I'd ask why we still don't have 30 minutes of recognition after the met brief any more, but then somebody might tell me the terrible truth about the daily met briefs...

I still have a copy of the first ever inter-service Aircraft Recognition journal, dated September 1942, which has survived despite being printed on low-quality wartime paper. It was saved from being consigned to a skip when the Brize Education section had a clear out.... The messages from VSOs on the inside front cover emphasise the importance of aircraft recognition unequivocally.

On pp6-7 there is an article on the Focke-Wulf Fw 190A3. Interestingly, it is factual and free of any propaganda.

The centre spread features the 'fastest and most formidable aeroplane of its type in the world' - the Avro Lancaster. Even though the journal was unclassified, it stated that the 'maximum bomb load of 15,800 lb can be carried for more than 1,000 miles'. Perhaps the spooks hoped that this would be passed into enemy hands, so that they knew what was about to come their way?

JARIC recce guides could be....variable in quality. The one they produced for the South Atlantic included the Catalina (Canso, actually). The last one had been retired 12 years before the South Atlantic war, but the JARIC guide showed one....in WW2 RAF markings!

Ship recognition for P8 crews

Shall we start with the NOSMO KING ?

Apart from a dead tree publication I trust that the same information shall be available onboard the P8 on a software format?

Beagle,
an alternative view would be thoroughness. The guides could have been used by hooligans on the ground, who may have found the guides useful.

Don't we have an Air Warfare Centre at Waddo who do this sort of thing?

"The guides could have been used by hooligans on the ground, who may have found the guides useful."

In what way? what could be in a guide that isn't widely available on the web???

I once had a full set of silhouette recognition cards including Japanese. No idea what became of them.

The South Atlantic recce brings to mind the post-Libyan deployment. 29 Sqn was deployed to defend Gibraltar in case of Libyan retaliation. Libyan orbat was no problem but the Sqn asked quite reasonably, how do we recognise Libyan Mirages?

Reasonable question, apart from a missile launch, what were the markings?

That’s probably the reason, or at least a good stab at why MoD has contracted it out. DE&S doesn’t work in isolation when delivering equipment programmes and MoD ensures teams have relevant serving SMEs embedded within the teams.
With shrinking forces means loss of capabilities, this could well be one of them.

I hope they do a better job than the U.S. Army: https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...t-know-planes/

https://warisboring.com/the-u-s-army...riously-wrong/

I could do a better job (no really, for under a million as well).

JT

Would anyone be surprised if the contractor somehow acquires the intellectual property rights for all the material it's presumably about to be given from the MOD archives, and thereby denies the MOD the ability easily to regenerate the capability in-house or with another provider in future? Years ago I wrote a training package for a new piece of equipment and delivered the first few rounds of training as an associated duty to my primary role, and it all went very well. I'm sure today the MOD would pay some contractor an enormous sum for the privilege of it having a company name on the front slide, a slavish adherence to the systems approach making the package 10 times longer than necessary, and no further control over the contents...

Heathrow Harry,
today you are correct about the use of the web, but in 1982 it was still a twinkle in Berners-lee's eye!

Surely the helicopter force still have identification manuals, as presumably do the RN? If they need to be in digital form, less than £ 100 will buy a decent scanner.

Much the same was said about a US soldier/Marine who fired on an RAF Chinook in GW1. I believe the crew landed and gave him a good talking to.

Folks there’s a lot of ill informed nonsense on here, things have moved on from the good old days, we don’t have as many blue suits or civil servants so trust me when I say all other options were explored. I will say no more on the topic.

I remember at my daughter's Grad 18 years ago the inspecting officer, even then, saying that grey suits was the future. Chosen wisely, you get the subject matter expert freed from all the bull**** of fitness tests, secondary duties, last minute programme changes, dining in nights, etc.

Of course you rip the social life out of the station, remove flexibility in manning, and having people available to push trucks up hills or fight fires.

"there’s a lot of ill informed nonsense on here"

Care to give us an informed estimate of cost and time????

I can only describe whomever signed that one off as, to quote a delightful phrase I heard recently, ‘a complete cockwomble’ and should be held accountable.

We’re short on cash and have our own department that amongst other things specialises in recognition - it’s called the Intelligence Branch. And guess what, we even have a training school that writes recognition guides and teaches it. And I’d wager that the experienced J2 you’d need to develop the Mission Support capability will be of an era where they were taught this sort of stuff themselves. Hell, even I can remember maritime recce from my sqn days: MASH - Mast - Armaments - Superstructure - Hull. And I’ve still got the notes and PPoint brief somewhere in the loft. That’ll be £150 and a GEMS award please, and spend the money you’ve saved on a copy of Janes.

Unbelievable. I’ve often asked where all the money goes and why we’re broke. I’m starting to see exactly why.

You all miss the point.

The mission of the current Government is to give away as much cash to its' mates as possible, as quickly as it can.