
Twat tweets twite.
31 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Oct 2009
"Globally deployable"? Really? As long as no-one minds if we overfly their airspace.
The point that seems to be being missed by several country miles is that whilst the aircraft type is important, surely the effectiveness of the asset as a whole is more important.
A carrier, even our little ski-jump jobs, with a full air group embarked, is a far more effective and quickly deployable solution to a wider range of scenarios than trying arrange overflight or base facilities with the nearest friendly state.
Yes, Harrier is/was quite elderly and on the small side but more than made up for that in manoeuvrability and operational flexibility.
Tornado is past it, indeed was never really up to it from the start. Too low and too slow.
Typhoon is fast and pretty. See the shiny-shiny, don't look at the price tag.
Shall we discreetly ignore Tornado's unfortunate proclivity for burying itself in the scenery for no (publicly admitted) reason. Along with Typhoon's galactic costs, (built, re-designed, re-built, re-built again properly, still NFU)?
Probably for the best.
As for politicians ability to understand even the basics of effective defence requirement, forget it. It ain't happening any time soon. The present collection of drones, chair warmers and oxygen thieves occupying the Palace of Westminster seem to regard defence as an optional extra.
Excuse me now whilst I go and chew the carpet.
On Medical Students
We have tried telling them, we have tried not-quite-patronising interactive training with a shiny certificate at the end of it, we have cajoled, coaxed, threatened and beseeched them not to remove unencrypted patient data from NHS premises.
We have warned them of the possible consequences of failure as this is not just another Trust Policy but the law of the land!
All to no avail.
Medical students tend to regard absolute rules and laws as, at best, guidelines, applicable to the common herd of course, but not to them personally.
If Healthcare Trusts are to be fined for the idiocy of students, then same Trust should have the right to Beat Them With a Stout Stick.
It will give the F1's on A&E rotation something to practice on. (And possibly learn a valuable lesson?)
Yes, yes, I'm taking my medication now............
collateral damage (accidental casualties caused by mis-directed fire, blast boundary effects or malfunctioning ordnance), with a war crime,(Israeli Defence Force soldiers deliberately shooting unarmed civilians).
I take your point though and share your worries, the usual US Rules of Engagement (shoot anything that moves, then shoot it some more, then check identifying markings/IFF, then say sorry) do not fill me with confidence.
Defence procurement in the UK has been an unspeakable mess for as long as anyone cares to remember, with feather-bedded contracts given to produce badly designed, barely usable equipment. For example the SA80 idea had been around since since the late 1940s but only finally entered service in the mid '80s. A 40 year development for something that was much worse than the weapon it replaced! (Although the optical is sight quite good).
On the other hand, TSR2 was killed early in development even though it was streets ahead of anything else at the time.
Royal Navy carriers (remember those?) had 3D RADAR systems in 1968 but not in 1982 and probably still don't.
Buying suitable kit at a bargain price from a willing overseas supplier isn't a new idea. In 1855 the War Office purchased a job-lot of cavalry sabres (made in 1796) from Germany to equip heavy dragoons for the Crimean War. Admittedly, the technology didn't go out of date quite so quickly in those days but you take my point.
Just in case you were wondering, no, I don't think Lewis Page is always 100% right but he's usually 94% right and that's good enough.
I speak as one who, like Lewis, (same service but a generation earlier) has been there, done that and have the scars & medals to prove it.
Our service personnel deserve better but continue to deliver, despite the efforts of politicians, civil servants and Very Senior Officers (who should know better).
Nice to see comrade Chavez posting on the Reg. Mad as a bag of bats!
He seems not to have noticed that the Reg and it's many attendant correspondents feel free to point and laugh and politicians of ALL species. Not just a particular genus.
Although those arising from questionable democratic processes (George W Bush, Muammar Gaddafi, our own dear Hugo) are usually the more amusing.
(Nice day for a barbecue, I need the flame).
Think how p*ssed off the BBC and their fellow doom mongers are, because the sky is still stubbornly refusing to fall.
My only fear is that they will put Robert Peston on the story, then we really will be doomed!
Seriously though, thank you for what appears to be the only objective coverage of this matter.
This is the problem when you understand the words of a language but not necessarily the contextual meaning.
Combine with the Great British Sense of Humour, (which can be impenetrable to Daily Mail readers, let alone foreigners), and further amusement is inevitable!
Cue much harrumphing from the usual quarters, whilst in the background you hear lawyers booking an extra holiday. Possibly ordering a new car too.
These would be urban operations where you don't need to fire from cover at a right-handed corner.
Did no-one notice that you can only use this thing off the right (as in: not left) shoulder? I for one have been happy to put up with brass bouncing of my head! (Yes, it was an SLR, long, long ago).
No argument about SUSAT, just put a decent rifle under it, say H&K G3 and life could be much happier, even though ammunition scale will be heavier.
As I noted before, Nimrod class defence technology.
Just when you thought airport security couldn't be any more ridiculous than it already is!
Where do they find these idiots and why do they give them jobs?
One can only assume they struggle with such polysyllabic words as "reasonable" and "proportionate".
FYI guys, a firearm is a weapon capable of discharging a projectile that is propelled by gases produced by a rapidly burning, or instantaneously decomposing chemical compound.
Hence "fire", the "arm" bit is a contraction of "Armament".
Three inch long inert pieces of plastic are rarely, if ever, any of these things.
So now you know.........