A jet powered British Harpy anyone?

Turns out this OWA that some people thought was a Ukrainian Palyayntsia missile was in fact a British drone called the Modini Dart 250....
The Palyanytsia is actually a cruise missile IMO given its 3.4kN engine (10% more than a Tomahawk engine), you don't need that kind of power for twatting about at drone speeds.
 
We're screwed, Labour have a great history of stopping programs iirc.

Tempest will be shelved, no more F-35 or Typhoon, small number of inappropriate replacements for Puma, One of the carriers sold or mothballed.

I hope not but....
...one could wait until there are actual facts rather than this sort of "the sky is falling" commentary.
 
...one could wait until there are actual facts rather than this sort of "the sky is falling" commentary.
You are totally right, i was just spouting rubbish, i'm hoping that given the world we live in programs will continue.

lets hope the defence review is positive and the money is made available
 
ABC-Spain 12/09/2024
Updated at 7:37 p.m.

1

Fourteen thousand preventable deaths a year. That's the figure highlighted by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine as the human cost of long waits in the public health service (NHS) emergency department in the UK. A devastating number that encapsulates the critical state of the country's health system, on the verge of collapse, and which is the central theme of a new report commissioned by the government from Lord Ara Darzi, a world-renowned surgeon and former head of Health. Their diagnosis leaves no room for doubt: the system is badly damaged, and the lack of investment since the 2010s has left the NHS in a position of deep vulnerability.
 
the lack of investment since the 2010s has left the NHS in a position of deep vulnerability.
The lack of funds since the banks screwed up on an epic scale and needed bailing out.... Fixing the problem requires some pain in the short term, which is decades.
 
The lack of funds since the banks screwed up on an epic scale and needed bailing out.... Fixing the problem requires some pain in the short term, which is decades.
We should all learn from the Italians: they charge a pizzo of two euros for every coin that tourists throw into the Trevi Fountain.
 

It appears that the current and previous governments were quite correct in withholding 200 million pounds of taxpayer money. The real question is whether Fleet Solid Support is going to get officially cut with the upcoming defense review. The 60% domestic UK content figure looks unworkable at this point and the RFA can’t man a single solid support ship let alone 3. Since the inception of FSS, two elderly Fort class ships were sold to Egypt, the 2 Wave class are laid up for eventually disposal and 1 Tide class is laid up, one is being overhauled and 2 are operational. It is doubtful that Fort Victoria can be crewed for the 2025 aircraft carrier deployment or will ever go to sea again. Even if the ongoing RFA strike is resolved, there is no guarantee that any settlement, no matter how favorable, will encourage enough RFA recruiting to cover the current fleet, let alone 3 FSS units.
 
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  1. Scrapping 100 outdated policies that currently block people from joining the military.
  2. Setting new targets for the Forces to reject or make a conditional offer to applicants within 10 days, and to give people a training start date within 30 days.
  3. Introducing a direct recruitment route for cyber specialists, particularly targeting top gamers and coders. “If you are a top gamer or coder, your country needs you,” Healey said.
 
A lot so summarise and it's a summary anyway. I'll comment on a point or two.


The Type 31 is also hopefully safe, although the follow-up Type 32 programme could now be further at risk or delayed well into the future as it’s unlikely to be considered a priority by the new government. Likewise, the proposed Type 45 replacement (Type 83 destroyers) are nothing more than an idea on a drawing board in reality, meaning they could also face the axe.

Mostly agree. The Type 32 requirement is uncertain, with some expecting it to be just a Type 31 Batch 2. Some have angled it as a drone mothership. If that's the case, and if (yes, two ifs in one sentence, so take with abundant salt) the MRSS is much like Steller Systems' Fearless concept (below), which has significant drone support capability, the Type 32 as drone support becomes redundant. The number of frigates though needs to increase, so Type 32 may likely be Type 31 Batch 2, maybe just not as many as planned.

Note this too:


The Type 45 will need to be replaced and while the Type 83 is an idea at this stage, it's requirement is imperative for fleet defence - especially ballistic missile defence. How much capacity do the Type 45s have for upgrades in capability?

Tempest/GCAP may face further delays, with anticipated entry to service currently set for 2035. However, this relies as much on the UK’s internal politics as it is on the two significant collaborators, Japan and Italy.

Actually I'm fairly confident about GCAP. There may be delays (almost certainly), but without second-guessing the review, the Starmer government has repeated expressed commitment to it. Again, it's needed, and as an international project with attendant political commitments, and with Japan at least very much in need of it to counter China, backtracking is very unlikely.

The Johnson government wanted to prioritise space and cyber over the army on the rationale that as a Western European island nation, ground-based defence was less of a priority - not considering obligations with allies and force projection. Possibly the review will have similar priorities if they have to choose between the awful and the catastrophic.

My guess is that the army will lose the most.

Note also point 3 in my previous post - recruitment is targeting cyber specialists.
 

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  1. Scrapping 100 outdated policies that currently block people from joining the military.
  2. Setting new targets for the Forces to reject or make a conditional offer to applicants within 10 days, and to give people a training start date within 30 days.
  3. Introducing a direct recruitment route for cyber specialists, particularly targeting top gamers and coders. “If you are a top gamer or coder, your country needs you,” Healey said.
Sounds good
 

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