Typhoon - Right after all? Discuss
 

Just a thought, but with Putin's current posturing, the resurrected Bear incursions and all that, does the Typhoon again have a purpose.

You've got to say, Vladimir's timing is superb. Nato all over the place doing things in never-envisaged theatres, and the back door flapping in the wind, compared to the cold war.

It does have a purpose, to be sold to the saudi's to plug a 1 billion gap in the defence budget to the tune of 700 million! Good news for all the current projects.:)

I suppose at least we will get the proper swing role model that can do some CAS in the 'stan and Iraq.

Occasionally it may be used to chase bears around the North Sea.

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We need AT and SH and we need it quick. If we need jets, we need Harriers. We are not fighting the Cold War anymore, get used to it. Putin, mmmmm bit scarey, might be an issue sometime way down the line. Taleban with a Stinger, they are in front of us day after day. get your head out of the North Sea and wake up sunshine.

...and folks to fly them.

Is the jet that the RAF needs at the mo, a gunslinger???

And one that the FAC doesn't need to talk on to target?

A Harrier doesn't fill that purpose.

Sorry, we got rid of our kites that could do that now....

Some A-10s from Tucson perhaps???

You cannot be serious, Had Enough 77. What on earth possesses you to think that any money from the Saudi sale will end up in the destitute defence budget?

airsound

Great jet, some equally great mates flying them.

But military value for the UK today......

...absolutely ZIP.

What about military value to NATO though?

If you can let me know what the military threat will be in 15 years time, I will confidently tell you whether we need Typhoon.

Did any mention flexible response?

Alber Ratman - please do tell us all, what jet is there that doesn't require a FAC to talk on to a target?
Or are you talking $hite?

Oh no don't you know 'LateArmLive', the A10 is a wonder plane.

Of course its not so good if its a little claggy and well, its pretty slow which apparently can be a problem, oh and this huge pile of 'spare' aircraft that people keep saying that the RAF should get are being Christmas tree'd at an alarming rate to keep the rest of the fleet flying. Of course apart from all that its a wonder plane.

Helpful,

I wondered when you would make an appearance. seems its up to us rotary types to remind everyone of their priorities these days!

Your right, A10 seems to have a blind spot in the HUD, can't even make out dayglo panels most of the time!

WM

Anyway, back to Typhoon...
 

I believe Putin's posturing is just that and no more. Russia started getting too chummy with the West and lost its military and political edge. The US decided to poke the sleeping bear and announced an unecessary missile defence system in Eastern Europe, so Putin was given just the excuse he needed to reinvigorate the military. So, do we need Typhoon in the A/A role? Probably not right now, but Fitter2 has it right - who knows what threats we'll face in 15 years time? You can't just magic up an air defence capability as soon as a new threat emerges. As for the A/S role, I'd say we needed it yesterday. From what I hear, the Harrier Force is the definition of overstretch and I'd be surprised if the GRs got to Kandahar without leaving a trail of u/s airframes across the globe. Yes, Typhoon has turned into the most expensive political football of recent times, but let's not lose sight of the fact that it is (or at least will be) an extremely capable weapons system. And if the Taleban ever take to driving Bugattis, then Allah help them...

WM - I'd rather see money spent on supporting the assets we currently have then writing up some wish list for very specialist aircraft that no UK government is likely ever to approve.

I don't think many folk realise how thinly strung the resources are for supporting the Chinook fleet. Everyone at Odious is doing their damnedest to keep the UKs most useful asset in the current climate operational and its not easy. Robbing PEPs has gone from being an occasional task to a routine one. Quite often PEPs are now being deployed with flight critical parts missing from them as there is just too little slack in the system to allow spare parts to sit on the shelf.

This 'just in time' logistics support policy supported with such vigour by many in the ivory towers is a ticking time bomb and only some damn hard work and ingenuity is stopping it going off.

I hope that all the fanatical "boots on the ground" :mad:heads have an excuse ready for the day when we are shut down by two Su-35 squadrons. Because then you have no air transport, no CAS, no air anything at all.

Is that the A-10 or the Harrier you are refering to?? :}:}

IDM
 

LateArmLive

I'm talking about this sh*te.

http://www.engineeringnet.co.uk/news...0108200101.htm

While certain fleets are still looking into getting the kit RTS,

One fleet had them fitted as standard... Until last April.

I couldn't comment on Coningsby's finest.:oh::oh:

Yes dear, but you'll still need a FAC/JTAC to send you the details.................
One fleet did indeed have IDM fitted as standard, but it was a pity it couldn't carry any bombs hot and high enough to do the job.

"I hope that all the fanatical "boots on the ground" heads have an excuse ready for the day when we are shut down by two Su-35 squadrons. Because then you have no air transport, no CAS, no air anything at all. "
And there LO you have it in a nutshell...How many Su35s have the Taleban got? Exactly. How many RPGs/MANPADs/DShKs & fanatical fighters prepared to use them do they have? Loads. We can always point with a wavy finger into the future and perceive a threat to support our favourite toys. None of this helps out Private X bleeding out on the side of a road because there was not enough SH to move him by air, or missing the "magic hour" having been denied a Medevac due to lack of dedicated Dust-Off asset, or the bloke at a platoon house who's run out of ammo because the AT fleet couldn't keep the airbridge up due to a lack of new aircraft and increasingly flakey old ones.
Though, thank goodness, we can have 232 Typhoons and 100 plus JSF just in case we fight a theoretical war with a theoretical enemy in a theoretical future. Just maybe, if confronted with your doomsday scenario, somebody senior enough would say "no sir, we can't do that"...maybe?
Pontificating about the next war is important in times of peace. In times of war you should concentrate on winning the one you're fighting at the minimum cost in blood and treasure.
Rather than send £60m a pop Typhoons to AFG (and risk being shot down by a pocket-money DShK), why not send a whole load of cheaper A10s, SU25s or, dare I say it, Hunters?

Cos we don't have any!:hmm:

We do have some Typhoons though!