I laugh at the comment in the Telegraph

"Possible future savings by scrapping the scheme include up to £50 million a year on maintenance and support costs and £100 million for the salaries of 1,800 military and 300 civilian staff at RAF Kinloss. "

What they dont realise is they are just located elsewhere so there is no saving at all! 1300 people I can tell you now there is no room at any other base at present to locate these numbers of people. Benson has just started putting single people in Hotels due to no acomodation.

Should they get binned, I wonder if the powers that be will do a TSR2 on them?

As in to make sure that they can never be resurected? Cut the spars up, scrap the test equipment / jigs etc.

"Benson has just started putting single people in Hotels due to no accomodation"


So what we feared 12-15 years ago is true. It is perfectly possible to climb to the upper echelons of Her Majesty's Royal Air Force without having a single clue about what you're doing. :(

And get away with it.


Sigh... :ugh:

I think the jigs for the MRA4's fuselage were scrapped long ago :hmm:

They were made on jigs..?:E
More like a few chalk marks on the floor..
("Cheaper than jigs tha knows..")

It's certainly possible that the MRA4s could go across the RN - because the cost of providing a sustained ASW cover that even a comparatively tiny force of MRA4s could with other assets (ie FF/DD, Merlin) would likely be much higher. Similarly, passing the SH to the AAC would give the illusion of RAF savings without actually cutting capability. I don't have the numbers, but I suspect that the small difference in AAC SNCO vs RAF FOFL capitation rates would actually make real saving over the next decade if SH went to the AAC.

S41

S41,

Given the size of the FAA and the AAC do you seriously believe they could provide enough qualified personnel to absorb the MRA4 and SH fleets - or are you planning on compulsory transfers for the relevant RAF aircrew and groundcrew, many of whom would probably PVR if forced to undergo such a transfer......

Let them....
 

Come and join the real world where people don't live in fantasy land with other people's money...

The Airforce 'top brass' need to be exposed for what they really are...dreamers with not an ounce of credibility between them....

5d2d

Biggus asked:

I envisaged that the fleets would transition over a period - two to three years - as the training pipelines adjusted. The RAAF in the 80s demonstrated that it can be done, it's all about managing the transition - and it would save money in the medium term. If people were violently opposed to changing uniforms - and I can see that some would be - then PVRing would be their choice.

S41

So there was nothing supporting the fuselage when the wings were cut off, nothing to hold the paniers together when they were refurbished, the tail was chucked on a couple of old tyres.....?

Or maybe they built new ones.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même.......
 

"Stick close to your desk, and never go to sea
and you can be the ruler of the King's Navy."
Gilbert & Sullivan, HMS Pinafore
Depuis yonks!

Could we not just set up a joint squadron with the French. They can then protect both the UK and French SSBNs - and we halve the cost? If they are due an upgrade on their assets, perhaps we could also get them to stump up a portion for the capital costs.

You should watch it, that's where rumours start. This just in:

Anglo-Franco joint maritime squadron to be formed
By Pip Pipity Pip

An unnamed source on an interwebby thing frequented by military flying people has exclusively revealed to Sheila's War Gazette that talks are underway about the formation of a joint Anglo-French squadron to undertake maritime patrol to provide crucial protection for French and British nuclear submarines.

An official MoD spokesman confirmed the rumours stating, "Stop making stories up and bugger off". An unnamed French navy official laughed at the rumour, replying in French with rude comments about the English .

Under the jointly-funded initiative, it is thought that the UK Royal Air Force's new Nimrod MRA4s will fly over the French coast, providing protection for the country's key strategic naval bases. In return, according to the unnamed French official, the French navy would send a couple of Atlantique maritime patrol aircraft over to England "if they can be arsed to".

If only!

Night out in Brest versus night out in Forres

Where do I sign???

hahahahha nice one :ok:

Brest! Did somebody say Brest!! Tee Hee!!

AP
RAF News online, Search Results for Nimrod:

(An article about the retirement of the MR2)

RAF News Archive online, Search Results for Nimrod:

(A REPORT into the failures that led to the loss of Nimrod XV230 has praised RAF technicians and station staff at Kinloss for their work keeping the aircraft airworthy.)


Shame the RAF News doesn't always report all of the latest news and we have to rely on the Mod Spokesperson being pressed, by Jane's and the other tabloids, to get the official party line.

Can one buy a pint (or two) of McEwan's Heavy in Brest? ;)

Look, I know this is all going a bit Fantasy Island. But if MoD was to buy the
P8 off the shelf at least there would be no shortage of pilots. I mean reservists would be able to keep current in their civvy jobs and not have to waste time and money at the tax payers expense. Also it might be possible that airframe and engine hangar maintenence could be contacted out to the civvy maintenence organisations with the relevent type approvals. Put them in a joint RN/RAF squadron as 360 was. (And I guess the harrier ones are, almost.)Then the submariners who retire and then join the RAF to sit in the back would not have to leave. Lets face it the Command organisation is already in place.


Of course there is the much cheaper option. A few years back when the 4's kit was being tested under "operational conditions" it was fitted in to a C47 that had been re engined with PT6s. That aircraft did not miss a serial through out the two weeks of the exercise.

DD,

You mean like this.......

Aircraft