F/Lynx all systems go at AW
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but you are assuming that the Current Lynx Force will be responsible for the introduction of the Wildcat.....Not so ...... Not so... A poor assumption to make ...
Why so? There seem to be plenty of people when I visit .....are there any Lynx people to comment?
BBC Points West (and I think ITV West) have just reported that AW have got the order for, I think, 62 FLynx. However, I can't be sure ,because the news is so recent that, not only is it not on BBC Online, but it's not on the AW site either. (no surprise there then)
Anyway, I'm told it'll be on BBC Online news soon.
airsound
Anyway, I'm told it'll be on BBC Online news soon.
airsound
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BBC Spotlight Southwest report tonight that the DefSec will visit AGWHL on Thursday to announce the conformation of the order for a reduced number of FLynx, 62 airframes, no details on the split though at this point.
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Well surely the RN is going to need less helicopters for those quite useful frigates its not going to have as they are trading them in for quantity two, elephants, white, for the unlikely use of?
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Very true. As a serving member of the senior service I would like to sacrifice 8 of the mighty beasts in favour of the Army.... So thats 40 for the pongos and 22 for us....plenty
Mind you.... If that old duffer gets his way the AAC will be disbanded and the Senior Service will get the lot....
Mind you.... If that old duffer gets his way the AAC will be disbanded and the Senior Service will get the lot....
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Which old duffer?
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So we have lost 8......the project is delayed 2 years.... and we still pay Ł1 Billion.....
I have to say that this doesn't seem value for money to me. Afterall, the F Lynx s hardly "F" at all seeing as a some equipment is already flying and most of the avionics are already in service. Indeed the TI camera will be over 12 years olf by the time the "WILDCAT" enters service.... So, which bit of it is "future"... (apart from the bill ?)
I have to say that this doesn't seem value for money to me. Afterall, the F Lynx s hardly "F" at all seeing as a some equipment is already flying and most of the avionics are already in service. Indeed the TI camera will be over 12 years olf by the time the "WILDCAT" enters service.... So, which bit of it is "future"... (apart from the bill ?)
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at least they are not motor car manufacturers
or banks who would like the govt to spend billions to bail them out, but I guess its OK for a UK hi tech firm to go bust without complaint
EVERY defence procuement decision is a balance involving many involved parties, this one is no different, and I for one am happy that the money stays in this country insted of going abroad.
DM
EVERY defence procuement decision is a balance involving many involved parties, this one is no different, and I for one am happy that the money stays in this country insted of going abroad.
DM
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I for one am happy that the money stays in this country insted of going abroad.
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further to spheroids comment
We sold off a national asset without so much as a whisper of objection.
At least something will stay in this country, thank god the MoD didnt buy the UH60, EC725 or AW139 then there would be nothing kept here.
WHL will do a good job on this aircraft and it will have a lot of new technology in it, but it's hardly their fault if legacy mission kit is specified by the customer is it?
The split is 34 Army, 28 RN and we can all hope thats the initial order
DM
At least something will stay in this country, thank god the MoD didnt buy the UH60, EC725 or AW139 then there would be nothing kept here.
WHL will do a good job on this aircraft and it will have a lot of new technology in it, but it's hardly their fault if legacy mission kit is specified by the customer is it?
The split is 34 Army, 28 RN and we can all hope thats the initial order
DM
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Would they not be better buying a bigger fleet of EH101s?
something our troops can use to be ferryied to and from battle fields moving equipment ammo food etc !
something our troops can use to be ferryied to and from battle fields moving equipment ammo food etc !
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At least something will stay in this country, thank god the MoD didnt buy the UH60, EC725 or AW139 then there would be nothing kept here.
Isn't the AW139 an Augusta/Westland design (it might be the AW part that gives it away) and were it chosen could quite possibly have been built in the UK too?
EC725, isn't that an evolution of the Puma design that, I'm sure but I might be wrong, was licence built in the UK by Westlands too?
A sort of recurring theme is appearing, can you spot it (apart from the aircraft you mentioned being too large for the specification)?
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I still have a problem with the aircraft. Some very experienced and knowledgeable people have been to do the ‘mock-up’ trials and found that it was to short in the cockpit. The seats are crash resistant in the back (admittedly not a bad thing) which means that you cannot store anything beneath. Great all cramped in the front and no kit in the rear – all these comments were unfounded and not true according to the contractor (who again presume that we only employ idiots who know nufing!!).
Still getting the feeling that we are getting shafted. Expensive with old kit and not fit for role – I would rather lose the wasteland stranglehold on us than fly another kipper from our commercial brethren.
Still getting the feeling that we are getting shafted. Expensive with old kit and not fit for role – I would rather lose the wasteland stranglehold on us than fly another kipper from our commercial brethren.
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Improvement... surely?
How can crash worthy seats be in any way a BAD thing?
All crash worthy seats to the best of my knowledge preclude putting anything under them, allowing them to stroke (true in UH60, Merlin , NH90 etc). if we expect our aircraft to protect our troops in the event of a crash (which legacy aircraft such as CH47, Sea King, Puma and current Lynx DONT) there are some compromises that have to be made and a reduction is stowage space is one of them
Unfortunately in this case you can't have your cake and eat it.
And please dont make the assumption that contractors employ idiots, I am sure there are very knowledgeable people within WHL (ever heard of test pilots or the airframe design team for the last 35 years) who may be in posession of more issues regarding factors influencing the design than others outside industry. Every design is a compromise after all and you can't please all the people all the time.
Answers to the stacker
Yes, at one time (long ago in a galaxy far far away) there was an agreement to build UH60s in the UK, however that vanished after GW1, without the MoD placing any orders and with a change in the political landscape that made is acceptable for the US to supply kit directly to previously 'unacceptable' customers.
The AW139 is of course a AW product and currently there is no line in the UK, I conceed that it may have been necessary to initiate a line if an order had been placed but given the number of other 139 lines around the world I think it unlikely that AW management would pay for another line at one of their existing sites (hardly counts as an offset does it)
The EC725 has very little in common with a Puma, and in this case I am sure that Eurocopter would never give the UK a product line for those. In the past WHL (as it was) and Aerospatiale were partners (Lynx, Puma , Gazelle ), thats not true now.
why can't we be happy in the country for UK workers, we seems to have it in for ourselves...
DM
All crash worthy seats to the best of my knowledge preclude putting anything under them, allowing them to stroke (true in UH60, Merlin , NH90 etc). if we expect our aircraft to protect our troops in the event of a crash (which legacy aircraft such as CH47, Sea King, Puma and current Lynx DONT) there are some compromises that have to be made and a reduction is stowage space is one of them
Unfortunately in this case you can't have your cake and eat it.
And please dont make the assumption that contractors employ idiots, I am sure there are very knowledgeable people within WHL (ever heard of test pilots or the airframe design team for the last 35 years) who may be in posession of more issues regarding factors influencing the design than others outside industry. Every design is a compromise after all and you can't please all the people all the time.
Answers to the stacker
Yes, at one time (long ago in a galaxy far far away) there was an agreement to build UH60s in the UK, however that vanished after GW1, without the MoD placing any orders and with a change in the political landscape that made is acceptable for the US to supply kit directly to previously 'unacceptable' customers.
The AW139 is of course a AW product and currently there is no line in the UK, I conceed that it may have been necessary to initiate a line if an order had been placed but given the number of other 139 lines around the world I think it unlikely that AW management would pay for another line at one of their existing sites (hardly counts as an offset does it)
The EC725 has very little in common with a Puma, and in this case I am sure that Eurocopter would never give the UK a product line for those. In the past WHL (as it was) and Aerospatiale were partners (Lynx, Puma , Gazelle ), thats not true now.
why can't we be happy in the country for UK workers, we seems to have it in for ourselves...
DM