Diamonds are forever and so is the history we make,those who fail to learn from history shall be doomed to repeat it,those who do not wish to repeat it should remember to visit old friends.
Showing posts with label HMS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HMS. Show all posts
Monday, 6 December 2021
Wednesday, 1 December 2021
Carrier Strike Group 21: The Point Of No Return
Rumour has it that the pilot of an aircraft from Her Majesty's Ship Queen Elizabeth recently got wet after passing the point of no return before noticing a problem,but he might have had a better chance of staying dry had he been using the full length of the flight deck.
Friday, 10 September 2021
Carrier Strike Group 21: The Republic Of Korea
As Her Majesty's Ship Queen Elizabeth approached the Republic of Korea she charmingly published a greeting in the local Hangul script.
However,she did not display a sailor of local ethnic origin,as she did with Jagjeet Singh Grewal in India (it is not clear if he has received an apology for being racially exploited),after decades of budget cuts the Royal Navy may not have enough Koreans to issue every vessel with one.
When she arrived in South Korea,her officers hypocritically failed to illuminate their vessel in rainbow colours or boycott bilateral exercises in protest at their host's policy of incarcerating homosexual sailors.
Commodore Steve Moorhouse,the Commander of the United Kingdom's Carrier Strike Group,also failed to draw attention to the plight of homosexuals in the Republic of Korea's Navy by gluing himself to South Korean Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Boo Suk-Jong and Deputy Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Choi Sungmok (don’t ever be afraid to show off your true colours Steve).
It has not yet been confirmed if Her Majesty's Ship Queen Elizabeth shall in future blockade the Port of Newcastle,one of the world's largest coal exporting ports,as the flagship of an Extinction Rebellion direct action to save the planet from climate improvement.
Naval officers who engage in political activism (attempting to impose one's opinions on others,who are by implication considered inferior) make themselves,and their service,legitimate political targets and we know how that ends.
Friday, 5 February 2021
The Transformational Puma Remotely Piloted Air System
Her Majesty's Ship Tamar (who has red lions rampant on her sides lest anyone mistake her for a warship) has been conducting trials with the Royal Navy's new AeroVironment Puma aeroplane.
According to a Royal Navy article: "The Puma could fulfil some of the helicopter’s intelligence-gathering role – with its 50-times zoom camera it feeds live footage back to a mother ship at ranges up to a dozen miles.".
It is interesting to note that the bridge watch of a River class patrol vessel may see small boats with a pair of binoculars at ranges of up to twelve nautical miles (about fourteen statute miles),whilst it's mast head radar may see small boats at about eighteen nautical miles (about twenty-one statute miles),dependent on their radar cross section and the radar's performance.
A suitable radar carried eleven thousand feet above a River class patrol vessel by an Allsopp Helikite,may be able to detect surface targets at ranges of over one hundred and thirty nautical miles (about one hundred and fifty statute miles),Helikites may also be useful for gunnery spotting,mine detection,electronic support,and radio relay.
Whilst a Hermes helicopter may be able to detect surface contacts seven hundred and fifty nautical miles (about eight hundred and sixty statute miles) away from it's ship,and return,without either refuelling or carrying auxiliary fuel tanks.
The article expounds: "Just over 4½ft long, with a wingspan of 9ft and weighing as much as six bags of sugar, Puma can survey an area of up to 270 square miles of ocean – that’s larger than Greater Manchester* – looking for suspicious activity during sorties lasting up to 2½ hours."
Again,it is interesting to note that the bridge watch of a River class patrol vessel may observe small boats with a pair of binoculars over an area of about four hundred and fifty square nautical miles (about six hundred square statute miles) whilst it's mast head radar may observe small boats over an area of about one thousand square nautical miles (over thirteen hundred square statute miles),all day,every day,in both cases.
A suitable radar,such as Osprey,carried at eleven thousand feet above a River class patrol vessel by an Allsopp Helikite may be able to observe surface targets over an area of about fifty-five thousand square nautical miles (over seventy-two thousand square statute miles),all day,every day for weeks at a time.
Picture: Grand Logistics
Whilst a Hermes helicopter may be able to observe surface targets over an area of over four hundred and thirty thousand square nautical miles (over five hundred and seventy thousand square statute miles) in a period of eight hours,without either refuelling or carrying auxiliary fuel tanks,if flying in a straight line and a little less than that on a round trip.
The Royal Navy article continues: "Puma is relatively cheap – certainly much cheaper than sending a helicopter up – easy to launch and recover, is difficult for foes to spot and keeps the ship out of harm’s way.".
It is not clear how Puma can keep the "ship out of harm's way" when it's range is less than that of the ship's onboard sensors and the vessel must close with the target to use it's very short range weapon systems and boarding parties,in any case,a River class vessel without a Puma shall be less expensive than a River class vessel with one.
Whilst the Puma's cost per flying hour may be less than that of a helicopter,it's cost per flying hour and per square mile of coverage is likely to be far higher than that of an Allsopp Helikite.
The Hermes helicopter shall cost more per flying hour than the Puma aeroplane but,as well as searching about seven hundred times as many square miles of sea per flying hour,and doing that with active radar and passive radio,visual and thermal sensors,it shall also be able to engage and destroy sea (surface or submarine),land and air targets many hundreds of miles from it's ship,targets which Puma can neither detect nor engage,in addition to performing many other tasks.
In summary,the Puma Aeroplanes,built in the Simi Valley in the state of California in the United States of America,shall allow a River class vessel to look at things which it can already see with it's onboard sensors,which is of little benefit (this should have been obvious to any competent officer before they were even purchased),however,the inexpensive Helikite,designed and built in Fordingbridge in the English county of Hampshire in the United Kingdom,which has already been used by the United Kingdom's armed forces on combat operations,shall allow the vessel to see things which it cannot see at present,allowing it to operate in a more efficient and more effective manner.
However,neither Pumas nor Helikites may replace the capabilities of a helicopter.
Why then,is the Royal Navy wasting tax payers money on toy aeroplanes,is it because they are "transformational"?
*Most sources state that Greater Manchester has an area of four hundred and ninety-three square statute miles.
Sunday, 31 January 2021
The Six Roles Of The Mining Sloop
The mining sloop shall be able to perform a wide variety of tasks,herein we shall list it's six main roles.
The mining sloop shall conduct mine surveys.
The mining sloop shall conduct surveillance,challenges and boardings when part of a patrolling formation.
The mining sloop shall lay mines and decoys in surveyed areas.
The mining sloop shall clear mined areas.
The mining sloop shall act as a mine escort to naval formations and merchant convoys.
The mining sloop shall engage air,land and sea targets with guns and missiles when part of a battle formation.
Wednesday, 19 September 2018
Quality British Defence Journalism From The Daily Express Newspaper
This is a section of an article by John Ingham which is very typical of the quality of defence reporting in the Daily Express and other British newspapers.
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