alphaleaderuk
Re: Defending the Nimrod
Who are you, some sort of journo or MOD Police trying to get some poor sod to break the official secrets act!! Your threads seem to imply some sort of RN background, but it would appear you have no concept of ASW. What are you hoping to hear, some poor sap telling you in great detail his experiences of finding/tracking submarines in a Nimrod to refute your lies!!
I HAVE NEVER EVER, EVER, SEEN SUCH A PATHETIC COLLECTION OF BLATANT LIES WRITTEN IN PRINT.
I am not claiming that the Nimrod is the greatest thing since sliced bread in terms of ASW, but your claims that is so ineffective are pathetic, untrue and a great insult to anyone who has been in the Nimrod fleet in the last 30 years. You seem to imply there has been some sort of systematic cover up over the years of the Nimrods lack of ASW capability, from junior ranks up to Flag Officers. Don't you think over time this might have leaked out, both to the rest of the RAF and the RN, from a dsigruntled source. How about the fact that the Nimrod is as capable an ASW platform as any other nations MPA, P-3, Aurora, Atlantique, etc, as is regularly proved in international competitions and Exercises (e.g Fincastle). So why do other nations have MPA (with an ASW role), and are replacing them. Oh, I was forgetting, this is obviuosly a global conspiracy by the entire MPA community!!! (I guess you must be a grassy knoll man!!!) Most other countries operate MPA as part of their naval forces, manned by navy personnel who also serve tours on ASW frigates etc. So, according to you, other nations NAVYs are wasting money and perpetuating useless assets out of THEIR OWN BUDGETS are they!!! I think not.
Submarines are VERY quiet, VERY elusive targets, more so in the last 10-15 years, and finding them is very difficult. That is one reason why many third world nations are buying them. If you have/are serving in the navy you will know that ASW is a team game, most effective when a variety of assets are employed. These include helos, MPA, submarines, frigates etc. Each has a part to play. I am not claiming the Nimrod is the answer to ASW, but it is far more capable than you imply. The MRA4 will be more capable than the Merlin in the ASW role, and I haven't even discussed other roles for MRA4, are you advocating the RN scrap their Merlin fleet. Talking of spending too much money on an asset, what is the current price tag for a Merlin??
I have a very slow fuse as a rule, but reading the utter drivel you have written has so incensed me I bear no responsibility for spelling or punctuation. I hope a lot of already very unhappy (pay and conditions) AEOps never find out where you live. I would duck, you can expect LOTS more incoming!! (You are not Admin Guru are you?)