SDSR rumours.
 

Right then folks. As the date draws ever closer and with this being a rumour site it's time to dig out your best gouge that you've heard.

A bit of blind conjecture and blatant horse crap is always good for the soul so let's let rip and see what actually comes to fruition at the end of the month.

As a starter for ten I'll offer up the formation of a couple of new Typhoon Squadrons.

Any more for any more?!

BV:confused:

To be more than offset buy a significantly reduced F-35 buy no doubt. Wonder which one is buried in the small print.

F35 replaced with grounded air cadet gliders.
 

New glider winch to be installed on the bow of new carriers. Carriers will only operate at weekends as staff cadets still at college Monday to Friday. No serviceable aircraft predicted for a few years anyway. Winches and carriers to be immediately mothballed or turned into travelodge branches and sent to Newquay for the summer trade.

Red Arrows to be amalgamated with the Purple Helmets and the Red Barrows, the will be renamed The Purple Arrow Barrows.

Why not add your comments/speculation to a thread already running on the SDSR here on pprune,

http://www.pprune.org/military-aviat...sdsr-15-a.html

Rather than starting a new thread.

Yeah! I didn't start that thread all the way back in December last year, just for people to forget about it.;)

Sun.

Biggus
 

Thank god you're here to keep us all in check. What was I thinking wasting everyone's time like that. Not to mention using up vital space on the World Wide Web.

The founders of this forum could have saved us all so much bother if they'd just named a thread for each conceivable topic in the early days for us to continue adding to over the subsequent years. Or heaven forbid, from time to time we could start a new one about a similar topic to one that has been discussed previously but with a more up to date slant to it.

It's here now though so we might as well use it.

BV

Oh dear, looks like the Outrage bus has departed from Valley..:E

Meanwhile, 10 x Hawk T.1 replaced by 3 x black QQ Alfa Jets, F-35 to be downgraded and re engined to increase job share, Kawazaki wins MR contract and anyone interested leaves UK for Australia and NZ. :ok:

My SDSR theory:

A. Significant cuts to capability and manpower whilst maintaining an aspiration to mimic the US and be everywhere doing everything, result = the thrashing continues. Or

B. A slight uplift to funding with the result that politicians want to see a return for their investment, even though it's probably just sufficient to get us back to something like 2010 capability levels, result = the thrashing continues.

Russia wins the whole job with an unsolicited bid.:oh:

OAP

How about, build a new 5 storey headquarters at Shawbury for DHFS, have a 1 Star and 2 Group Captains and close the Squadron Ops buildings. Sorry that's not a rumour.

None of this is necessarily in SDSR2016, or SDSR2015/16 as some enlightened pundits are quoting. Recent topics "of interest" that may or may not be relevant. The phrase "very expensive" is relevant.

- Trident replacement is very expensive.
- Carriers are very expensive.
- F-35 is very expensive.
- Comprehensive Spending Review follows SDSR.
- The 2% of GDP figure is only a two year commitment.
- Fallon has already laid the ground by outlining a number of low-cost international cooperations that mitigate the effects of smaller national forces and capabilities.
- "And we need to reform our ways of working to bear down on inefficiency and eradicate waste.". Fallon.
- Counter Terrorism spending is ring fenced.
- Typhoon needs to assume all the FJ roles.

Please feel free to add up the numbers. You may find the budget is already overspent. A careless remark at a meeting recently suggested that the Navy is going to have to take a massive hit (more than I could have imagined) to get a single carrier with access to a number of F-35s when required.

The Army is unlikely to see anything surprising, but the large numbers of personnel that need rebasing in the UK is attracting a lot of attention.

Tornado handing over to Typhoon.

That's all I have.

New MMA (actually a C130J with a pallet or two) to be based in new facilities at Prestwick (actually, the soon-to-be defunct RN SAR flight).

Northolt to cease fixed-wing flying by 2020 - 32 (TR) Sqn to be relocated, location TBN (in other words, stood down).

GR4 to soldier-on - War on Terror.

Typhoon to whom-of-life programme to be stretched (Value for Money)

F35 numbers to be reviewed.

Air Cadet Gliders to be replaced - Commandant 2 FTS to get a Knighthood.

MFTS to be reviewed.

As we are getting a couple more Typhoon squadrons BV, can you fix it that 'The Tremblers' are one of them please?


Many thanks
TO

Rumour has it one of them will be 74 Sqn so that we can give some of the jets some really cool paint schemes to show the public we still are g-r-r-r-e-a-t! ;)

111
 

I know nothing of seniority but speaking from a purely selfish standpoint I'd bring back 19 Sqn personally.

BV:ok:

Mach, the defence budget is ringfenced until 2020, so 5 years not 2

They are going to reform the best Herc' Sqn, 48 and base it back in Changi so that there is a decent overseas tour for all the transport guys; might even get rid of those awful glass cockpits and bring back navigators and flight engineers!

Bu**er I just woke up when I fell out of bed!

Budget.
 

Hawk unfortunately there have been several announcements regarding the budget so I'd take them all with a pinch of salt.
2% of GDP minimum however expect a portion of the security services budget and military pensions to be counted in that. (they aren't now)
1% real term rise in the equipment/procurement budget for the term of this parliament. Based on projections from 2 years ago, how's F35 budget doing? Trident replacement costs recently revised as well.
1% pay rise cap for all public sector workers for the duration of this parliament. Sadly probably the only thing we can trust the politicians to deliver.
As for the review I suspect some regurgitating of old news with lots of buzzwords but nothing substantial and I can not see us getting any sort of MPA although I hope I'm wrong.

2 C-17 to NZ...
It'll all be smoke and mirrors.