Russia

[Sheaf Saint]

31 minutes ago, egg said:

You're comparing apples with kebabs there mate. We buy a lot of overpriced American stuff with a weak pound. They are not paying those prices, and their rubles go a lot further than our pounds. 

Wait, are you suggesting that Russia could do / have done much more with the estimated £71bn we will spend on F-35s over their lifetime?

OK, point taken.

[skintsaint]

55 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Wait, are you suggesting that Russia could do / have done much more with the estimated £71bn we will spend on F-35s over their lifetime?

Certainly would have lined the pockets of superiors nicely.

Isn't the lifetime of the jets until 2070 or something? I'm sure it doesn't work out too bad if you spread it out versus the MOD budget per year.

[Lighthouse]

2 hours ago, egg said:

You're comparing apples with kebabs there mate. We buy a lot of overpriced American stuff with a weak pound. They are not paying those prices, and their rubles go a lot further than our pounds. 

If more than a third of those supposed 806 fighter/interceptors are combat airworthy, I'll eat one of them. Russia has nothing that can lay a glove on an F35, their planes get shot down by second hand, eighties built F16s.

[AlexLaw76]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

If more than a third of those supposed 806 fighter/interceptors are combat airworthy, I'll eat one of them. Russia has nothing that can lay a glove on an F35, their planes get shot down by second hand, eighties built F16s.

We have some F35s (numbers procured about to be cut again), but almost a non existent supply chain behind it, and virtually no weapons for anything other than the odd strike against a soft target.

of course, the USA on the other hand….

oh, as the UK is about to “retire” a whole bunch of typhoons, so they can come off the list.

you don’t want to see the state of the RN, or the state of the hollowed out army we have left.

[egg]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

We have some F35s (numbers procured about to be cut again), but almost a non existent supply chain behind it, and virtually no weapons for anything other than the odd strike against a soft target.

of course, the USA on the other hand….

oh, as the UK is about to “retire” a whole bunch of typhoons, so they can come off the list.

you don’t want to see the state of the RN, or the state of the hollowed out army we have left.

It doesn't sound like our huge military spend stretches as far as Russia's...

[AlexLaw76]

9 minutes ago, egg said:

It doesn't sound like our huge military spend stretches as far as Russia's...

Absolutely not, an example.

The 6th Astute Class submarine is not that long out of build. It has taken 12 years to get to this point. Not 12 years for 6 of these, but 12 years for just the 6th boat.

Once the 7th, and final, boat is fully tested and operational, it will have been about 29 years since steel was cut on the first boat.

29 years!

Due to time taken, costs have risen by an astronomical amount, and the 7th was nearly canned.
 

For comparison to the 29 years it will take to complete the Astute Class, the entire Trafalgar Class  (7 boats) were all done in 12 years (the time taken to build the last lest SM alone)

the logistical and industrial base is just almost non-existent, compared to a time not that long ago.

even the flag waving of increased defence spending (we are on a war footing after all), much of that will be consumed with more clever accounting, and laden the MoD with additional costs (Chagos, for example)

Edited 17 hours ago by AlexLaw76

[skintsaint]

38 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

oh, as the UK is about to “retire” a whole bunch of typhoons, so they can come off the list.

'bunch' = 4 planes in two years time.

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/mod-sets-out-retirement-and-fleet-numbers-for-typhoon/

[AlexLaw76]

13 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

'bunch' = 4 planes in two years time.

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/mod-sets-out-retirement-and-fleet-numbers-for-typhoon/

It is part of the ongoing retirement of 30 in total. Those 30 have no replacement.