RAF/RN Navy Harriers binned off

[diveplane]

Nice that you are ready for F-35, unfortunately F-35 is not ready for you: it will take another 10 years before UK has again this naval strike capability.

 

This means that those who are really up to the task, the pilots, engineers and servicemen/women and families of the Harrier community, will be long gone to other horizons by then.

 

It will be other people who will have to learn everything from scratch. Ten years is a long time, who knows what will happen in between. The only reality now is that the capability is lost.

 

like the rest of us find a new job these people , acording to the goverments theres plenty work out there. lmao, to be honest am not really in favor for these new jets, cant afford them really.

money better spent elsewhere.

 

really is ironic that goveremnts can rumble up money for war machines.

[TeeJay82]

discard jets and reinstate turbo props with guns only...

[robmlufc]

discard jets and reinstate turbo props with guns only...

 

Strangely enough if it was upto the head of the army we would be buying super tucanos from Brazil to use for gcas...

 

 

Its a massive loss and pilot and engineering skill and experience. Its a fairly basic jet but the bits that allow it to hover take some getting your head round coming from conventional fast jets.

[robmlufc]

Yes i believe they flew over Lincoln, stamford and Oakham, im in the middle of that triange :doh: typical! the sky's will be a much quieter place around here now, they will be missed!!

 

Where abouts you at mate? I'm in Oakham. Rutland will never sound the same again!

[Heli Shed]

Salute!

 

Harrier will be sorely missed. Proven to be a great CAS to me and my colleagues personally on Operations.

 

S!

[jpm1]

...We could mod the Chinooks and Merlins with Mavericks I guess :joystick:

 

lol

 

If all that is said is true, Argentina can start to sharpen their teeth again.

I wonder how UK will defend the Falklands with tornadoes, helicopters and empty carriers.

Argentina is still on an awkward political situation, and a divert on the economical problem to take back some "legitime" country asset is always seems to work.

 

Its really a shame to see the harrier going down in such unhonored way as the F14 went. It s still pain me to see IMHO the most sexy military aircraft be eaten like a leaf by some kind of weird insect.

 

I really wich DCS could mod the harrier. It deserve it in the same sense the K-50 is a unique project, a wonder of its time.

 

in case of a new Falklands war UK could use its actual carriers modified with Apaches , covered by AA fregates and few typhoons and tankers

 

The Falklands will be defended by a group of Typhoons that are stationed on the Falklands...

 

if runway hasn't been destroyed before . when you start a war you don't tell anybody

 

 

UK budget cuts are hard but wise . and a good choice would be the cancelling of the carriers or their restructuration into choppers platforms much less costly . if UK hasn't escaped the F-35 boat yet , it's because of US financial pressure only . because UK and probably the US too haven't the money for a project like the F-35 . the F-35 has sense only if you have the money for building carriers and when you see the royal navy recent cuts its obvious its a foolish choice . but now that we've seen these pics of that wonderful aircraft with that big ventilator in the back it's difficult for a government to say to the ones that are going to reelect you , no you won't have it .

 

@ bumfire : Nimrod hasn't been abandonned , it's the upgrade that has been cancelled

[tflash]

@ bumfire : Nimrod hasn't been abandonned , it's the upgrade that has been cancelled

 

The Nimrod MRA4 will never fly again. There seems to be an airframe safety problem. For the ISR / SIGINT role, the UK wants to buy US Rivet Joint aircraft. That leaves it without a proper replacement for the maritime surveilance and antisub role.

[Kula66]

How can we (the UK) bin 2 critical capabilities (MR and carrier aviation) and keep the Tornado? They can barely operate safely from anything but the best airfields. It makes no sense what so ever. The RAF stitched up the Navy a few years ago when they formed the joint Harrier force and then binned the SHAR ... these people have no regard for the capabilities of their country, just protecting the empires they've built - sickening.

 

What a golden opportunity lost - to develop a real expeditionary warfare capability - with 2 carriers on the way.

 

As for Nimrod ... what criminal mis-management of public funds! The MOD should be binned as not fit for purpose. Our soldiers/sailors/airmen risking their lives deserve better than the fat bloated tail that the MOD has become.

 

Climbs off soap box ...

[robmlufc]

UK saves 1 billion by scrapping Harrier, would have saved 7 billion by scrapping Tornado.

 

There is no point in not building the new carriers as it will cost more to get out of the contract than it will to build them. UK needs F35 as a Harrier and Tornado replacement.

 

There is no Nimrods with an air worthiness certificate, wont see them fly again. Same with Harrier, BAE were hoping to keep a few flying to use as demos for prospective buyers but that's been put to an end with no worthiness cert. All the flyers are being stripped down ready for road move and storage.

[jpm1]

France made a good choice with a multirole . Rafale can do both Harrier and Typhoon missions and maybe will be able to reach the typhoon level with the upcoming meteor . i see badly a Typhoon sneaking between canyons or doing some low level in Afghanistan . The typhoon can do ground missions but is limited , and i'm curious to see how much it will cost a maintenance for a F-35 fleet (with or without carriers)

[mikoyan]

For a person like me; born in a country without a queen; it is hard to understand hoe the UK people keep maintaining a royal family on this tough times.

 

Carriers with just choppers would had been useless in a war like the Malvinas. Helicopters don't have enough range to perform missions if the safety of the carrier is on the line; in other words; sometimes you need to keep your carrier far enough to keep it safe and close enough to launch its aircraft effectively.

[jpm1]

For a person like me; born in a country without a queen; it is hard to understand hoe the UK people keep maintaining a royal family on this tough times.

 

Carriers with just choppers would had been useless in a war like the Malvinas. Helicopters don't have enough range to perform missions if the safety of the carrier is on the line; in other words; sometimes you need to keep your carrier far enough to keep it safe and close enough to launch its aircraft effectively.

 

concerning the royal family of the UK , i believe the first bored with that system are the royal family members themselves . but the are the royal family and when you're the royal family you won't complain

 

concerning the question of the malvinas , when the UK (and it is not the only one) will collapse and turn into chaos , malvinas won't be much of use . i go farer , GB gave Honk-kong back to China why not the malvinas . and why not to do like lot of countries do , to make an agreement for an (british) airbase on the island

 

edit : @ Mikoyan : i thought you were spanish

[Brit_Radar_Dude]

....GB gave Honk-kong back to China

 

Given back to China because we had a 99 year lease on (most of) Hong Kong and that lease came to an end. It was not deemed practical to give back most of Hong Kong and retain other parts, so all of Hong Kong was given back.

 

why not the malvinas . and why not to do like lot of countries do , to make an agreement for an (british) airbase on the island

Falklands/Malvinas is a rather different issue. It is not about the UK keeping the Falklands in order to have the airbase. The sole purpose of that airbase is to protect the Falklands from future threat. If the inhabitants of the islands ever wished to become part of Argentina, then the reason for the airbase would dissapear.

The people want to remain British, they did not wish to become Argentinian citizens back in the 1980's. They did not want to live under the Fascist military junta that was ruling Argentina at that time. I expect being invaded and having Argentinian soldiers sh*tting in their houses will mean they will think the same way for a long time to come.

 

The crazy thing is that apart from the Falklands/Malvinas issue (and of course Diego Maradonna;)), the UK and Argentina have had friendly relations for many years - some of the Argentine navy ships were purchased from the UK. I've been a River Plate fan for over 35 years and one day I will visit Argentina myself. Once England get knocked out of the World Cup, then I always follow Argentina - I love the way they play football.

 

Nothing good came out of the Falklands War for the UK. Some good came out of it for Argentina itself - an end to death squads and a return to democracy. Nowadays an Argentinian citizen with political views (such as a trade unionist) can go for a ride in an Argentinian military helicopter and expect to live through the experience.

[robmlufc]

Fly past pics from the last day of flying, cant figure out how to add thumnails to forum :)

 

 

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/Rob.Munro81/HarrierFormation?feat=directlink

[jpm1]

... If the inhabitants of the islands ever wished to become part of Argentina, then the reason for the airbase would dissapear.

The people want to remain British, they did not wish to become Argentinian citizens back in the 1980's. They did not want to live under the Fascist military junta that was ruling Argentina at that time ...

 

interesting point of view that i didn't though about . but is political situation that bad in Argentinia ?

[czarnyolek]

UK saves 1 billion by scrapping Harrier, would have saved 7 billion by scrapping Tornado.

There is one important thing about Tornado, that most of people seem to forget. RAF can't scrap aircraft, that is a carrier for nuclear weapons and keep Harrier that is no good for this purpose. Given a choice, it was easy to pick really.

Not to mention Tornados ability to carry stand off weapons, anitiradar missiles and significantly better operational range and supersonic ability.

However, its a shame that harrier is gone now. its a special plane by every mean.

[bumfire]

There is one important thing about Tornado, that most of people seem to forget. RAF can't scrap aircraft, that is a carrier for nuclear weapons and keep Harrier that is no good for this purpose. Given a choice, it was easy to pick really.

Not to mention Tornados ability to carry stand off weapons, anitiradar missiles and significantly better operational range and supersonic ability.

However, its a shame that harrier is gone now. its a special plane by every mean.

 

Tornado hasnt carried Nukes since the late 1990's when the last air dropped nuclear bomb WE.177 was removed from the UK inventory.

 

At this present time, the harriers are more worthy to be kept than the Tornados are, but alas, it isnt to be.

[robmlufc]

10 GR9's to make a return...? I doubt it, the government would never make such a u-turn.

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/3532222/750m-Harriers-idle-as-Top-Guns-struggle-in-Libya.html#mySunComments

[tflash]

10 GR9's to make a return...? I doubt it, the government would never make such a u-turn.

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/3532222/750m-Harriers-idle-as-Top-Guns-struggle-in-Libya.html#mySunComments

 

Well, I'll side with The Sun on this: what a shame! We want the Harrier back in the skies!

[Pilotasso]

The UK MOD making a mess of it really.

 

First the harriers scraped after just being upgraded, now this week the typhoon was exposed due to slow and expensive spares procurement and the plane is severely handicaped during its deployments.

 

I think someone hast to define once for all whats to cut and whats to maintain, and then really commit themselves before being left with nothing except the bills.

[tflash]

The UK MOD making a mess of it really.

 

First the harriers scraped after just being upgraded, now this week the typhoon was exposed due to slow and expensive spares procurement and the plane is severely handicaped during its deployments.

 

I think someone hast to define once for all whats to cut and whats to maintain, and then really commit themselves before being left with nothing except the bills.

 

What a mess indeed ...

 

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/8979907.Typhoon_pilots_grounded_over_spare_parts_shortage/#

[Krippz]

Wow what a cluster%$#@. . . .

[mikoyan]

Its me or airplanes are not what they used to be.

Highly unlikely scenario next:

 

I wonder what would happen if the Argentinians decided to invade the Malvinas; what would the British do? send a vc-10 to fly mid point the Atlantic to refuel the eurofighters coming from the UK?

[GGTharos]

Gee, I don't know, operate the four tiffies that they have stationed there already?

[Succellus]

Its me or airplanes are not what they used to be.

Highly unlikely scenario next:

 

I wonder what would happen if the Argentinians decided to invade the Malvinas; what would the British do? send a vc-10 to fly mid point the Atlantic to refuel the eurofighters coming from the UK?

 

Just to state... Argentinian isn t a so far treat.

1) Argentina is in Crisis, military show off is good for public diversion;

2) Uk is at its lowest military prompt for long range crisis;

3) Argentinian think they coud have win Falklands, but they loosed due to bad stategy only, and they wouldn t make the same mstake again, and they knew at the time who was screwing, or so they say on Brazilian military forums and military south american events. Or at leat endure so that ONU would come in and ONU would probably decide for Falklands to be argentinian again or so they believe, by the way that was they intetion in the 80.

4) Peru and other nations including Venezuela and probably Bolivia, (equador?) would support Argentina with material, logistic and personnel. All for the Bolivarian revolution.

5) Russians would die to show off material capabilities, obviously;

6) theres an armamentist renewal /veiled run for modernization in the continent.