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4thwatch

Thank you for yuor excellent and clear cut summary of where we come from, we are and where we by inference should be headed. I hope it is widely circulated amongst the political classes because it encapsulates what they need to understand about the Navy in a way that should not stretch their attention span. It may be a bit techie for some but may prompt further enquiry, who knows?

jimi

WE NEED MAN POWER, FACT. MORE MAN POWER AND MORE PAY.

Tex Marshall

Just stability, stop crash drafting everyone, assigned to a ship for 5 years, not just for a deployment. The pay isnt bad, the service just a needs to modernise, ditch old outdated traditions that are getting in the way and move forward.

adam

You will find that HMS DARING was the first asset of any nation on scene in the Philippines, therefore, HMS ILLUSTRIOUS was not the only RN asset to attend.

Tex Marshall

It was pure luck the ship was not too far away, anyother time of the year and it would of been no assets in the area to assit

Tex Marshall

This what happens when you allow politicians to run the government for their own agenda by cutting public assets and personnel in order to increase their own pay by 11%.

Stephen O'Brien

The increase in real terms of the overseas aid budget beggars belief when the defence of this country is at a critical state. Would it not be a good idea to have a illustrious class carrier crewed by r.n. personal to be used for emergencies with helicopters, medical and specialists that could be paid for from the aid budget and taken back into service by the r.n. in times of trouble?

Anonymous

Great analytical article – I throw in the fact that the Manpower problem was exasperated with Pay 2000 – the billions of pounds taken from Soldiers,Sailors and Airmens pay packets since its introduction helped pay for the QE Class and that the facts!

The 2015 SDSR will be all about money, and how much can be allotted for the F-35, without having to consequently damage other important MoD objectives…

The most recent annual reports out of the US’s Government Accountability Office regarding the F-35 project, as usual raise concerns about the project’s disproportionate and enormous development costs as well as anticipated unit purchase price and operating costs …. and the consequential negative effects on that country’s Department of Defense:

“F-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER, Observations on Program Progress”, April 14-2015:
http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/669605.pdf (12-pages)

“F-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER, Assessment Needed to Address Affordability Challenges”, March-2015:
http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/669619.pdf (43 pages)

Can the UK expect anything different??
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F-35B fighter Heat, Noise- Issues For UK Carriers??

How will the UK’s planned new big deck aircraft carriers deal with the unexpected, but significant, problems that US Navy carriers are having in accommodating and deploying the undergoing-development F-35B fixed-wing fighter?

The F-35B is the only model of fixed-wing fighter that the MoD plans to deploy from the new carriers…

US Navy carriers are having to be be extensively re-fitted and customized with costly, high-tech fixes to enable the F-35B fighter to operate from their decks…

The F-35B produces so much heat and noise, that without these modifications (when landing and taking off) the aircraft would burn holes in ships’ decks, and deafen crew members working below ships’ flight decks…

Also, the F-35B (Pratt and Whitney F135 engine) produces so much blast under ‘normal’ flight operations- while on ships’ decks- vital equipment is having to be moved and protected with custom-reinforced jet blast deflectors…

What is the UK MoD doing to deal with the F-35B heat, noise and extreme jet blast issues??

1) “(US) Navy to Commission Amphib Designed for F-35s:
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/10/09/navy-to-commission-amphib-designed-for-f-35s-and-no-well-deck.html

“Some of the modifications involve fortifying the ship’s deck such that it can withstand the heat generated by the vertical take-off and landing of the F-35B… “

2) “(US) Navy Prepares Amphibs for F-35B’s First Deployment in 2018”:
http://www.dodbuzz.com/2015/04/08/navy-prepares-amphibs-for-f-35bs-first-deployment-in-2018/

“The (US Navy) ship’s going through hull, mechanical and electrical mods for the F-35, including environmental mods. Some of it is deck related and some of it is lighting related. It lands on the deck differently than the Harrier,” Walsh said.

“The (54,000 tonne) USS America will undergo a series of intense modifications to ensure the flight deck can withstand the heat of the F-35B vertical take-offs-and-landings.

“Navy engineers are installing a new heat-resistant material designed to prevent heat from the aircraft’s engines from burning a hole in the flight deck, Navy officials said.

“The flight deck modifications entail adding intercostal structural members underneath flight deck landing spots numbers seven and nine, a Navy official said.

“With the added structure, these two landing spots will provide the capability to perform closely timed cyclic flight operations with the F-35B without overstressing the flight deck…”

3) “USMC, Navy Prepare For JSF C5I Needs”:
http://aviationweek.com/awin-only/usmc-navy-prepare-jsf-c5i-needs

4) “U.S. Navy Details Ship Mods Required For F-35”:
http://aviationweek.com/awin/us-navy-details-ship-mods-required-f-35

5) “SNA 2014: Heat From F-35, MV-22 Continue to Plague Big Deck Amphibs”:
http://news.usni.org/2014/01/15/sna-2014-heat-f-35-mv-22-continue-plague-big-deck-amphibs
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