Tango01 | 21 May 2016 3:59 p.m. PST |
…Warning To The Country's Enemies. "Britain's enemies will 'think twice' before they start a war after watching the biggest ever Royal Navy ship coming over the horizon, its captain said yesterday. Speaking aboard aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth – which is 72,000 tons and 932 feet long – Captain Simon Petitt said he was standing on the most 'potent' conventional weapon against Islamic State. Next year it will deploy for sea trials before most likely heading to the Gulf, where it will take the most advanced stealth fighter jet in the world – the F-35B Lightening II jet – to the fight…" See here link Amicalement Armand |
20thmaine | 21 May 2016 4:26 p.m. PST |
Right – but at the moment the UK has only 2 F-35s. And intends to have 24 by 2023. So I'm not sure it'll be going to the Gulf in 2017 with anything more potent than RAF harriers and Army attack helicopters. The UK currently has zero naval fixed wing attack aircraft (unless there's something I've forgotten ?). Oh…that link is to the Daily Mail…that explains everything. |
Mako11 | 21 May 2016 5:23 p.m. PST |
Ummmm, I hate to point out the obvious, but an "aircraft carrier" without aircraft, isn't…….. Plus, the soonest the F-35 is supposed to have a working gun is 2022, since the software for that hasn't been written yet. Still, I'm sure the jihadis are trembling in their boots, since the large vessel could ram any of their naval vessels, and sink them to the bottom. Oh, wait, that's right, they don't have any sea going vessels I'm aware of, just the odd, riverine craft. Never mind……. |
GROSSMAN | 21 May 2016 6:44 p.m. PST |
He had me right up until the point he said F-35… |
Scafcom1 | 21 May 2016 9:29 p.m. PST |
The RAF retired their Harriers in 2011, selling them to the US Marine Corps. |
Rod I Robertson | 21 May 2016 11:40 p.m. PST |
Wait! Aren't British Harriers right hand drive? |
GarrisonMiniatures | 21 May 2016 11:59 p.m. PST |
Yeah, but that's OK – most people are right handed. |
Big Martin Back | 22 May 2016 2:06 a.m. PST |
Lightning not Lightening. It's not getting lighter! |
Gaz0045 | 22 May 2016 2:34 a.m. PST |
No planes, but you can fit a lot of riflemen on the deck……..'front rank fire! Rear rank fire!'…….just got park it a tad closer……….. Oooh its got Phalanx 30mm CIWS too………real stand off weaponry. |
Mako11 | 22 May 2016 3:17 a.m. PST |
Perhaps they can have a Flugtag contest, and arm all the entrants with unguided rockets, or small diameter bombs, just in case. |
GarrisonMiniatures | 22 May 2016 9:21 a.m. PST |
The real truth is that we're not bothered about manned aircraft, we're just going to have dozens of drones flying around. |
willlucv | 22 May 2016 12:23 p.m. PST |
What is he supposed to say? "Hi I'm in charge of this thing, sorry we started building it years ago when we thought it might be useful, plus unfortunately we've had to sell the aircraft we were going to fly from it to pay the gas bill" |
15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 22 May 2016 1:03 p.m. PST |
USMC F-35B's are supposed to operate from the two new UK carriers until the RN achieves its own operational capability. |
Only Warlock | 22 May 2016 4:50 p.m. PST |
Good lord, the F-35 guns are already operational. If you look around there are ready dozens of Youtube videos of it firing accurately in flight. I am getting deathly tired of the uninformed hair pulling about the F-35. The only thing bad about it is that it's expensive. |
Mako11 | 22 May 2016 6:42 p.m. PST |
Firing the guns isn't the same as being mated to the software/HUD to make them more likely to hit their target, during high-G maneuvers in combat. I'm just going by US Defense Department's, and/or Pentagon's own statements, made late last year, and/or earlier this year, saying that the software won't be written for it until 2022. |
Tgerritsen | 22 May 2016 8:23 p.m. PST |
Except that according to the program's documents and the development team's own statements the gun will be online in 2017. link |
Jemima Fawr | 23 May 2016 6:43 a.m. PST |
Warlock, These people only believe what they read on the internet. I, on the other hand, know an F-35B pilot, two F-35B armourers, an F-35B air defence tech, two flight ops officers involved with F-35B and a senior officer heavily involved in bringing it into RAF service… But they apparently know as far as the internet-powered aviation experts here are concerned… |
Supercilius Maximus | 24 May 2016 8:53 a.m. PST |
Aaaah – for a moment there I thought you were going to tell us you have one of your own, parked on the front lawn. |
Jemima Fawr | 26 May 2016 10:10 a.m. PST |
We did have a Hunter, but sold it 10 years ago… |