Originally Posted by andrewn
And, in case you've forgotten, we're broke and likely to remain so for about the next 10 years (at least).
My thoughts exactly and our politicians have to decide what our Foreign Policy will be...
Are we a nation that wants to take part in World Affairs. A nation that wants to PROJECT POWER!!
If the answer is yes then we MUST have aircraft carriers and yes I accept I will get criticised for saying it but the air support we offered over Libya left a lot to be desired.
Having a few aircraft operating out of a foreign airbase several hundred miles from the operational target with all the aircrew and support staff living in hotels and then have convoys travelling thousands of miles overland is not good enough..
Then seeing defective aircraft getting diverted to a neutral country is not the best of images. Sorry folks but it is not good enough, respect to the aircrews that flew the missions, respect to those that supported these missions but having a carrier maybe just 30 to 40 miles away from your target was surely the better option. I accept we had no carrier on scene but we did have the ability?
Yes a thousand times yes I have heard the argument about if the carrier is a thousand miles away or even two thousand. That may well happen but most conflicts do not instantly appear.. They are the subject of many months of UN debate and during that time our task group would proceed with full despatch to the relevant area. Plus I would like to assume the operational carrier would hopefully be operating in an area which would be quite close to any areas that may be considered 'unstable'
Scrapping the Harriers was bonkers but it is a done deal... They are gone, they have been sold and it is over but that decision was plain WRONG.
Was it a Third World Country that bought our Harriers? Selling them for just £1.6m each or was it the World's only Super Power? If they are good enough for that nation then maybe they might have been good enough for us?
What is the cost of the latest Royal Navy Merlin helicopter and would I be exaggerating if I put the cost at in excess of £15m each?
We had the Harriers but sell them off at a bargain basement price and then equip the aircraft carrier with helicopters which might cost several times the amount we received for those aircraft.
makes sense to me
I totally agree that we appear to lack the funds to put these carriers into commission but if we are to be a nation that wants to be a World player then we need the equipment.
We either put up or get off the stage and just concentrate on protecting the estuaries of our once proud nation which I will always call GREAT Britain
