Rigchick

I agree, you need the best jet you can get when you need them.

In peace time the Sqn markings do still add a bit of ownership to your airframes. It costs to paint them, so will stop no doubt, if it has not already.

Next will be no Sqns at all just a Station with some planes and crews, aircrew and groundcrew.

The future?

Rigchick

We show clips on the news of the crews getting in.

We show clips on YouTube and the news of them getting out, and talking to the camera.

I have not named the crews but we show them on TV.

Is that right that they are shown for the world to see???

Fox3WheresMyBanana

Geehovah doesn't think he's important. He thinks the currently deployed aircrew are important.
My dog could figure out TOTs from some of the information available on the 'web/news media at present. Let's not help by adding credibility to speculative reports.
Mods please keep an eye on the OPSEC please.

Lima Juliet

Geehovah

You are correct Sir...

All, please be careful about what you post whilst Ops are ongoing.

LJ

Pontius Navigator

Rigchick, current thinking has changed. During the cold war when it was expected that there would be dozens on POW it was advocated that one should be the 'grey man'.

Now, with relativelky few expected the thinking is that publicity will help. the more notable the prisonner the great the bargaining counter for the captor.

In some cases it would matter not as you could expect mutilation dead or alive with no mercy - one reason why casualties in AFG are recovered at almost any cost.

Thelma Viaduct

Whether it's right or wrong to attack is irrelevant to me, I personally don't care about a bunch of SNs.

Like Iraq, what is relevant is the motive, and it's not humanitarian or else we would have been involved with many other nations before now. What p1sses me off is that we only get involved when we've got the spameritards onside. We're like the school rat lining up with the bully and giving the weak kid a good kicking to make us look like we matter, when in all reality, we don't, it's pathetic.

Idiots like the machinegundemic are not interested in consequence, their brain is incapable of looking at cause and effect, they're continually taken in by propaganda fed to them by their masters. Paid to do and not to think, a classic example.

But when the dust settles and the country of Libya is 10 x worse off than it was before and tens of thousands are dead, the old line of....."well he was bad to his people and now they're better off" will be trotted out again to justify the sh1t state the country will be left in for years. No mention that up until a couple of weeks ago Colonel Gaddaffi was sound again. No doubt the same line will be used on the machinegundemic to make him think they've done a worthwhile job and so they can sleep at night, well done son. Then look at the juicy contacts that will go out to haliburton or whatever they're called now for the re-building job and 30 year oil contracts.

Better the devil you know, just how many successful Islamic democracies are there in the world??? We can't even get democracy working in this country, let alone some crap hole in the desert.

Yet again, the UK is sorting out someone else's problem and for BS reasons, but at least the machinegundemic gets to blat off a few rounds to make him feel important..........

TightSlot

Can anybody advise please if any of the personnel or equipment that are being used for these ops are scheduled to be made redundant, or otherwise scrapped under SDR?

Easy Street

HMS Cumberland - to be decommissioned
Nimrod R1 - due to retire 1 Apr (3 month extension granted)
Sentinel R1 - to retire on completion of Op HERRICK
Tristar - to retire from 2013
VC10 - 2 frames to go soon, the rest by 2013
Tornado GR4 - Two sqns closing by Jun. Strong rumours of further reductions in PR11.

The Nimrod R1, Tristar and VC10 all have replacements lined up; however I would never stake anything on our ability to seamlessly transfer all the capabilities!

Bill Macgillivray

Our leaders appear to have limited ideals, I fear! I am no supporter of the Libyan regime but what about Zimbabwe and, indeed, Bahrain? Is there a great difference between them? The "call me D__e" leader seems to have conveniently ignored them for some reason!

Thelma Viaduct

Bang on the money.

That spam delivering the pentagon briefings hasn't got a clue what the objective is or rules of engagement are, even the journos with their basic lack of intelligence had him looking stupid. The 'tards can't wait to hand over command either, they know it's going to get very messy and will just blame the euros for cocking it up when it goes tits, despite it never being achievable in the first place.

Just listen to how insistent he is when saying that command will switch within days, Obama is not as stupid as that texan inbred numpty they last had 'in charge'.

Sitting tight suits Gaddafi to the ground, just one huge stalemate that will cost millions to maintain, millions we don't have. The bloke revels in being the castigated outsider, it's what he is good at, and now he is no longer malleable.

The wet lipped buffoon must have gone to the same school as machinegundemic, but at least it makes the UK look important still.

edit: Where's william vague been recently, I've missed his deep authoritarian tones

Robert Cooper

Libya is a distraction. The real endgame is the iran sponsored shiite rebellions underway in Bahrein, Yemen, and even Saudi. The final conflict will be in Saudi Arabia.

Bob C

maxred

Robert - And on that really good bit of news think I may go to bed

getsometimein

Going to be difficult to launch air attacks from the UK/US airbases within Bahrain and Saudi isn't it...

Do they bomb their own runway then fly home?

TightSlot

Thanks Easy Street

If this situation had arisen in Aug 2011, would we be still be able to undertake these missions?

essdee

I don't normally get involved in fatuous arguments on Pprune, but I have had a bellyful of people complaining about giving information to the enemy - or phrases to the same effect - by saying we should stop talking about bases/sqns/ac types etc etc. I heard the same arguments during GW1 when some folk used to say we should take CNN off the air because of the gratuitous information they were transmitting to all and sundry.
For goodness sake, fellahs, what use is it to Gadaffi's air defence to know that a formation took off from whatever base at whatever time. Even if someone were to tell him what they were loaded with, what use would that be to him? He couldn't possibly work out TOTs, even if he knew the target, as he doesn't know the routing, the AAR plan and all the other details of the mission. Even if he did, if the defence suppression boys have done their job, his people are just going to 'die tensed up'. Furthermore, since much of the weapons being used have a significant stand-off range, I imagine that the attacking aircraft should be able to keep themselves out of any SAM envelopes.
No doubt this post will attract some criticism, but try and keep it emotionless. After all, I think the Libyan regime is well aware that they are being targetted and that RAF Tornados and Typhoons form part of the attacking forces.

Wander00

I may be an old fart and now out of touch, but I am amazed that BBC is showing footage of Tornado aircrew which has good enough definition to make individuals identifiable. However, delighted all back safely from first sortie.

Phileas Fogg

Wander00,

The BBC, and others, are broadcasting what the MoD provide to them to broadcast!

TEEEJ

LTNman wrote,

Even if the carrier had been available you couldn't use the Harriers to deploy Storm Shadow cruise missiles off it? The Harrier was not equipped with it.
The Tornado GR4 is the only UK asset to carry it.

TJ

TEEEJ

BritAir wrote

The Tornado GR4s are deploying the Storm Shadow cruise missile. It has only been cleared for Tornado to carry. It wasn't part of the Harrier GR inventory.

RAF - CASOM/Storm Shadow

TJ

Wander00

PF - Whether the decision not to pixilate faces is BBC's or MoD's, I am still surprised: if MoD, pretty disappointed as well.