Sid, you and the dummy have got a really peevish chip on your shoulder re the RAF
No chip. Just think that on the whole, crabs are a bunch of self serving cnuts.
To my mind the AH choice should have been the upgraded Cobra as chosen by the US Marines over the Apache. The greater number of cheaper airframes should have gone to the FAA as a carrier bourne asset.
Have to agree with you there.
Without the AH the AAC have little to offer as the Lynx and Wildcat can carry jack sh1t; it and the Merlin were nothing more than a job creation scheme for Wastelands.
And agree there too....to a certain degree. The Lynx (more specifically the crews) has and is being used as a tac platform, C&C and as fire support as opposed to a 'troop carrier'. This is the bit some SH types cant seem to fathom.
'We exploit the limitations of our equipment and still deliver capability in whatever role is required.'
Given that, how much bayonet strength could have been saved had they got rid of the AAC?
The argument would be similar to that raging re the Merlin going to CHF. 'It'll cost more to give it to the navy!!! etc etc'. Would it?
At a guess, the AAC is cheaper to run than one Puma det to Morocco and it is still seen as value for money.
We currently make up about 1.9% of Army strength. Post 2020 we'll be about 2.4% of the strength so in real terms, we're still growing
