UK MOD in a muddle over F-35C

[marsavian]

Longer videos of QE joining POW at Portsmouth

https://youtu.be/cFjTbqvDeY0



https://youtu.be/dtTxUkM7Tds

[spazsinbad]

LAGGERS may have noted that the three episode BBC Doco about F-35B Trials aboard QE in late 2018 have been removed.

Don't despair - some clips have been made available by THE BEEB (and of course someone unknown to this forumbubble).

Britain's Biggest Warship: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b08zfk/clips

BIRD DOWN INTAKE: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07wzk6s

Wizzer talks about 1st SRVL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07rr3zk

Nate Grey talks about SKIdeJUMPY: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p065hr18
____________________________________________

Here are clips also from the three part doco before it was removed from YouTube - they are at front of YOUTUBE channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwqC_s ... subscriber

[spazsinbad]

What is RONG in this photo (screenshot at about 3:25 in BirdStrike clip above)?

[blindpilot]

What is RONG in this photo (screenshot at about 3:25 in BirdStrike clip above)?

I'm at a lost as to what your point is.

Both chair and shoulder have Commander insignia. Not that these matter often times in the Royal Navy. QE's first Captain was a Commodore by grade, and yet wore captain's insignia when serving, so I don't put much thought in how the Royal Navy does such things. Unless your point is something other than the grade insignia?

MHO,
BP

[spazsinbad]

IT is not fair that this question has been asked however clues are contained in the title of the photo and it is obscure. In the Royal (Australian) Navy these rank 'boards' must be worn as shown (left and right opposite). Otherwise the wearer is deemed 'going astern' and must buy drinks for everyone able to see this uniform atrocity.

[blindpilot]

IT is not fair that this question has been asked however clues are contained in the title of the photo and it is obscure. In the Royal (Australian) Navy these rank 'boards' must be worn as shown (left and right opposite). Otherwise the wearer is deemed 'going astern' and must buy drinks for everyone able to see this uniform atrocity.

Aaah! Learn something every day.

BP

[quicksilver]

What’s up w the Jaguar stitching on the headrest?

[doge]

BIRD DOWN INTAKE: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07wzk6s

Birrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[spazsinbad]

CMDR AIR in 'is CHAIR: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... 5511ecfc95

RN / UK Gubmint seem to have a strange relationship with industry. Also RN or someone want to make money from others (witness having to pay for RN Navy News for gorsake).

"...Wrapped in a livery that mimics an F-35B jet, a Jaguar F-Type has taken pride of place for a photo debut on the flight deck of the new aircraft carrier alongside the inspiration for its alternative look.... & ...While British engineering is the clear focus here, there are even deeper ties between Jaguar Land Rover and HMS Queen Elizabeth. The car manufacturer played a supporting role in events for the aircraft carrier and even provided some components – including the captain’s chair...." https://content.assets.pressassociation ... 0x427.jpeg & https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/mot ... -showcase/

[spazsinbad]

From e-mail but BLOODY CRABS again....

[jetblast16]

BIRD DOWN INTAKE: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07wzk6s

Birrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Um ... ouch?

[spazsinbad]

Royal Navy carrier strike development – the next 18 months
12 Dec 2019 SaveTheRoyalNavy

"...QNLZ will undergo another capability insertion period and maintenance over the next few months as she prepares for the next step in developing Carrier-Enabled Power Projection (CEPP). In April she will undergo further operational sea training before going straight into Exercise Crimson Ocean in June.

Crimson Ocean, held in UK waters and the Eastern Atlantic and will be an operationally focussed exercise. UK-owned F-35s will continue to develop their carrier aviation and warfare skills and build on the initial work done during 2019. Westlant 19 demonstrated the logistic capability to support the Lightning Force and the ability to launch, arm and repair the jets. The uploading and downloading of digital mission data to between the aircraft and the ship was also proven. [Commander UK Carrier Strike Group, Commodore Mike Utley] confirmed “all the marks had been hit” during the Operational Testing period off the US and that there had been good progress in understanding how to integrate the carrier, supporting ships and the aircraft together.

Soon after Crimson Ocean, Exercise Crimson Flag will be held at RAF Marham in Autumn 2020 which will see USMC and UK Lightning jets conduct synthetic live combat training together. RN helicopters will also participate in this land-based exercise as the ‘CV Wing’ works up more complex flying scenarios.

There will be a further GroupEx in the Autumn involving the complete UK Carrier Strike group comprising HMS Queen Elizabeth and escorting warships. After Christmas leave there will be simulation exercises and a final safety and certification exercise before the UKCSG achieves initial operating capability (IOC) and sets out for the first operational deployment in May 2021 (CSG21)….

…8 plus 8 and 24 in ’24…
Utley also put to bed much of the speculation and guesswork about aircraft numbers. CSG21 will involve “8 plus 8” Lightning jets. The fixed-wing element of the CV wing will comprise 16 aircraft – 8 UK jets from 617 Squadron and 8 US Marine Corps jets of VMFA-211. The Commodore also stated that ultimately the intention is to have “24 in 24”, ie. 24 jets will routinely embark on the deployed carrier from 2024.

A Statement of Intent document was signed 10 years at government level to have USMC assets integrated in UK carrier strike operations. This is breaking new ground and will be a first for both nations. The USMC jets will be under UK tactical command, although a senior US national representative will be on board, presumably able to veto their involvement if not in line with national objectives.... Whether USMC rotary-wing assets including the V-22 Osprey, could be involved in CSG21 are still under discussion and “nothing is off the table”.

Both aircraft carriers will remain alongside in Portsmouth until sometime in February 2020 when HMS Prince of Wales will sail for part 2 sea trials. PWLS will conduct helicopter trials and crew training throughout 2020 before embarking jets for the first time in 2021. She will carry out more demanding SRVL trials with the F-35 off the US coast."

Photo: "The Royal Navy now has two aircraft carriers in commission. (Photo: Andy Amor)
" https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/wp-con ... -Wales.jpg

Source: https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/royal- ... 18-months/

HMS Queen Elizabeth's Moorhouse on UK Supercarrier's US Deployment DefAero 05 Dec 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIm6JmL8xBU
"Captain Moorhouse speaking about the achievements of the Westlant 19 deployment, November 2019."

[marsavian]

The two carriers are about to face their biggest political threat, the Prime Minister's chief policy guru - Dominic Cummings.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... ing-review
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news ... -2gsdzs9v5

Boris Johnson’s most senior aide is to overhaul the way the Ministry of Defence spends billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money in a move expected to alarm military chiefs and mandarins.

Dominic Cummings, regarded as a key architect of the prime minister’s election victory, will tackle military procurement as a priority for next year, allies have said.

He is expected to audit recent purchases and review the development of costly military equipment, having previously described MoD procurement as “disastrous”.

The aide has scorned “mediocre” officials and alleged corruption within the system. The acquisition of two aircraft carriers, at a cost of £6.2 billion, has been a specific focus of his concern.

One cabinet minister sought yesterday to play down the significance of Mr Cummings’s involvement in the defence review, but the revelation is likely to cause anxiety among senior military figures.

A defence source said last night that although there was agreement that the processes needed reform, the armed forces would be concerned by Mr Cummings taking a leading role. “We have an early 20th-century system for a 21st-century world,” the insider said. “It requires review, but that should be carried out by people with expertise in procurement rather than in politics.”

Mr Johnson’s robust rhetoric about the review has raised eyebrows among mandarins, and the involvement of Mr Cummings, who has sketched out some views on defence in a private blog, is likely to be met with trepidation.

In a post published in March, before he joined the government, the former Vote Leave campaign director hit out at the programme to build the carriers, the second of which was commissioned last week.

https://dominiccummings.com/2019/03/01/ ... gi-safety/

"I wrote in 2004 about the farce of the UK aircraft carrier procurement story (and many others have warned similarly). Regardless of elections, the farce has continued to squander billions of pounds, enriching some of the worst corporate looters and corrupting public life via the revolving door of officials/lobbyists. Scrutiny by our MPs has been contemptible. They have built platforms that already cannot be sent to a serious war against a serious enemy. A teenager will be able to deploy a drone from their smartphone to sink one of these multi-billion dollar platforms. Such a teenager could already take out the stage of a Downing Street photo op with a little imagination and initiative, as I wrote about years ago."

Advocates of the carriers reject concerns about their vulnerability, insisting that they are crucial to Britain’s projection of hard power.

Mr Cummings’s involvement in the defence review is likely to bring their future into question and revive rumours, recently dismissed by Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, that at least one carrier could be sold to an ally or put into storage.

[spazsinbad]

via E-mail: THE STOmobile - just in time for Xmas. LAPSe PHoTog Tyme.

[spazsinbad]

F-35 Lightning taking off from HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth Harbour UK - 16 December 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8QPL2Vklf0