PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - UK Maritime Patrol Aircraft - An Urgent Requirement
Old 10th Sep 2014, 00:44
  #590 (permalink)  
Surplus
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
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Why carry an acoustic system, launchers sonobuoys etc on a maritime surveillance mission. If you stumble across a submarine you will be able to track it until it goes sinker. In peace time that should be enough. Remember we are now intelligence led! If there was a chance of stumbling across something the ac fit may be different.
We were intelligence led when I was re-tasked from Fishery Protection onto ASW with no prior warning, whilst airborne and on-task. Few maritime sorties had no sonobuoys on board the aircraft, probably not enough for a full on task period, but enough to maintain contact until the SAR Standby a/c got there.

The ability to carry out multiple roles is probably now more important, given the numbers of airframes available. You're going to need more than 4 airframes for 24/7 ASW.
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