Originally Posted by
Pontius Navigator
TJ, whilst I take your point there is an irreducible minimum for any type and you could argue that we are pretty close to that.
Send just 6 to Cyprus with a single E3 certainly does not provide 24 hour AD.
Pontius, I accept that. I guess the real danger we face is that as we reduce there is a point at which, irrespective of how capable the equipment is, we could become neither one thing nor the other. It's heartbreaking watching this process - it defined my time in. But ( I know I should not do that ) is there honestly any other way we could head? Serious question - I'm not qualified to answer that. One thing Britain is good at though is coming to terms with who we are - we get it, eventually.
Edited - just read your alternative Melchette and yes it does make you think if that is the model for the Navy then could it apply to the air environment as well. What of our defence industry though - would the likes of BAE support it. I guess that there are a lot of vested interests in developing the latest generation kit to replace the last latest generation kit.