Any chance of a summary for those who can't get past the paywall?
A freedom of information request also revealed that in the same financial year the Royal Navy lost sonar equipment worth £792,000. Officials said the sonar system, known as a flank array, had been trailing behind a submarine when it was lost at sea.
Hopefully the sonar was just plain lost and not acquired by someone else.........
Cheers PMN1!
I think flank arrays are not supposed to detach from the hull at all, so some kind of mechanical failure/impact may have been involved.
I feel like there must be an error somewhere -- flank arrays are bolted (or otherwise mounted) to the hull; they really can't "trail behind a submarine."
Towed arrays, on the other hand, are meant to stream behind the sub and are sometimes (rarely) lost in accidents. It's honestly a cost of doing business for modern subs.
I'd want to see the actual text of the response to see whether the MoD or the newspaper screwed this up. My money is on the newspaper, since they also seem to think a targeting pod is a "missile system" and that falling off the pylon of a stationary aircraft is the same as "plunging." (Also, man, I don't want to be the last troop who inspected the mounting on that pod. That's a grade-A f-up right there.)
With experience on fast jets, I'm kind of doubting the truth on the pod - its mounted about 60-80 cm above the ground, so even if it 'dropped' off, while parked, it wouldnt be a write off.
Now not correctly mounting it, and have it 'drop-off' at 90 mph on the runway - would be a write off...I dont think anyone would dare to have lost it airborne, and claimed it just dropped off..... or would they.......
Take your pick.
And yes at least 2 people will have checked that pod on fitting it, and the groundcrew on the day, and the aircrew on the day.......so at least 5 people.....
Reminds me of the day we stuck a wingtip into the hangar wall, the hangar wall won... I was on the OTHER wingtip, I still got a b***cking from our grumpy old WO.
