A collection of great stuff from this week
Chris on the Single v Multi Role Questions
Sir H on South East Asia and the Air Sea Battle
Navy Matters on the Air Sea Battle
Bring the Heat on the US Armoured Cavalry Regiment
Sven talks about Artillery Load
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/RafSurveillanceAircraftClockUp20000FlyingHours.htm
@Mark – what would the airframe life be on these these things?
I know we are sort of assuming they will be kept to fulfil the NATO commitment but if we carry on using them all the time how soon before they wear out and have to be rebuilt or replaced?
Hope its not before 2015 or ideally 2020 becuase I suspect the kitty is empty just now!
They work slightly different to fast jets its more in line with airliners in that its more takeoff and landing cycles as opposed to total hours flown being an issue. Not sure about king air but the global is in the 25-30k flight cycles range when considering its airframe life and it is quite sturdy.
However its like anything the more you use it the quicker it eats into to maintenance periods and business jets wouldn’t be expecting to work quite as hard as airliners.
Good to see Navy Matters calling for the USN to buy ASW frigates. Potential customer for Type 26
Another excellent collection of links TD. Will have to keep an eye on spme of these blogs.
RE: ACR – Recce, security and economy of force… A possible idea for the British Army?
RE: AirSea battle. Have to agree – MCM and ASW the most pressing threats, even to the Royal Navy. Also think SSGN’s would be more useful and have a greater (conventional) deterrence than SSBN’s. However, are they really suggesting attacking the mainland of a nuclear capable power with assets (B-2) which can carry nuclear weapons? This does not sound sensible to me…
RE: Silent drive – very interesting. Low end/Daughter craft for a hi-lo/mother-daughter MHPC mix?
http://chuckhillscgblog.net/2012/08/23/unconventional-patrol-boat/
I read Sir H’s blog. I can’t make my mind up whether he is presenting what he has known for a while as education to others. Or if these lessons are the product of a recent synthesis on the topic. If it is the latter, well, some of us already know most of this for a while thank you. I stopped reading when he started talking rhubarb about OPVs. My fear is that way he thinks is probably similar to the way many high up in the MoD think. To think we used to rule the world’s oceans and we have come to this sad state.
Hi X, the PSL site is very simple in its aims. Its a chance for me to put my own, very personal, views about the UK, current defence issues and also trying to correct some of the incredibly innacurate views about Defence in the media and elsewhere.
Its in no way representative of MOD thinking, and I deliberately steer well clear of anything I have professional involvement in for very good reasons.
One of the other challenges in writing a blog regularly is coming up with reasonable content that inspires debate. The Asia Pacific ‘lessons identified’ came about as a result of my mulling over the ‘what could some of the lessons be from what is going on out there’ during a long run, and having a chat with friends who have an interest in this subject. It could well be that my thoughts are well off – they’re not a staff college paper, just my own take on what I’ve seen.
I don’t pretend to be an expert, I am certainly not an academic, but I am someone with a long term interest in the field, which I’ve been lucky enough to turn into professional engagement. There is no other agenda or motive behind the blog, just a chance to write stuff down because I happen to enjoy doing so.
What I would say is that if you disagree, then why not set up your own blogsite and start posting about why! Its incredibly easy to set up defence blogs, and there is a dearth of intelligent defence writing out there. Why not jump onboard with other writers and help make a positive contribution on what you think is the way forward?