A look at this weeks news and interesting stuff
Elements of power on F35 critics
Robert Fox bemoaning an unsentimental Secretary of State for Defence
Royal Navy upgrades electronics equipment
K-Max Unmanned Trial Extended (one to watch)
New lighter batteries to lighten the soldiers load
Falklands Lessons for Today at the USNI
Eurofighter Trache 3 GPS antenna order, 88 of
Remind we what Fire Shadow is for
British Maritime Industry Success
The Bluffers Guide to Areospace Propulsion
Exercise Joint Warrior Concludes
Para build on urban combat skills
The F35 decision, just in case you aren’t sick of it by now
Save the Royal Navy on the F35 U Turn
The Telegraph and its Omnishables
Another from Defence Management
That Tim Collins is a perceptive chap; right idea but his plan needs tweeking.
Remind me what Fire Shadow is for?
Suicide-crashing your sensor and communications package into the ground, isn’t it?
The combat blimp looks interesting, although I would have thought that naval systems and associated ranges would be more suitable to allow the large, albeit resilient, target to keep a bit further back from the combat area.
@ Mr.Fred
“Remind me what Fire Shadow is for? Suicide-crashing your sensor and communications package into the ground, isn’t it?”
In a nutshell, yes. The theory being that 1x fire shadow is cheaper than 1x whatever-tank-the-other-side-is-using. The Israeli’s have a domestic product like this, but their intention is to use it as a mobile, loitering, anti-radiation weapon for taking down SAM sites.
Quite clever them Israeli’s. They’ve been using UAV’s for decades now to provoke people into switching on their radars so they can a) classify them and b) locate them. They even use them for probing and spying on enemy airfields, sneaky buggers.
Probably a better use for a UAV than trying to turn them into invisible bombers.
With a sudden outbreak for all things f35 I thought i’d this small piece of news http://evaint.com/industry-news/gkn-aerospace-filton-commences-production-for-35-lightning
Mark,
I guess this is where you work then? Regardless of the answer it’s nice to see some more proper high-tech industry happening in this country.
Roll on the rest of the bits and pieces that make up this jet.
Chris.B.,
I understand the theory, but I’m not convinced that it stands up in a high threat environment (i.e. where the enemy has armoured formations with short range air defence) so cost-balancing against an AFV doesn’t work. AIUI, this is intended to be used in COIN against trucks, technicals and firing points.
TD, I hate to be a bore but the ‘Royal Navy to get new communications equipment’ is a bit misleading. It’s actually new ESM equipment – no communications capability at all I’m afraid. A great article though!
The “carriers still vital” link seems to imply the HMS Ocean will be open to the public this summer.
Any ideas when?
SI, glad for the correction, I always try and be accurate so feel free any time to be a bore!
@Simon
I’d imagine it’s a similar deal to the public visits on the Bank Holiday when she was in London training for the Olympics. Don’t think anything has formally been announced – it seems rather stupid to be letting any of the public on board a major target like that during the Games itself, let alone giving Terry time to organise his diary – I can imagine they might wait until the gap between the Olympics and Paralympics. I think it might have been restricted to residents of the East End, it’s not a free-for-all – I guess it’s a bit of PR to make up for complaints about people having Rapiers installed on their roofs…
The other thing about Fire Shadow is that it doesn’t need a runway to take off, and it doesn’t need to land – and it could potentially be stuck in a SYLVER tube. Not saying anything about the Shadow Hawk, but at least FS is deployed. Birds in hand versus newer, sexier birds in the bush.