RLE
So, WEBF, where should the NAVY take cuts to find £2Bn to pay for Harrier?
Where does the £2Bn figure come from?
Since the RAF has given up on Harrier, all that would be needed would be enough aircraft for one carrier - twelve or so? I suggested that the US
may be willing to lease/sell this number of AV8Bs to us in exchange for a greater number of our now stored GR9s for training/attrition replacements/spares, AND continued USMC Harrier embarkations aboard
Illustrious and
Queen Elizabeth...
Anyway - going back to Libya, some of you might be interested in this article from Information Dissemination -
"If We Had a Carrier...." with links to the
Guardian...
If the UK had an aircraft carrier, the Guardian wouldn't be reporting how Norway and Denmark have both dropped far more bombs – nearly 700 between them – than the UK in Libya.
This
data is also interesting.
Interesting stuff here too:
It is worth noting the UK Government's prevarication about announcing any intention of deploying sea-based attack helicopters for the Libyan operation despite the French having revealed plans for British Apaches to join their own sea-based Tigers and Gazelles. However, the Government faces a dilemma in committing to the use of attack helos from HMS Ocean:
•It might be asked why the decision was not made when the requirement arose several weeks ago.
•It might be forced to admit that land-based assets are proving inadequate for the job.
•It might be forced to admit the greater utility of certain seaborne air assets.
•If the seaborne helos are tasked in a CAS role similar to fixed wing aircraft, it might be asked why it is deemed more sensible for RAF aircraft to fly 3,000 mile round trips from the UK and 1,200 mile round trips from Italy than for Harriers to fly from a CVS based 20 miles off the Libyan coast.
Outside the UK at least, the French carrier Charles de Gaulle has been reported as "spear-heading" the NATO air effort ever since the withdrawal of USS Kearsarge and her Harrier AV-8Bs conducting two sorties per day thanks to their close proximity to the area of operations.
Elsewhere, the situation in Yemen is getting worse, with a real possibility of a civil war, which
would be exploited by Al Qaeda. Think about Yemen's position - next to the Gulf of Aden. This is potentially a huge problem for the West.
If the Arab Spring, the intervention in Libya, and the decline in Yemen occured before the SDSR - would the same announcements have been made?