simon
TD,
I really miss the “comments” page. The RSS feed only shows the commenter and the thread name, not the first bits of the comment. At least, this is the case with Firefox.
Also, the feedburner RSS page seems to lag quite a bit.
Simon
TD,
Your “time of post” is an hour out.
ArmChairCivvy
0.6% of Canada’as active strength is reservists rotating through Regular units, on a fixed term:
Primary Reserve Class C are considered equivalent to the Regular Force personnel as they are entitled to equivalent pay, benefits and liability as a Regular Force member.
■Primary Reserve Class C is calculated as person year. For example, two Primary Reservists on Class C service for six months would count as one military FTE.
Mike W
I hope that I have chosen the right post/thread for this and that someone responds!
I don’t know whether I am late or early with this news. Probably it has been posted and discussed elsewhere.
I was just browsing earlier and cme across a something that I think might be interesting. Apparently BAE has unveiled a concept for a new 17-tonne tracked reconnaissance vehicle called the CV21. It is very much still in the development phase and I could find only one image but from that, it looks as if it might very well derive from the CVR(T) series.
It would seem to me that BAE has found a niche in military markets that has not been filled. It could even fill the British Army’s need for a light tracked recce vehicle and eventually FRES SV etc. could be transferred to become a Warrior successor. You could Google it and see what you think. I don’t think it’s on the official BAE site yet.
Mike, yes, saw that earlier in the week, interesting
Looks like a version of CVR(T) 2
Hugh
So, Queen Sofia of Spain (I know, I had to check Wikipedia too) is cancelling her trip to London for celebration’s of HMTQ’s Jubilee because of Gibraltar and because Prince Edward and his missus are visiting Gibraltar for Jubilee celebrations. Admittedly, having those two turn up would be worth a bit of a protest, but it has a slight flavour of that mad Argie woman about it. That, or Spain can’t afford the £30 Ryan Air ticket to send her over.
So, rather than embarrass HMTQ by leaving a seat empty at the Jubilee dinner, who do we think should be given Queen Sofia’s place – obviously someone who represents the UK’s love of Spain and with an appropriate level of gravitas.
Andrew Sachs?
wf
@Hugh: “Andrew Sachs?” Oooh, you are awful. But I like you
x
@ Hugh
I don’t know how familiar you are with Spanish border disputes but along with their own two “Gibraltars” on the North Africa they also have trouble with Portugal. They seized Olivenza in 1801 nearly 100 years after we took Gib. It isn’t a small 3 square miles of rock either but a healthy 200 square miles of decent (for the region) farm land. The dispute is only rarely mentioned in diplomatic exchanges between the two states. But it is a prime example of a Spanish state saying one thing and doing another.
Mike W
I don’t know whether any of you have seen the latest article on defence in today’s “Telegraph”. In it Thomas Harding talks about the latest revelations concerning the future of the British Army. For all I know it might be one more alarmist article about how things might go for the Army but Harding is the Defence Correspondent of the paper and will probably have contacts within the Army and MOD.
In the article he states that the Army’s infantry will be cut by around five battalions (contrary to what has generally been believed so far i.e. ten or eleven – my words). He goes on to say that a further 17,500 jobs will be cut, predominantly from the Logistics troops, Engineers and Artillery. That will in turn mean that the Army will have to rely for support on private companies, Territorial Army reservists and foreign armies.
The ides is that the RLC will be cut by at least a third, reducing the force by as much as a third to below 11,000 men. The Engineers and Artillery will be reduced by a third to about 5,000 men each, with the majority of the Artillery’s heavy weapons (AS90 and MLRS?) turned over to the TA.
Serious criticism has already been made of the move, which military commanders say will create an “unbalanced force” that will rely on a “just in time “ supply tactic for campaigns. Some Logistics officers have described the move as resulting from David Cameron’s attempt to avoid the political consequences of scrapping famous regiments and cap badges. One said that the idea to make the Army top-heavy in infantry was “bonkers” and I completely agree. The loss of Engineers in particular will be felt in combat areas. This is serious and if it is true, we might as well do away with the Army completely! It will be imbalanced in the extreme. Any reductions should have been carried out in proportion.
If the CSS functions are going to be sliced in order to preserve historic regiments and the illusion of numbers then this is nothing short of a re run of Options for Change and Frontline First, a reorganisation the Army has been rowing back from constantly since it happened.
Mike W
You did, TD! You did! (bows in homage). And it looks as if you might be proven absolutely right. I fervently hope, though, that what what was outlined in the “Telegraph” article does not come to pass but fear the worst.
Gareth Jones
@ Mike W – RE:CV21. Very interesting – “The CV21 has its roots in the CVR(T) family, but MacKenzie said it is a new design for a vehicle that is bigger, longer, heavier and wider than its predecessor.” Could it be related to the Stormer family?
RE: Army cuts. Surely the logical path would be to retain the specialist support roles/functions as full-time army as they are required in nearly every mission ranging from peace-keeping to peer war and make the infantry TA, with significant training facilities retained if we need to increase their numbers suddenly?
The training facilities would have the added benefit of supporting TD’s forward presence/training strategy…
Mike W
@Gareth Jones
Yes, I wondered whether it could be related to the Stormer family. I don’t know how many wheels the Stormer has and at the moment can’t check (no images!) I think Stormer is lighter than the new vehicle, though, being only about 13 or 14 tonnes.
Gareth, I can’t really go along with your second paragraph about making the Infantry (wholly?) TA. Can you imagine the public outcry there would be for a start:- “Sending out part-time boys out there to die … etc. etc.”
ArmChairCivvy
Stormer?
- this one CVR(T)2 + 5 tonnes on top
- if you look at the images, looks like a cross between, is it Scimitar2 , and the aborted GCV offering, with lots of antennae still on top?
paul g
having served from ’83-05 and watched the logistics being decimated, i say bring it on! Then we can sit back and watch the shit storm whip up. It cause a lot more problems than losing a capbadge. It’s been said on here by others about the “spanner spinners” but it’s the RLC who drive the convoys, load the convoys. REME fix the trucks, drive when sort provide the recovery. I could go on we all know the job the RE do to clear/fix/bridge the road.
Surprise surprise we ARE getting killed because we don’t sit behind the wire and eat pizza, many of my friends have done 7+ tours in the last 10 years, loggies are always the ones with a chestful on rememberance day. This absolute load of bollocks is because these decisions are made in the old boys drinking club by wanking old farts wearing brandy stained regimental ties, not enough corp men get in the higher corridors of power.
We spent 3 days going back in convoy to get CH2 spares because the civvys who were doing repairs under contract wouldn’t come into iraq in the early days. Find me a civvy that will lift a pack at death o’clock in the morning when it’s snowing in the middle of nowhere (unless you pay him a large fortune) and that’s just on exercise, let alone on a 2 way range!!
Overwork who’s left and they’re not stupid, they’ll let you know with their boots and you’ve just wasted 2/3 years training that guy, what a tossing, short sighted,spineless, scaredy cat crock of shit! (IMHO)
Gareth Jones
@ Mike W – True… but how do we square this circle? As you and TD pointed out above, cutting the tail to save cap badges may be more acceptable PR but could lead to serious problems…
Possibly answering my own question, the CV21 has six road wheels, the CVR(T) 5… although the Stormer 30 also has 6…
All Politicians are the Same
We could stop invading and occupying countries for dubious benefits.
ArmChairCivvy
Well said, paul g!
- hurrying back to the final
ArmChairCivvy
Hi GJ,
Isn’t the new one 19t and this
Weight
13,000 kg
is probably the empty weight, from your link?
ArmChairCivvy
Protection?
Ceramics (light), and more belly armour?
- 5t can achieve a lot
- the passenger? Has a little kite to fly?
Mike W
@Gareth Jones
“True… but how do we square this circle? As you and TD pointed out above, cutting the tail to save cap badges may be more acceptable PR but could lead to serious problems…”
I don’t think we can square the circle, Gareth, unless we keep a bigger Army. It’s as simple as that. And given the economic and financial mess we’re in, thanks to the previous administration, that is highly unlikely to happen.
@paul g
“What a tossing, short sighted,spineless, scaredy cat crock of shit! (IMHO)”
Now, come on, paul, no need to be so mealy-mouthed. What do you really think? Actually you’re 100% correct. When you say, “Overwork who’s left and they’re not stupid, they’ll let you know with their boots and you’ve just wasted 2/3 years training that guy”, that’s spot on! But then, would the politicians, the MOD civil servants or even the top brass ask someone like yourself who’s actually been at the workface? No, of course not.
Chris b works for everyone apart from the forces why are we always the hornets nest you can poke with impunity?
@ X
You would definitely have to start with normal typeface, upgrade to italic, upgrade to underline, then bold, the start combining them.
@ APATS
“Chris b works for everyone apart from the forces why are we always the hornets nest you can poke with impunity?”
I’ll be honest, that didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Chris B.
We’re happy to support regional cottage industries within the larger whole. Would you perhaps consider Vinnie Jones a grant-in-aid?
X,
Well I would hate to see the proper British axe handle go the way of Avro or Ferranti.
APATS,
Swap RIC for RAF Regt squadron to MPA just as you said. C2 doesn’t like the soil stability down there, but park 1 RIFLES down there the rest of the year along with a battery of AS90 in Stanley (mobile coastal artillery?) Fly down a Harpoon set for Dauntless, test and prove on active service. If there are twelve FGR4 rated Tiffs in service bung ‘em all down there. Spearhead to do at least one deployment excercise in those six months.
Also permanent SSN accompaniment for Dauntless and Clyde. Maybe even deploy the RM company from SFSG as counter-infiltration, there’s berths for them on both ships.
Chris B, we should all turn the other cheek to Argentina, forget the losses and the sacrifices made, They continue to prod yet posters on here say, ogh dont annoy anyone one. Why should we bed the only ones allowed to be annoyed?
@ APATS
Argentina wants to provoke a reaction. They want us to get all up in arms about it. They want political attention and they want people to sympathise with them.
If you respond then you’re playing into their hands. Ignoring them is the best thing we can do.
Chris B, Cheers Neville.
So what would you rather do?
Make a big hurrah about it in the press, have the Prime Minister go on TV and tell the Olympic committee he wants them banned immediately, pass a new edict denying Argentines of any form access to the UK.
Congratulations, it’ll be on every TV news station from here to Singapore, giving Christina the opportunity to come out on TV and spout her bollocks about how the evil colonial British talk about freedom of speech while suppressing anything that casts them in a bad light, and trying to use their political weight to deny the free and wonderful athletes of Argentina from competing in the games in London, just like the UK stops Argentina from settling on its own home territory etc, and more of her usual bullshit.
It’d be a media storm that would absolutely play into her hands.
If you want to send a reinforcement to the Garrison “on regular scheduled exercise” then by all means, but don’t do their political work for them.
RE ” “on regular scheduled exercise”
- wasn’t the regular roulement a clear enough message, the next company being from the Para of Mt. Longdon fame
re pick helves,
yes, better than baseball bats. I recall as a Trooper in Catterick in early 1984 doing guard duty with one. Nice solid piece of wood (ash? never very good at my wood recognition), with metal head. A bit more meaty than a baseball bat anyway. Also good for herding sheep that get into the barracks through a broken fence, although any professional collie dog would have been laughing at the general ineptness of the barrack guard attempting to round up half a dozen sheep. Keystone Kops.
I’m pretty sure that the pressure for WPP to sell off their Argie advertising agency subordinate will prove irresistible.
pick helves are awesome, late 80′s they found maps of arborfield in an IRA owned car in london. So just in case we doubled the guard so more pick helves and we never got hit, what a secret weapon!!
@chris b in my earlier comment i should’ve been clearer, it’s only the fucktard that was in the advert that i would like to see taken off the bus, and that decision to be taken independantly by the IOC with no demand from us as he has clearly broken rules on using the games for political means. In the meantime i look forward to the creative minds of the forces doctoring/spoofing that video, even now i can see someone using CGI to place a huge cock underneath matey in the squats on the benches bit outside the pub!!!
I’m just wondering whether a British film crew on a civvy boat might be in position to get a 90 second clip of an SSN sailing by on the surface in front of a clearly identifiable Buenos Aires? Rent the boat in Uruguay just over the water, quick bit of filming, sub dives and is out of reach to Carlos Fandango, and film crew scarper with the turbo engaged.
I can just see the closing headline: “To protect British territory, we train in foreign waters“, with a fluttering union jack.
@James: excellent idea. Why not send some Falklands vets to BA in Para/Commando T shirts, have them run in formation past the Presidential Palace for a week, shouting “The Falklands are British, bitch” in Spanish?
More problems with the F22 fleet.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/some-f-22-pilots-decline-to-fly-371339/
Hope I don’t break anything by posting here before TD announces he’s done with the housekeeping. And I also hope that this isn’t covering old ground. I couldn’t find an earlier mention, but that proves nothing.
The Times has had two reports in the last fortnight (28/4 and 7/5) relating to the mass killing at Batang Kali in now-Malaya by a patrol from the Scots Guards on 12 December 1948. Apparently the reason for this being deemed newsworthy again is that the High Court will be hearing a request to open a formal judicial inquiry into the events this Tuesday.
The Times stories are easily found if you are willing to money into Mr Murdoch’s pocket. If not, the Observer has a story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/06/britain-batang-kali-massacre-malaysia and there’s an older – but substantially similar – story from the Daily Mail here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2136559/Ruling-Britains-My-Lai-historic-killings-compared-Vietnam-massacre.html I’d imagine there will be more to come in the next few days, especially if the court orders an inquiry.
Is it still you TD? Am worried its a hostile take over by PTT. Any way, glad you are back. I was worried I had lost an outlet for my rants. After all, who else would have me?
Interesting Article today in Telegraph about cap badges.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9250905/Regiments-with-Commonwealth-recruits-face-being-wiped-out.html
Despite the fact I can’t stand the people he works for Hammond seems to be doing a decent job so far of trying to bring sanity to the MOD. It really seem’s Cameron is a terrible meddelor who see’s the MOD as nothing more than a political football. Now he can no longer use it to beat the last government over the head he is loosing interest. This would be fine if he did not share the same political bias as former labour leaders for bombing people and deploying ground forces.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9250879/Defence-Secretary-Philip-Hammond-a-business-brain-to-reshape-our-Forces.html
Some good news perhaps in the article about Philip Hammond? He does warn that the Armed Forces have been cut “as far as it is prudent to do so.” He also insists that, despite the fact that George Osborne has warned that another two years of austerity is needed to hit targets for reducing the deficit, defence is a department that will be shielded from any further reductions.
I don’t know whether I am being naively optimistic or clutching at straws or whatever the expression is and people might think that what I am about to say is either bonkers or not even of the slightest importance. However, here goes!
Mr. Hammond talks of Army reductions, saying “Clearly the Army can’t get smaller by 17 per cent without losing some units”. However, the figures quoted in the article talk about manpower shrinking “from 102,000 to 82,000”.
Now, by my calculations, if you take away 17 per cent from 102,000, you are left with 84,660. Could it be then that we shall be left with 2,500 more troops than the 82,000 generally bandied about in these discussions? Just a thought but an extra two and a half thousand troops is quite valuable (3 infantry regiments?). Or was Mr Hammond talking in very general figures?
Interesting stuff, don’t think you are bonkers at all but you know what they say about politicians!
TD
Thanks for the reply.
“but you know what they say about politicians!”. Yes, I do. Only too well!
I doubt Phil the Spread sheet talks in general figures. I am also interested in what they talk about the Armies logistic footprint and tail to teeth ratio. I can’t really figure out if this means that the army will have less infantry and armour and more engineers and logistics or if as Cameron seeks to avoid any political fall out we are going to keep the same numbers of front line forces at the expence of the backbone.
Dave B is the answer….
So it can work on this:
http://thehollywoodgarage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Avengers.png
Awesome film!
I wonder if we can create the Hulk…
Yes, an army composed of Hulk, I don’t know if this entering in the budget of Mr. Hammond.
TD,
Welcome back, boss! I had started getting twitchy and started seeing ISO containers where there weren’t any….
Ali,
Thunderbirds are go! Always thought SHIELD has done a fair amount of naked R and D theft from their elder British counterparts….
Martin and Mike W,
I am on similar grounds to martin’s ready to root for Spreadsheet Phil if he’s actually willing to put the case for why you can’t get any more blood out of the MoD stone than what he’s suggesting (I’m alright with seeing an 85k Army but you really can’t cut below that, I’ve kept bumping against the number in fag-packet maths for a while now.) And since Nick Carter’s report has gone missing (presumably it’s completely unpalatable to the higher ups, who see MoD as an easy source of cuts to keep from either slicing into the “corn dole” that keeps relative peace on the estates so the financial sector can get on with making loadsamoney, or actually try to — horrors — fix the economy) it’s good to see something from his civilian boss on the matter.
Ever wondered why numbers are being reduced?
It’s to create a number of Hulks for the army that are ‘fitted but not fitted with’ with a parachute by BAE…
Does anyone know what has happened to Carter’s report?
Ali,
Carter has a (generally deserved) reputation for unpalatable honesty in his opinions. I expect offering up a report, whatever it may hold, that isn’t a fudge available to be remolded as needed by the pollies has been, erm, inconvenient. Especially since no one except Spreadsheet Phil seems even to have suggestions on the political side, and the big boss men on the sofa (Dave and George) really don’t give a flying copulation, they’re just juggling budget numbers to make Britain once again a land fit for bankers to live in while saving some social-program sweets to dole out in the election budget down the line.
Jackstaff – “I’m alright with seeing an 85k Army but you really can’t cut below that, I’ve kept bumping against the number in fag-packet maths for a while now.”
I can only presume the MoD planners came to the same conclusion eighteen months ago, as for all the horror stories the only consistent number that has been touted is the 82,000-85,000 range.
TD,
I really miss the “comments” page. The RSS feed only shows the commenter and the thread name, not the first bits of the comment. At least, this is the case with Firefox.
Also, the feedburner RSS page seems to lag quite a bit.
TD,
Your “time of post” is an hour out.
0.6% of Canada’as active strength is reservists rotating through Regular units, on a fixed term:
Primary Reserve Class C are considered equivalent to the Regular Force personnel as they are entitled to equivalent pay, benefits and liability as a Regular Force member.
■Primary Reserve Class C is calculated as person year. For example, two Primary Reservists on Class C service for six months would count as one military FTE.
I hope that I have chosen the right post/thread for this and that someone responds!
I don’t know whether I am late or early with this news. Probably it has been posted and discussed elsewhere.
I was just browsing earlier and cme across a something that I think might be interesting. Apparently BAE has unveiled a concept for a new 17-tonne tracked reconnaissance vehicle called the CV21. It is very much still in the development phase and I could find only one image but from that, it looks as if it might very well derive from the CVR(T) series.
It would seem to me that BAE has found a niche in military markets that has not been filled. It could even fill the British Army’s need for a light tracked recce vehicle and eventually FRES SV etc. could be transferred to become a Warrior successor. You could Google it and see what you think. I don’t think it’s on the official BAE site yet.
Mike, yes, saw that earlier in the week, interesting
Looks like a version of CVR(T) 2
So, Queen Sofia of Spain (I know, I had to check Wikipedia too) is cancelling her trip to London for celebration’s of HMTQ’s Jubilee because of Gibraltar and because Prince Edward and his missus are visiting Gibraltar for Jubilee celebrations. Admittedly, having those two turn up would be worth a bit of a protest, but it has a slight flavour of that mad Argie woman about it. That, or Spain can’t afford the £30 Ryan Air ticket to send her over.
So, rather than embarrass HMTQ by leaving a seat empty at the Jubilee dinner, who do we think should be given Queen Sofia’s place – obviously someone who represents the UK’s love of Spain and with an appropriate level of gravitas.
Andrew Sachs?
@Hugh: “Andrew Sachs?” Oooh, you are awful. But I like you
@ Hugh
I don’t know how familiar you are with Spanish border disputes but along with their own two “Gibraltars” on the North Africa they also have trouble with Portugal. They seized Olivenza in 1801 nearly 100 years after we took Gib. It isn’t a small 3 square miles of rock either but a healthy 200 square miles of decent (for the region) farm land. The dispute is only rarely mentioned in diplomatic exchanges between the two states. But it is a prime example of a Spanish state saying one thing and doing another.
I don’t know whether any of you have seen the latest article on defence in today’s “Telegraph”. In it Thomas Harding talks about the latest revelations concerning the future of the British Army. For all I know it might be one more alarmist article about how things might go for the Army but Harding is the Defence Correspondent of the paper and will probably have contacts within the Army and MOD.
In the article he states that the Army’s infantry will be cut by around five battalions (contrary to what has generally been believed so far i.e. ten or eleven – my words). He goes on to say that a further 17,500 jobs will be cut, predominantly from the Logistics troops, Engineers and Artillery. That will in turn mean that the Army will have to rely for support on private companies, Territorial Army reservists and foreign armies.
The ides is that the RLC will be cut by at least a third, reducing the force by as much as a third to below 11,000 men. The Engineers and Artillery will be reduced by a third to about 5,000 men each, with the majority of the Artillery’s heavy weapons (AS90 and MLRS?) turned over to the TA.
Serious criticism has already been made of the move, which military commanders say will create an “unbalanced force” that will rely on a “just in time “ supply tactic for campaigns. Some Logistics officers have described the move as resulting from David Cameron’s attempt to avoid the political consequences of scrapping famous regiments and cap badges. One said that the idea to make the Army top-heavy in infantry was “bonkers” and I completely agree. The loss of Engineers in particular will be felt in combat areas. This is serious and if it is true, we might as well do away with the Army completely! It will be imbalanced in the extreme. Any reductions should have been carried out in proportion.
Mike, I might be approaching another ‘told you so’ moment, as sad as it is.
http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2012/01/multi-role-brigades/
http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2012/03/agile-warrior-and-the-future-of-the-british-army/
Who said this…
If the CSS functions are going to be sliced in order to preserve historic regiments and the illusion of numbers then this is nothing short of a re run of Options for Change and Frontline First, a reorganisation the Army has been rowing back from constantly since it happened.
You did, TD! You did! (bows in homage). And it looks as if you might be proven absolutely right. I fervently hope, though, that what what was outlined in the “Telegraph” article does not come to pass but fear the worst.
@ Mike W – RE:CV21. Very interesting – “The CV21 has its roots in the CVR(T) family, but MacKenzie said it is a new design for a vehicle that is bigger, longer, heavier and wider than its predecessor.” Could it be related to the Stormer family?
RE: Army cuts. Surely the logical path would be to retain the specialist support roles/functions as full-time army as they are required in nearly every mission ranging from peace-keeping to peer war and make the infantry TA, with significant training facilities retained if we need to increase their numbers suddenly?
The training facilities would have the added benefit of supporting TD’s forward presence/training strategy…
@Gareth Jones
Yes, I wondered whether it could be related to the Stormer family. I don’t know how many wheels the Stormer has and at the moment can’t check (no images!) I think Stormer is lighter than the new vehicle, though, being only about 13 or 14 tonnes.
Gareth, I can’t really go along with your second paragraph about making the Infantry (wholly?) TA. Can you imagine the public outcry there would be for a start:- “Sending out part-time boys out there to die … etc. etc.”
Stormer?
- this one CVR(T)2 + 5 tonnes on top
- if you look at the images, looks like a cross between, is it Scimitar2 , and the aborted GCV offering, with lots of antennae still on top?
having served from ’83-05 and watched the logistics being decimated, i say bring it on! Then we can sit back and watch the shit storm whip up. It cause a lot more problems than losing a capbadge. It’s been said on here by others about the “spanner spinners” but it’s the RLC who drive the convoys, load the convoys. REME fix the trucks, drive when sort provide the recovery. I could go on we all know the job the RE do to clear/fix/bridge the road.
Surprise surprise we ARE getting killed because we don’t sit behind the wire and eat pizza, many of my friends have done 7+ tours in the last 10 years, loggies are always the ones with a chestful on rememberance day. This absolute load of bollocks is because these decisions are made in the old boys drinking club by wanking old farts wearing brandy stained regimental ties, not enough corp men get in the higher corridors of power.
We spent 3 days going back in convoy to get CH2 spares because the civvys who were doing repairs under contract wouldn’t come into iraq in the early days. Find me a civvy that will lift a pack at death o’clock in the morning when it’s snowing in the middle of nowhere (unless you pay him a large fortune) and that’s just on exercise, let alone on a 2 way range!!
Overwork who’s left and they’re not stupid, they’ll let you know with their boots and you’ve just wasted 2/3 years training that guy, what a tossing, short sighted,spineless, scaredy cat crock of shit! (IMHO)
@ Mike W – True… but how do we square this circle? As you and TD pointed out above, cutting the tail to save cap badges may be more acceptable PR but could lead to serious problems…
@ ACC – If its a CVR(T)2 where has the extra 5 tons come from?
http://www.armyrecognition.com/united_kingdom_british_army_light_armoured_vehicle/scimitar_mk_2_mk2_mark_ii_cvrt_technical_data_sheet_description_information_specifications_pictures.html
Possibly answering my own question, the CV21 has six road wheels, the CVR(T) 5… although the Stormer 30 also has 6…
We could stop invading and occupying countries for dubious benefits.
Well said, paul g!
- hurrying back to the final
Hi GJ,
Isn’t the new one 19t and this
Weight
13,000 kg
is probably the empty weight, from your link?
Protection?
Ceramics (light), and more belly armour?
- 5t can achieve a lot
- the passenger? Has a little kite to fly?
@Gareth Jones
“True… but how do we square this circle? As you and TD pointed out above, cutting the tail to save cap badges may be more acceptable PR but could lead to serious problems…”
I don’t think we can square the circle, Gareth, unless we keep a bigger Army. It’s as simple as that. And given the economic and financial mess we’re in, thanks to the previous administration, that is highly unlikely to happen.
@paul g
“What a tossing, short sighted,spineless, scaredy cat crock of shit! (IMHO)”
Now, come on, paul, no need to be so mealy-mouthed. What do you really think? Actually you’re 100% correct. When you say, “Overwork who’s left and they’re not stupid, they’ll let you know with their boots and you’ve just wasted 2/3 years training that guy”, that’s spot on! But then, would the politicians, the MOD civil servants or even the top brass ask someone like yourself who’s actually been at the workface? No, of course not.