I'll tell you this
 

The US are near to cumming with the chance to drop a few on Iran, has this whole scenario been orchestrated by the US? The BBC have been feeding more news, linking Iran to supplying 'drones' More to this than meets the eye.

Dave

Resources ?
 

747

You miss my point, or perhaps I wasn't clear.

Luckily Illustrious was in Gib. Otherwise it would take longer to put the plan in action.

Yes, she is ideal for this op and need only transfer people about 100 - 150 miles across to Cyprus.

If the urgency was geater and Illustrious had not been positioned in such a fortunate location..Then what? Perhaps Chinooks flying out there then
operating from Akrotiri ? Oh dear.. bet that would stretch our SHF assets.

Not arguing here, on the same side and concerned for our people and just how many miracles this stupid government thinks they can pull off at once.

Hope it goes well and the boys & girls are home to Pompey asap for a break with their loved ones.

What has Lusty got 'embarked' (is that the correct fishhead term?) in the way of an air wing at the mo?

Obviously I don't want to know if its not in the public domain.

Hizboes are not the recognized government nor are the Hamas gang as long as they maintain their military wing which is committing terrorist acts. The other group in play are a democratic government threatened with total destruction by several of its neighbors.

Using the logic provided by some here, the US should have stayed out of WWI and WWII I guess. In that view you would be eating kraut and bangers and saluting with outstretched arms would you not?

You cannot have it both ways guys....as much as you would want to. Do you think the fundamentalists will stop with Spain or will they continue west and north until all of Europe faces southeast five times a day?

Lebanon evacuation questions
 

With the possibility of an evacuation of foreign national in Lebanon in the next few days, I would like to know which airlines do you think would be involved in a rescue operation ( if any ) . Also wich airports would be more likely to be used and any suggestion that you may have.

I'm with you there SASless. I assume the democratic govenment you refer to is Lebanon (its new Prime Minister, Siniora, visited the White House in April.)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0060418-2.html

My 2 cents before this thread gets deleted or moved to JB..

It a war by proxy fought by Syria. They tell their buddies in Hezbollah to provoke Israel. Israel overreacts - as they knew they would - the fledging pro-democracy/anti-Syrian Government in Lebanon falls and is replaced by pro-Syrian militias. France Russia and China get pissed at the US for supporting Israel and so nothing gets done about Iran or North Korea.

And it costs Syria nothing.

Back to topic of this thread.

It is not that hard to make a homemade UAV. Just look at the advances that the average RC (Remote control) model builder has available for their hobby. Hell, in point of fact all RC model airplanes are UAVs.

Now just think about it, miniature TV transmitters, small high tech explosives, new more powerful engines and jet propulsion engines on the RC market, light weight remote control systems, etc.

Speed need not to be an issue, in fact one could assume slower the better, as a small (wingspan around 6-9 feet) low flying slow target is very hard to detect.

It is now claimed that in fact it was not a UAV but a modern missile that hit the patrol boat, but one can never know for sure can one.

Okay, you guys go back the conspiracy theories.:rolleyes:




(I agree on the Syria bit Reach and SAS.)

France is sending a ferry boat, and two navy boats carrying cougar helicopters. They will organize daily transfers to Larnaca, from where air france flights and french air forces planes could depart to Paris.
Seems like this is the maximum that the international community is able to do to stop the massacre.

Let's hope that the Hezzies ship recognition is up to scratch. Illustrious and Bulwark have been warned off for evac duties. I don't mind them giving the Israelis a few surprises (you can't expect much more if you are going to wander into someone else's littoral zone), but I'd rather they kept missiles away from us, homemade or not.

Probably a couple of worn out Sea King ASac 7s with no DAS and 2 spare seats on each, a bunch of RAF harriers - unless they have already left for the nearest hotel, and an Anti submarine merlin or 2 - have they been grounded since the Canadian cormorant crash? :bored:


Me thinks she might be embarking some SH either from Gib or Akrotiri on the way past.....then again why dont we just ask the Americans to pick up our people while they pick up theirs????:oh:

Yes, PS, it may have to be that everyone has to go back to the old 'Mark 1 eyeball' detection system for aerial threats.

Channel 4 news just had an interview with the top Israeli Army Commander on. He said it wasn't a home made UAV but an Iranian built rocket that hit the ship. I think he said it was an S802 although I may be wrong in the type. Apparently its a copy of a Chinese made missile built by the Iranians and presumably sold/donated to Hezbollah.

HMS Illustrious and HMS Bulwark were confirmed as being sent by the MoD tonight.


Interesting

So does that mean a naval squadron has been deployed? Or JFH?

Dont worry helpful I guess they have enough blankets onboard...........:E

...also lucky that Bulwark is in Barcelona....Hmmmm that seems very lucky doesn't it... Do you really think it was luck? Or was it a plan?

Yes sure they sailed there weeks ago because the Briitsih government knew what was going to happen............:ugh:

Not ideal, but all part of being in the service alas ... or would you have preferred the 'cruise' to have finished first before setting off to help possibly save lives ??

C802 I think he said. Seems a bit more plausible than the 'home made UAV' theory.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/m.../row/c-801.htm

Cyprus is going to be busy. Extracts from various news agencie.
"France, which has historic ties to Lebanon and 17,000 citizens residing there, announced plans Saturday to ferry French nationals to Cyprus where Air France flights would be waiting to bring them to Paris.
A convoy of 410 Italians and others, mainly from the EU, packed up and fled on Saturday, travelling by land to Latakia, Syria. They were boarding military flights to Rome, some going first to Cyprus, the head of the Italian Foreign Ministry's crisis unit, Elisabetta Belloni, said.
Pentagon and U.S. State Department officials are working on contingency plans to get about 25,000 people out of Lebanon to escape Israel's military campaign, launched after two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Hezbollah guerrillas. An "air bridge" is the term for planes that would move in swiftly and ferry people out in quick succession. Planners are focusing on flying people from the Lebanese capital of Beirut to the island of Cyprus, officials said."

"There are several thousand Britons in Beirut. One who has got out of the city is student Angela Quatermaine, from Oxford. She told the BBC: "The Lebanese have been so kind and friendly... they have been wonderful getting us out of Beirut."
Referring to the news that the two Royal Navy vessels were on standby, she said: "I don't know how they are going to get here as the port has been bombed... we'll believe it when we see it."


One that we should be leaving behind then - she will be too stupid to ever earn enough to pay back her student loan anyway. Should we be sending her a cruise itinerary so that she packs the right clothes before joining the grey funnel line at a port of her choice? Will she be shocked when she is airtaxed to a floating airfield?!