US military buys entire fleet of harriers

[PAH]

Time to batten down the hatches, use the forces for defence of UK and its interests and nothing more. Existing tornados and typhoon can handle that no problem.

Yep. Just the Falklands to worry about defending now the argies are looking for an excuse to kick off again now there looks to be some oil worth getting.

Latest being that Prince William's upcoming visit is bordering on an act of aggression.

[Troll]

But they can buy more Eurofighters, which no one else is buying and apparently got stuffed in a test exercise against the Pakistani airforce flying F-16s

More on the F16 vs Typhoon story from the PP forum

Pakistan F16 vs Typhoon. Reality or tall tales? (merged) - PPRuNe Forums

[lukemg]

Sounds like a cracking bit of business to me. If it also allows us to say 'sorry, can't help you invade another dust-blown tuliphole, no planes pal' then that is to be encouraged.
Time to batten down the hatches, use the forces for defence of UK and its interests and nothing more. Existing tornados and typhoon can handle that no problem.

[Troll]

But they can buy more Eurofighters, which no one else is buying and apparently got stuffed in a test exercise against the Pakistani airforce flying F-16s

Word on the street is the Bob Airforce may be about to purchase

BBC News - BAE job cuts: Eurofighter Typhoon order due from India

But don't hold your breath in case it's just wishful thinking

If it does happen expect massive technology transfer clauses to be part of the negotiations (how long did it take them to buy the Hawk?)

[PAH]

How is it we're supposed to depend on French A/C carriers

A mate in the navy told me to ignore the press reports as he saw a navy aircraft carrier in operation recently, so we've got one left until the new ones are ready.

Looks like it's HMS Illustrious. Though looks to be a helicopter carrier than aircraft carrier now.

HMS Illustrious - The Armed Forces Community


HMS Illustrious arrived at Rosyth in early February 2010 to commence a Maintenance and Upgrade Programme at a cost of approximately £40m. The programme was designed to make it possible for Illustrious to carry a Commando Group of some 600 Royal Marine Commandos, their equipment and a helicopter force, either Merlin’s or the Sea King, and deliver the Group into either an exercise or operational area. Other work carried out during the programme included the installation of a new computer and communications system and defensive anti-torpedo system, the application of a fuel-efficient outer hull coating that is designed to make Illustrious more fuel efficient with subsequent fuel savings and reduction of CO2 emissions and improvements consistent with lowering the vessels environmental ‘footprint’ – including a reverse osmosis fresh water making system.

With the programme completed after 16 months HMS Illustrious left Rosyth Dockyard on 20th June 2011 to complete initial sea safety training and preliminary sea trials before returning to her home port of Portsmouth on 8th July. Although not scheduled to be ready for operational commitments until 2012 it would appear that with the Apache Gunships of 664 Squadron Army Air Corps operating from Illustrious’ flight deck in mid July that preparations to deploy to the coastal area of Northern Libya on Operation ‘ELLAMY’ are being seriously considered – possibly to relieve HMS Ocean within a short space of time.

[Spacecadet]

A vertical take off jet fighter that can land on a postage stamp, should surely be selling like hot cakes. I never understood why everyone isn't using them.

Because in practice the vertical take off never gets used as it uses too much fuel and AFAIK is impossible with a fully tooled up Harrier.
Then there are the other design comprimises which have to be made which end up with an aircraft which sits somewhere between an apache helicopter and a fully fledged fighter aircraft but is nowhere near as good as either of them.

The yanks already run a lot of Harriers so it make sense for them to buy them up. If nothing else, it gives them a source of spare parts

[doodab]

A vertical take off jet fighter that can land on a postage stamp, should surely be selling like hot cakes. I never understood why everyone isn't using them.

I believe they are relatively difficult (and hence expensive) to maintain and have a high accident rate. They are also relatively slow compared to say a Mig 29, SU 27, or Mirage 2000 and also relatively expensive I expect.

[BlasterBates]

A vertical take off jet fighter that can land on a postage stamp, should surely be selling like hot cakes. I never understood why everyone isn't using them.

[darmstadt]

Harrier jump jets culled in Britain find sanctuary in US | UK news | The Guardian

madmad

Can't even begin to express my disappointment with Dave and Gideon. How is it we're supposed to depend on French A/C carriers when Dave attacks them on ever other front?

Double doomed.

But they can buy more Eurofighters, which no one else is buying and apparently got stuffed in a test exercise against the Pakistani airforce flying F-16s

[scooterscot]

Harrier jump jets culled in Britain find sanctuary in US | UK news | The Guardian

madmad

Can't even begin to express my disappointment with Dave and Gideon. How is it we're supposed to depend on French A/C carriers when Dave attacks them on ever other front?

Double doomed.

The Royal Navy's entire fleet of Harrier jump jets, the British plane controversially scrapped in last year's defence review, has been saved – by the US military.

All 74 of the planes, which were permanently grounded by the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), are to fly again for the US marines, in a deal that is expected to be closed within a week.

The Ministry of Defence said negotiations were continuing but were in their final stages. And reports in the US suggested the marines were already confidently preparing for the Harriers' arrival.

The sale of the Harriers is bound to raise fresh questions about the wisdom of retiring the much-admired aircraft, which the Americans intend to use until 2025.

Speaking to the NavyTimes, Rear Admiral Mark Heinrich, chief of the US navy's supply corps, said buying the Harriers made sense because many of the jets had been recently upgraded, and the US already had pilots who could fly them.

"We're taking advantage of all the money the Brits have spent on them," he said. "It's like we're buying a car with maybe 15,000 miles on it. These are very good platforms. And we've already got trained pilots."

The US military already has its own fleet of Harriers, and converting the British planes to fire American missiles can be done relatively easily.

The price of the deal has not been disclosed, but Heinrich said the US was paying $50m (£32m) for spare parts alone.

The British Harriers have been kept in storage at RAF Cottesmore, in Rutland, where they have been maintained prior to sale.

Their retirement was criticised when the SDSR was published, last year, and again when British forces became involved in operations to defend Libyan civilians during the country's revolution.

The MoD has maintained, however, that it had no choice, because of cost-cutting forced upon a department where budgets were out of control.

Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a critic of SDSR, said: "The issue is not that the US marines are buying the Harriers: it's that the US still thinks that the Harriers are viable aircraft. They still think there is a need for them."

The MoD said it was negotiating the best deal it could, and that scrapping the Harrier would save hundreds of millions of pounds over the next decade.