Defence: Public ignorance, the media, and cutbacks

[minigundiplomat]

"We are no longer the second largest navy, but we are the only navy with that global capability and frankly, the only professional partner of note to the Americans.”

Absolute crap. We had the most powerful navy in the world about 50 years ago. Now we have a couple of ships, some rusting subs and a couple of rowing boat sized carriers built by the cheapest bidder. When is the RN going to let the Nelson days go?

Gone are the days where you loaded a battalion of marines onto a ship and sailed, hoping the natives wouldn't have surrendered in the six weeks it took to get there.

Now, you can send the battalion of marines by C17 and have them there in 24 hours.

And don't give me any of that crap about having a friendly airfield in an unfriendly area. As Veritas drew to a close and Jacana started in early 2002, we (the RAF) had to bust a gut to get from the N Arabian sea to Bagram, with as many of the marines as possible, as no one would let you put them ashore and CHF didnt have the legs. Eventually the RN put them off in Oman and the RAF picked them up from there.

I don't like Torpy one iota, but I do get a bit sick of hearing the RN's turqouise tinted view of the world. Stop playing the victim and get on with life. A lot of the RN are doing a good job in the desert, concentrate on that instead of whinging about ships FFS!