DB

Some video of engagements show that the closing speeds for chase engagements can be very low e.g. using trainer-class propeller driven aircraft. In those circumstances, a rearward firing manpad could be quite dangerous, and definitely discouraging. Not so sure it's useful for forward arc engagements, unless these are to be used to counter surveillance drones where regular air defence isn't suitable.

Trump wants something else to stick his name on, and there must be room for a golf resort, after all it is "green".

Also, does anyone else recall Andres Vera, and the "Venezuela is heating up" thread?

If Russia had run this op, Maduro would have died at home in bed. Of old age. Edit: fixed awful typo.

RAF Training has been on the red list for about 12+ years. All the way up from the utter fiasco that was ther ab initio trainer replacement, which was inthe process of replacement 12 years ago to my knowledge, and not yet completed, with most University Air Squadrons being gapped for years, loss of instructors and even front line pilots running short of training time due to lack of airframes and allowed flight hours So no, the RAF took its own sweet time getting sorted out, and I'm not convinced it's there yet, with the idiotic desire to go American with everything because of the trips abroad and shiny, with no consideration for manufacturer accountability even during the procurement, let alone in the sustainment phase. For ships, it's amazing what a coherent and time-structured policy can do for retaining skills in the industry, and I think (hope) we're seeing the benefits of sticking with the CV builds to completion coming through in Type 26 for BAE, and hopefully follow-ons. I've yet to be convinced by Babcock with the Type 31.

Josh, I even cited that the Tico has a larger missile capacity on the same displacement. I don't see how you can draw any conclusions about survivability from a platform that superficially at least, looks almost exactly the same. Sure, the endurance is lower, but that implies *more* margin for other elements, and I doubt that it all goes on modern crew accomodation improvements, so if it's not in bunkerage, did they just waste it?

The F127 is supposed to be about slightly higher displacement but with lower bunkerage (4000nm vs 6000nm) compared to the Ticonderogas, which had 2x61 cell (and could have had 2x64 without the unused crane), 2x5" guns, and the SPY-1A, which almost certainy had a bigger mass and space take than the AN/SPY-6, or whatever they put into the F127. It's also notably larger than the Arleigh Burkes, which also manage to have space for 96 missiles. So, unless the Ticos and Burkes were compromised, I don't really see that being a valid concern.

Never really understood the concept that a male raping boys is worse than a male raping girls. Rape is rape, a minor is a minor. I guess what I'm saying is that I feel that having a sliding scale of deviance reaches its nadir long before you get to offences as severe as rape.

USS Tangerine Dream.

This is so funny.

The point is made, perhaps. But the "joke" serves only to attempt to drive a wedge between current allies. I imagine there's similar stuff related to the attack on the French fleet in North Africa.

Ultimately the issue is that youre expecting a device that is left in a warehouse for up to 20 years, maybe being bounced around in a truck multiple times overthe course of that life, then put into an artillery piece and fired at 100s if not 1000s of "g" to work perfectly (or rattle around on a pylon in an aircraft in sub-zero temperatures for a few hours for bombs). It's not easy being a bomb.

Firstly, Ajax hulls are built in Spain, not the UK. This aspect is a GD Santa Barbara issue, almost certainly compounded by a failure to have adequate QA checks between GD national entities. I imagine GD SB isn't losing money on this programme... Secondly - for Reasons it's cheaper to hire foreign ewelders and ship them literally half way round hte world than it is to have um, oh let me see... "apprenticeships". This is a current management/shareholder "value" issue than it is a legacy one. Now, why they wouldn't have an apprentice scheme for welders is an oddity - Babcock's apprentice schems aren't awful - I suspect they might have them, but they won't pay enough to get people out of the benefits hammock they're lounging in.

Now with 96 cells. https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2025/12/more-firepower-f127-frigates-to-be-armed-with-96-vertical-launch-cells/ Be interesting to see what the expected load out will be.

For a precision strike missile, actuators will fit in the same cost class as the guidance. There's also likely to be fuzing differences, because you'd likely want that to be more versatile than a simple impact or fixed altitude burst. And then there's warhead, because the precision means you might want to punch hard targets, and so on.