jamesdevice
Post SDSR, the UK cannot even make that sort of advert.
FL
Nope, didn't see/hear Dr Fox. I expect we would have still deployed a CVS if we could even with Tornado based in Italy - as the carrier based jets can respond more quickly. Talking of which, what
is the plan for replacing
Charles De Gaulle on station?
high spirits
No idea about statistics. Remember the contribution of
Ocean's Jungly Lynx and ASaCs Sea Kings too, and the role of other RN assets. However with respect to the Apache's use,
this post (from the thread dedicated to Sharkey Ward) is interesting:
Fact: helicopters, generally, fly slower and lower than fast jets. Fiction: helicopter weapons are smaller and more precise. Rockets and cannon, as deployed on Apache, suffer from greater ballistic dispersion and are, therefore, more likely to cause collateral damage than the highly accurate Storm Shadow missile and Paveway guided bombs currently deployed on Tornado GR4 or Typhoon aircraft operating from Gioia del Colle in southern Italy.
Hellfire, launched from Apache, is exactly the same missile as Brimstone, launched from the deployed fast jets. But unlike the American-built Hellfire, Brimstone has a British-made, more versatile seeker on its Hellfire missile body, thereby providing not only greater accuracy against a raft of different targets, but also making it more flexible. I was involved in the procurement of all of these weapons during a four-year stint at the MOD.
So if instead of Apache we were using Harrier with Paveway IV and Maverick (both CVS cleared, as were other things including dumb bombs and Sidewinders), we would have less collateral risk, yes?
As you know I worry about future
carrier crews having
the right skill set in the future, hence my detailed comments on this issue. It looks like my opinions are shared by others on this thread with an understanding of carrier operations far better than mine my miles, and indeed the First Sea Lord (note both his recent comments and his evidence to the House of Commons Defence Committee). There is much speculation recently that our Reserve forces will get boosted, perhaps keeping capabilities not currently being used in Afghanistan or Libya going. Perhaps the Prime Minister will rethink the problem of not having jets at sea for a decade?