Cuts endanger UK, RAF's Timo Anderson warns
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Cuts endanger UK, RAF's Timo Anderson warns
From the BBC:
Clearly someone not blighted by the sandaholic attitudes of many of his contemporaries, thankfully.
More at BBC News - Cuts endanger UK, RAF's Timo Anderson warns
A senior RAF officer has warned that cuts to military aircraft numbers would leave the UK vulnerable to attack.
More at BBC News - Cuts endanger UK, RAF's Timo Anderson warns
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I dont believe a word he says.
Considering how much UK AD has been eroded almost to the point of non existence over the last 15 years or so thanks to some highly questionable decisions by Timo and his predecessors, to suddenly wail that the SDSR is going to result in disaster is laughable.
Who does he think he's trying to kid?
Silly Ar$e.
Considering how much UK AD has been eroded almost to the point of non existence over the last 15 years or so thanks to some highly questionable decisions by Timo and his predecessors, to suddenly wail that the SDSR is going to result in disaster is laughable.
Who does he think he's trying to kid?
Silly Ar$e.
Loadofhoop & Jabba - you clearly haven't read his speech!
This is an excellent piece of work - drawn, inter alia, from AP 1300 - with excellent illustrations of what fast air does in theatre and the the emerging air power role of Combat ISTAR (although I do recall we used to have a thing called Armed Recce in the 1970s and 1980s).
Unfortunaely, this was delivered to a group of believers, however the ;leaking' of this speech to the Telegraph (and subsequently, the BBC) will widen its impact. Clearly moving to MAA hasn't killed off the Dark Lord or weakened his powers...
This is an excellent piece of work - drawn, inter alia, from AP 1300 - with excellent illustrations of what fast air does in theatre and the the emerging air power role of Combat ISTAR (although I do recall we used to have a thing called Armed Recce in the 1970s and 1980s).
Unfortunaely, this was delivered to a group of believers, however the ;leaking' of this speech to the Telegraph (and subsequently, the BBC) will widen its impact. Clearly moving to MAA hasn't killed off the Dark Lord or weakened his powers...
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One hopes the MAA will come out as unscathed as possible.
If AVM Anderson's lot don't do their job well enough, the few aircraft that we will have left, post-SDSR, may be vulnerable to 'known' threats and hazards eg Nimrod, Hercules, Chinook, Sea King AEW and Tornado.
UK Armed Forces Ltd will not able to afford any such attrition if we are keep up the op output with limited resources (which presumably the politicians, of all colours, always seem to require)!
If AVM Anderson's lot don't do their job well enough, the few aircraft that we will have left, post-SDSR, may be vulnerable to 'known' threats and hazards eg Nimrod, Hercules, Chinook, Sea King AEW and Tornado.
UK Armed Forces Ltd will not able to afford any such attrition if we are keep up the op output with limited resources (which presumably the politicians, of all colours, always seem to require)!
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Need to be careful harking back to a 9/11 scenario.
Suppose there were 4 aircraft targeted at major centres in UK such as London, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Bradford. Do we have 6 aircraft on QRA so that we could send 2 against each potential threat?
If he is serious about a 9/11 type threat he would need most of the ADF on some level of alert.
Suppose there were 4 aircraft targeted at major centres in UK such as London, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Bradford. Do we have 6 aircraft on QRA so that we could send 2 against each potential threat?
If he is serious about a 9/11 type threat he would need most of the ADF on some level of alert.
If Bradford is on the Target list, then let them obliterate it, it will improve the area no end.
Bradford born and Bradford bred, I will not move back there, even if dead.
Bradford born and Bradford bred, I will not move back there, even if dead.
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Most of it, is nothing short of a sales pitch. "Dont cut us because..." Which is all fine and dandy.
I dont think the piece that led to this article has been misquoted though...
"The QRA Force is vital to protect UK territory and reassure the population and it is well used. Without such an air defence capability, the UK would not be able to guarantee security of its sovereign air space and we would be unable to respond effectively to a 9/11 style terrorist attack from the air"
So which mugs then, in light of such an observation have been quite happy to whittle away the QRA force, both ASACS and aircraft over the last 15 years to the point we are at now? How many radar sites have we lost? How much coverage?
I dont think the piece that led to this article has been misquoted though...
"The QRA Force is vital to protect UK territory and reassure the population and it is well used. Without such an air defence capability, the UK would not be able to guarantee security of its sovereign air space and we would be unable to respond effectively to a 9/11 style terrorist attack from the air"
So which mugs then, in light of such an observation have been quite happy to whittle away the QRA force, both ASACS and aircraft over the last 15 years to the point we are at now? How many radar sites have we lost? How much coverage?
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Derr,
So when they don’t speak up they are Ar$es and when they do speak up, “While Still Serving” they are still Ar$es.
Absolutely nothing pleases some of you on this website.
I knew “Timo” very well on the Crusaders both as a Sqn Ldr and as a Wing Commander and believe me; he speaks his mind and does not suffer fools gladly. I would suggest that this is not the first time that he has voiced his opinion; it is just the first time he has voiced his opinion and it has been made public.
Well done Timo, and if there had been a few more Sqn Ldrs and Wing Cdrs like you in the RAF a few years ago it would be a better place today.
So when they don’t speak up they are Ar$es and when they do speak up, “While Still Serving” they are still Ar$es.
Absolutely nothing pleases some of you on this website.
I knew “Timo” very well on the Crusaders both as a Sqn Ldr and as a Wing Commander and believe me; he speaks his mind and does not suffer fools gladly. I would suggest that this is not the first time that he has voiced his opinion; it is just the first time he has voiced his opinion and it has been made public.
Well done Timo, and if there had been a few more Sqn Ldrs and Wing Cdrs like you in the RAF a few years ago it would be a better place today.
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....he speaks his mind and does not suffer fools gladly....
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Having read the transcript, I think its well written and had to be said. Whether it ll do any good or not remains to be seen.
One things for sure, if GB hadn't systematically eroded military capability when he was chancellor there would currently be some fat that could potentially be trimmed. As opposed to the f@@k all thats left to be cut even further.
One things for sure, if GB hadn't systematically eroded military capability when he was chancellor there would currently be some fat that could potentially be trimmed. As opposed to the f@@k all thats left to be cut even further.
I'm a convert, so I get why we need a strong RAF. In the country the perception might be that more death and misery will defo happen from:
NHS cuts, patients die,
SS cuts, children die
Railway cuts, passengers die
and so on...
you get my drift. Everyone will have an agenda. And Dr Fox won't quit!
CG
NHS cuts, patients die,
SS cuts, children die
Railway cuts, passengers die
and so on...
you get my drift. Everyone will have an agenda. And Dr Fox won't quit!
CG
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Given the blatant anti-RAF campaign running in the media this week, we need someone to speak up for Air. IE: "RAF" jets responsible for destroying a house next door to Yeovilton; "RAF" technicians sending a live Apache rocket back to Wattisham. It would appear that the Navy and Army have very good contacts in the major media outlets......
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if GB hadn't systematically eroded military capability when he was chancellor there would currently be some fat that could potentially be trimmed.
Ok we were not fighting a war in Afghanistan then, but we still had a considerable commitment across the world and it did not take a Rocket Scientist to work out where the world was slowly but surly heading.
Tanks, Aeroplanes and Ships aside, I believe that the average serving member of the armed forces is far better equipped then it was just 10 years ago in terms of personal equipment, communications and generally being looked after (and don’t get me wrong, they all fully deserve it). However, I must point out that this has all had to be paid for by somebody. If the labour party went into massive debt in some attempt to put many wrong things (arguably highlighted by the press) right because we were fighting two difficult wars, then so be it.
Today’s Government has the potential to ruthlessly cut the armed forces (and other areas) to a dangerous level but they have the luxury of being able to blame the last governments’ so called incompetence for doing it and most people believing that they are right.
I don’t know about the rest of you but I find this situation quite worrying.
Whenurhappy:
Many thanks for that and good to hear it
I find his airship's comment a little odd considering that the USAF, which is a tad larger than the RAF, failed to stop the 9/11 attack.
The success of the 9/11 attacks was down to poor intelligence not a lack of Air Defence assets.
The success of the 9/11 attacks was down to poor intelligence not a lack of Air Defence assets.
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Suprised we haven't subcontracted UK air defence out to the Russians by now, that would save money as they would know exactly what time to launch an interception as they would know the planned times of their incursions.
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"Derr ...So when they don’t speak up they are Ar$es and when they do speak up, “While Still Serving” they are still Ar$es. "
Thats about the long and short of it, SRENNAPS.
Whichever way you look at it, there is a paucity of leadership at * level and equivalent and the RAF is no different to the Met and other Police forces, the Army or the Navy or the Civil Service.
What exactly is he speaking up about though? He's not "speaking up", he's toe-ing the single service party line, he's shroud waving. Had he been "speaking up", especially in his capacity as head of MAA, he could/should have been making significantly more noise about why there has been a need for an agency such as his to be created and how it is going to address the issues that it has been charged with. I know theres an "O.P. to Flight Safety/Airworthiness in as few posts as possible" stigma around here, but regardless of whether he's a good egg or not, he has got significantly more important fish to fry at the moment than leading a parade of bleeding stumps at the last minute.
It may well have been a well written speech (almost certainly not written by him and not for him, merely delivered by him), it may well have been the right thing to say, but with the ink drying on the results of SDSR, its a bit late and the stable door is flapping in the breeze with the old nag having trotted away long ago into the sunset.
It still does not change the fact that when faced with decisions before as TLB's & Airships, his predecessors have made some mighty curious decisions which have led us to the point that we are at. And now suddenly holding up UKAD as a potential sacrificial lamb that no-one should dare slaughter is more than a tad lame.
Especially using 9/11 as a lever - does anyone here remember what happened the last time there was a 9/11 type scare in the UK and how tortuous the Chain Of Command was on that day and who eventually would have got left with the decision as to who would authorize any engagement?
Labours problem was the w1lly waving wars of choice that we did not have to get involved in.
You say some of us are never satisfied. Maybe you're right. Maybe some of us old f*rts have watched the service that we were a proud part of slowly being ground down and turned into a pale shadow of its former self (when it could have been if not avoided then at least negated) and are a tad irked about it.
Thats about the long and short of it, SRENNAPS.
Whichever way you look at it, there is a paucity of leadership at * level and equivalent and the RAF is no different to the Met and other Police forces, the Army or the Navy or the Civil Service.
What exactly is he speaking up about though? He's not "speaking up", he's toe-ing the single service party line, he's shroud waving. Had he been "speaking up", especially in his capacity as head of MAA, he could/should have been making significantly more noise about why there has been a need for an agency such as his to be created and how it is going to address the issues that it has been charged with. I know theres an "O.P. to Flight Safety/Airworthiness in as few posts as possible" stigma around here, but regardless of whether he's a good egg or not, he has got significantly more important fish to fry at the moment than leading a parade of bleeding stumps at the last minute.
It may well have been a well written speech (almost certainly not written by him and not for him, merely delivered by him), it may well have been the right thing to say, but with the ink drying on the results of SDSR, its a bit late and the stable door is flapping in the breeze with the old nag having trotted away long ago into the sunset.
It still does not change the fact that when faced with decisions before as TLB's & Airships, his predecessors have made some mighty curious decisions which have led us to the point that we are at. And now suddenly holding up UKAD as a potential sacrificial lamb that no-one should dare slaughter is more than a tad lame.
Especially using 9/11 as a lever - does anyone here remember what happened the last time there was a 9/11 type scare in the UK and how tortuous the Chain Of Command was on that day and who eventually would have got left with the decision as to who would authorize any engagement?
Labours problem was the w1lly waving wars of choice that we did not have to get involved in.
You say some of us are never satisfied. Maybe you're right. Maybe some of us old f*rts have watched the service that we were a proud part of slowly being ground down and turned into a pale shadow of its former self (when it could have been if not avoided then at least negated) and are a tad irked about it.
Last edited by Jabba_TG12; 14th Oct 2010 at 07:26. Reason: typo
Jabba,
I have to say that if anyone is being an @r$e, it isn't Anderson.
Having had the honour of meeting and talking to him on a number of occasions, I've always been impressed by his intestinal fortitude. This is not a 'lion in the cockpit' who became an 'administrative mouse', unlike so many senior RAF officers. Like Baz North, he is an officer who will speak up for the interests of his own single service's interests (something that's routine among higher ranks in the Army and Navy, but which has become rare among the light blue since Mike Graydon's slap-down).
After watching other senior officers fumble opportunities to speak up about the importance of UK AD and the shortage of assets (most notably Sir Steve Dalton when quizzed by Channel 4 News and invited to compare and contrast UK AD 1940 with UK AD today), I'm delighted to see someone of Anderson's self evident integrity and calibre speaking out.
He obviously cares passionately about his country, its defence, and his own service, and needs no lessons in any of those things from the likes of you and I.
I have to say that if anyone is being an @r$e, it isn't Anderson.
Having had the honour of meeting and talking to him on a number of occasions, I've always been impressed by his intestinal fortitude. This is not a 'lion in the cockpit' who became an 'administrative mouse', unlike so many senior RAF officers. Like Baz North, he is an officer who will speak up for the interests of his own single service's interests (something that's routine among higher ranks in the Army and Navy, but which has become rare among the light blue since Mike Graydon's slap-down).
After watching other senior officers fumble opportunities to speak up about the importance of UK AD and the shortage of assets (most notably Sir Steve Dalton when quizzed by Channel 4 News and invited to compare and contrast UK AD 1940 with UK AD today), I'm delighted to see someone of Anderson's self evident integrity and calibre speaking out.
He obviously cares passionately about his country, its defence, and his own service, and needs no lessons in any of those things from the likes of you and I.
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Northern Q has been maintained with one steadily dwindling squadron of F3s for some time now. I don't recall anyone suggesting that it's currently inadequate.
As for
the answer to that is little or none. Hopton, Weybourne and Neatishead, but coverage provided from Trimingham.
NS
As for
How many radar sites have we lost? How much coverage?
NS