Warship - An appropriate response
Quite enjoyable, but I share the surprise up-thread that the AGI managed to deploy its Klingon cloaking device and drop off the radar. Likewise the aircraft picked up inbound at 10nm/500ft ... whaaaat? Suspect/hope that full capabilities were not being used/shown to us or the Russian monitors!
Russian flyby portion from 19:37 at following link after the ads.
https://www.my5.tv/warship-life-at-s...on-1/episode-2
Some of the Hawk T.1 footage.
"You canna change the laws of physics, Captain". Looking at the range of the Helicopter from the ship, the AGI would have been beyond the radar horizon of the Duncan and was either being tracked by an airborne platform that had gone off station, or the AGI had switched off its AIS transmitter (I assume that they will normally transmit unless operating covertly). At the end of the day, there was a NATO taskforce out there, and the AGI had slipped out of force coverage. No big deal and nothing unusual.
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I know it’s boring to say so - but I thought it was an interesting programme and showed HM Forces in a positive light.
I can understand the actual threat posed by an air package with a potent but latent capability out for a bit of posturing; from the look of the crews’ reaction - so could they. Good drills.
Given the photos and footage that get released when a QRA aircraft intercepts a single Bear or pair of Sukhois - I think the appearance en masse or sequentially of 15 plus fighters is indeed talking point.
Equally, sending helo to repair hole in surface picture is ‘what they do’.
I can understand the actual threat posed by an air package with a potent but latent capability out for a bit of posturing; from the look of the crews’ reaction - so could they. Good drills.
Given the photos and footage that get released when a QRA aircraft intercepts a single Bear or pair of Sukhois - I think the appearance en masse or sequentially of 15 plus fighters is indeed talking point.
Equally, sending helo to repair hole in surface picture is ‘what they do’.
Interesting series. I see the AWO’s confidence has not changed much since the good old JMC days. “If it flys it dies” was always the usual reposte at a JMC debrief following a simulated ASMD attack by a Bucc six-ship. Nothing changes.
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If it was for real, how many targets could the ship engage (as opposed to track) simultaneously and how many rounds does she carry (if anyone's allowed to say . . )?
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I would guess that 48 is what's in the launchers, from magazine to launchers in probably seconds, who knows how many might be lurking below deck level. No time for RAS in this situation.
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Another enjoyable programme to advertise the RN. Overall well put together, however, the Director was a little carried away with the air attack sequence. A shame to use repeated footage from a recent "Thursday War", if they still happen. I suppose the odd Hawk attack is all they may expect. Since the RN has few fixed wing ac and the RAF not many more the mass air attacks over an extended period are a thing of the past.
The crew seem to dislike the Russian aircraft getting so close, (about 1/2 a mile or 1000ft as far as I could see)!!! Recall the 70s,80s,90s at the Akrotiri Buoy. Any Soviet/Russian ship on the buoy could expect a "flyby" every 10 minutes almost throughout the day. Down the beam at 50 footish or over the top at 600+ kts were all in a days play. It was expected by Episkopi that we would "show a presence". Thank goodnees it was prior to cell phones the internet and YouTube!!
The crew seem to dislike the Russian aircraft getting so close, (about 1/2 a mile or 1000ft as far as I could see)!!! Recall the 70s,80s,90s at the Akrotiri Buoy. Any Soviet/Russian ship on the buoy could expect a "flyby" every 10 minutes almost throughout the day. Down the beam at 50 footish or over the top at 600+ kts were all in a days play. It was expected by Episkopi that we would "show a presence". Thank goodnees it was prior to cell phones the internet and YouTube!!
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Have not watched any of these yet. Anyone able to confirm whether it follows/ ticks the boxes for the usual tropes that RN 'fly on the wall' documentaries do:
Focuses on one or two individuals who see themselves as the "crazeee guys" onboard and who volunteered for it - normally a steward, Clubz will be involved at some point too.
Poignant clips of blokes phoning/writing/emailing their wife & kids
Wife taking kids to school and reflecting on what it's like 'with him being away
A wren who sees herself as a mother hen.
Call the hands being piped-and at least one "pipe the side" in the series.
Focuses on one or two individuals who see themselves as the "crazeee guys" onboard and who volunteered for it - normally a steward, Clubz will be involved at some point too.
Poignant clips of blokes phoning/writing/emailing their wife & kids
Wife taking kids to school and reflecting on what it's like 'with him being away
A wren who sees herself as a mother hen.
Call the hands being piped-and at least one "pipe the side" in the series.
Have not watched any of these yet. Anyone able to confirm whether it follows/ ticks the boxes for the usual tropes that RN 'fly on the wall' documentaries do:
Focuses on one or two individuals who see themselves as the "crazeee guys" onboard and who volunteered for it - normally a steward, Clubz will be involved at some point too.
Poignant clips of blokes phoning/writing/emailing their wife & kids
Wife taking kids to school and reflecting on what it's like 'with him being away
A wren who sees herself as a mother hen.
Call the hands being piped-and at least one "pipe the side" in the series.
Focuses on one or two individuals who see themselves as the "crazeee guys" onboard and who volunteered for it - normally a steward, Clubz will be involved at some point too.
Poignant clips of blokes phoning/writing/emailing their wife & kids
Wife taking kids to school and reflecting on what it's like 'with him being away
A wren who sees herself as a mother hen.
Call the hands being piped-and at least one "pipe the side" in the series.
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Pretty arrogant I agree, but I suspect their Sea Viper system does inspire much more confidence than anything you attacked in your Bucc.
looks like the USN can't but I think I read some European ships can - but it's not easy.........
https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...-silos-at-sea/
According to The National Interest, the U.S. Navy seeks a way to reload its vertical launch system silos at sea. The silos, which house ballistic missile interceptors, cruise missiles, and more, must currently be reloaded at port. But given the way the geopolitical situation is going, the Navy is picturing a scenario in which cruisers and destroyers might fire their entire complement of missiles...and have no port left to rearm them.
For decades, the Navy has used so-called "arm" launchers to fire guided missiles. Fed from a magazine below deck, "single arm" (one missile) or "twin arm" (two missile) launchers could rapidly fill the skies with surface-to-air missiles, as well as Harpoon anti-ship missiles and ASROC anti-submarine rocket-assisted torpedoes. The downside: If the complex arm and magazine loading system broke down or suffered battle damage, the ship lost a lot of firepower. The introduction of the Mark 41 vertical launch system changed all of that. The Mark 41 traded arm launchers and magazines for a field of individual, single missile launchers contained in armored boxes that sat flush with the deck. With the Mark 41, a malfunction probably affected only a single missile. A Burke-class destroyer has as many as 96 Mark 41 silos.
One problem with Mark 41s is that they're not easy to reload at sea. As The National Interestexplains, the Navy previously had the capability to load lighter missiles into the silos, but discarded it after the end of the Cold War. In the new, post-Cold War environment without a peer competitor naval power to challenge it, the Navy wasn't going to expend a large number of missiles in battle.
The rise of the China and Russia's newfound assertiveness have changed that. The Navy might someday be involved in major fleet actions in which large numbers of missiles are expended. Sending ships hundreds or even thousands of miles back to port just to rearm takes them out of action at a critical time. At the same time, bases where cruisers and destroyers typically go to rearm and refuel would become obvious targets in wartime and may be shut down by enemy action. There is no easy solution here. Missiles in pre-packed canisters are heavy and delicate, and the transfer would need to be done during while both ships are at sea, or ideally in a nearby protected harbor or atoll. As TNI notes, one possible solution may be to equip ammunition ships traveling with the fleet with robotic arms that can pluck a missile canister out of the ship's hold and gingerly slide it into a surface warship.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...-silos-at-sea/
According to The National Interest, the U.S. Navy seeks a way to reload its vertical launch system silos at sea. The silos, which house ballistic missile interceptors, cruise missiles, and more, must currently be reloaded at port. But given the way the geopolitical situation is going, the Navy is picturing a scenario in which cruisers and destroyers might fire their entire complement of missiles...and have no port left to rearm them.
For decades, the Navy has used so-called "arm" launchers to fire guided missiles. Fed from a magazine below deck, "single arm" (one missile) or "twin arm" (two missile) launchers could rapidly fill the skies with surface-to-air missiles, as well as Harpoon anti-ship missiles and ASROC anti-submarine rocket-assisted torpedoes. The downside: If the complex arm and magazine loading system broke down or suffered battle damage, the ship lost a lot of firepower. The introduction of the Mark 41 vertical launch system changed all of that. The Mark 41 traded arm launchers and magazines for a field of individual, single missile launchers contained in armored boxes that sat flush with the deck. With the Mark 41, a malfunction probably affected only a single missile. A Burke-class destroyer has as many as 96 Mark 41 silos.
One problem with Mark 41s is that they're not easy to reload at sea. As The National Interestexplains, the Navy previously had the capability to load lighter missiles into the silos, but discarded it after the end of the Cold War. In the new, post-Cold War environment without a peer competitor naval power to challenge it, the Navy wasn't going to expend a large number of missiles in battle.
The rise of the China and Russia's newfound assertiveness have changed that. The Navy might someday be involved in major fleet actions in which large numbers of missiles are expended. Sending ships hundreds or even thousands of miles back to port just to rearm takes them out of action at a critical time. At the same time, bases where cruisers and destroyers typically go to rearm and refuel would become obvious targets in wartime and may be shut down by enemy action. There is no easy solution here. Missiles in pre-packed canisters are heavy and delicate, and the transfer would need to be done during while both ships are at sea, or ideally in a nearby protected harbor or atoll. As TNI notes, one possible solution may be to equip ammunition ships traveling with the fleet with robotic arms that can pluck a missile canister out of the ship's hold and gingerly slide it into a surface warship.
What is unspoken in that report is that no launcher with any significant size of weapon is easily reloadable at sea. While the old T-family of missiles were nominally capable of being transferred across from a store ship via STREAM rig, it was rarely if ever done because the serial required aboard the receiving ship to strike them down via the launcher was excruciatingly long - and far from risk-free.
GWS30 - Sea Dart - was similarly replenishable at sea, but with similar restrictions. The US looked at a VLS reload system in the early noughties at Port Hueneme, which required a special to type transporter being transferred first to the receiving ship to capture and align the weapons prior to loading. Part of the difficulty is that the empty canisters also need to be removed first - and potentially stowed somewhere secure, prior to loading with a new canister.
Which may be one reason that DE is a hot topic again.....
GWS30 - Sea Dart - was similarly replenishable at sea, but with similar restrictions. The US looked at a VLS reload system in the early noughties at Port Hueneme, which required a special to type transporter being transferred first to the receiving ship to capture and align the weapons prior to loading. Part of the difficulty is that the empty canisters also need to be removed first - and potentially stowed somewhere secure, prior to loading with a new canister.
Which may be one reason that DE is a hot topic again.....
I would imagine, going way back, that transferring 15" and 16" shells to a "Dreadnought" wasn't something you'd want to do outside harbour either........
Back in the 80s, a Bucc 6-ship would release a salvo of 24 Sea Eagle sea skimming missiles from 2 axes at a range of 60 nm. They would release the salvo from a height of 100 ft, well below the radar horizon at 60 nm. The Buccs would then continue to close on the fleet at 100 ft so as to provide invaluable anti-ship missile defence training for the AAW team. At every single JMC debrief I attended, the AWO would claim 6 kills on Buccaneers. It was never really comprehended that, in all probability, they had already been hit by up to 24 Sea Eagles and that the presence of Buccaneers in their sights was artificial and staged. Nevertheless, ‘If it flys it dies’ was always their motto. They were always supremely confident but I don’t think they ever quite ‘got it’.
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Nice perspective, Darvan.