Posts by Will 9 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Jul 2007
High Supersonic speed tunnels do not use fans as a more conventional low speed tunnel would. Instead they work on a pressure difference between a very high pressure vessel and a very low pressure vessel. As a result you tend to have a system that will have a run time of say up to a minute (about as long as the contraption worked, co-incidence?) rather than continuously. Essentially the faster you want a wind tunnel the shorter time it is going to run for.
On the missile front, that is not too far beyond the performance MDBA get out of the throttle able solid rocket motor fitted to the Meteor (see your local Wikipedia for more [probably inaccurate] details).
When Lewis Page started out on the topic of bomb disposal his pieces were well informed and interesting, however as his horizons have broadened to include defence procurement, we've ended up with uninformed tripe.
Every article about the UK military seems to be pushing a pro army agenda even though the defence budget is fairly evenly spread between the three services. Not to mention the huge number of UORs being pushed through (which incidentally is part of the reason the MoD budget doesn't balance!)
This sums it up for me:
"PAAMS is mostly French and Italian, though BAE electronics is also used. Most of the UK taxpayers' money for the Type 45 project is not going on hiring young Scotsmen (and perhaps a few women) to work steel on the Clyde - it's hiring Frenchies and Italians to build complex electronics and aerospace components, genuine high-added value work which might be viable for rich Westerners in the 21st century. (The UK version of PAAMS is about to undergo its first end-to-end tests. In France, of course.)"
This paragraph is actually just wrong, incorrect, bullshit. This mysterious company of dirty Frenchies and Italians is called Mantra BAe Dynamics Alenia or MBDA. Note the BAe part of that name, yes a quick google reveals 3000 UK employees, spread across 3 sites, only one of which actually makes missiles, the rest designing them.
The whole point of MBDA in the UK and Team Complex Weapons (google it Lewis) is to retain the capability in the UK. It was one of the main points of Lord Drayson's Defence Industrial Strategy... remember him, the guy you slated in this article for cosying up to industry?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/27/brown_mod_finance_treasury_arms_tech_biz_cauldron/
Please let the madeness end El Reg!
In brief..
"Hundreds of exorbitantly expensive Eurofighter jets will arrive, and a dozen airliner-sized MRA4 Nimrod subhunter planes which - horrifyingly - are to be even worse value"
MRA4 is not just a subhunter, it will join the MR2 over Iraq and Afghanistan providing high value ISTAR assets for the Army.. just about everyone wants to add some system or other to them. But then it doesn't say this on the Wikipedia page so feel free to spout crap.
"and the MoD seriously needs to make up its mind about replacing large parts of the Army's antiquated combat vehicle fleet."
So we're ignoring the Mastiffs that are already in service in Iraq then? Or the other vehicles that have been bought in in spite of FRES not being complete?
"Quite apart from all that, there are two large wars going on overseas, which mostly call for entirely different things: most notably infantrymen, but also unmanned surveillance and weapons drones, satellite bandwidth, close air support and - above all - transport aircraft, both helicopters and fixed-wing. Of all the new multibillion pound projects currently in the pipeline, only the carrier jump-jets and the new Army vehicles have much relevance to Iraq and Afghanistan. Hard-pressed fighting commanders right now would probably swap even these for more troops and more aircraft to move them around in."
Yes we know the army are working hard, but try for some balance man! The biggest mistake made in defence over the years has been to buy kit for the wars you fight today and neglect other assets. The simple fact is that if the UK is to maintain it's independent ability to create a taskforce to do what it pleases this assets are vital.
Actually you know what, I give up carry on, i'll just ignore the articles...
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