CVF and Carrier Strike thread

[SuperSLime]

And what about future combat UAVs, which are going to be huge fuck-off supersonic things rather than converted sport gliders? They're going to need CATOBAR, and thanks to all the spackers like you with a hard-on for STOVL we're not going to be able to use them.

[tekirdag]

And what about future combat UAVs, which are going to be huge fuck-off supersonic things rather than converted sport gliders? They're going to need CATOBAR, and thanks to all the spackers like you with a hard-on for STOVL we're not going to be able to use them.

Since the UK created the Harrier back in the 60's, it is not beyond the wit of our engineers to create a UAV equivalent. And since creating a decent STOVL aircraft is all about weight reduction, getting rid of the pilot and all his instrumentation, canopy and environmental needs is a jolly good idea. Thats a tonne saved, at the very least.

As to your fascination with mach-2, I wonder why we need it. Very few of these supersonic fighters can super-cruise, so the mach-2 label is only a dash capability. Is all that extra weight, complexity and fuel burn really worth the while?

So there you have a simple but effective STOVL UAV that could be up and running in a few years - and jumping from a carrier with no cat and no trap. (And no, it does not have to look like a Harrier, but all the under-skin technology and experience is already there and waiting.)


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[Grumblegrunt]

as we have a load of sea harriers kicking about which might or might not be flyable we could reuse those nice engines to make said jumping ucav.

I see BAE do armed naval boat drones so maybe they could use a few of those to protect the fleet as we have no ships left. something with a phalanx on might be usefull against all sorts of uppity wog type craft.

[frenchie]

I've seen quite a few glider winches and the winch is always well over 150m away, where do you propose the winch is fitted, on another ship?

[SuperSLime]

As to your fascination with mach-2, I wonder why we need it.

Because if we don't have it, any enemy with Su27s - or even MiG21s - will be able to evade our useless STOVL UCAVs by simply accelerating.

Very few of these supersonic fighters can super-cruise.

The UK's first supercruise-capable aircraft entered service in 1959, long before the Harrier.

a simple but effective STOVL UAV that could be up and running in a few years

And that we'd have to develop all by ourselves - something that, in the field of UAVs, we have so far miserably failed at doing.

The Harrier is obsolete. Get that into your thick head.

[SuperSLime]

I've seen quite a few glider winches and the winch is always well over 150m away, where do you propose the winch is fitted, on another ship?

Perhaps the glider could be carried on one MTB and the winch on another. That would fit in quite well with teki's obsessions.

[frenchie]

I do remember reading that the sea state in the South Atlantic would have meant that catapult launches would not necessarily have been possible, where as STOVL was. Do USN CV's operate unhindered in heavy sea states?

[frenchie]

Perhaps the glider could be carried on one MTB and the winch on another. That would fit in quite well with teki's obsessions.

Leave the glider in the UK and feed the winch out until you need it, seems sensible to me.

[Grumblegrunt]

they used to shoot seaplanes off battleships and recover with a crane, that might work using 'proven' tech cant we use a huge net for retrieval.

seeing as we caused most of the troubles we could sign a defense pact with the israelis and get some decent tech out of it along with US aid and a bigger budget. the arabs arent talking to us anymore anyway.

[SuperSLime]

I do remember reading that the sea state in the South Atlantic would have meant that catapult launches would not necessarily have been possible, where as STOVL was. Do USN CV's operate unhindered in heavy sea states?

The bigger the ship, the heavier the sea state it can operate aircraft in. In the South Atlantic the Invincible had serious problems with the weather, and often couldn't fly off aircraft while Hermes (a converted CATOBAR ship) could. Of the 20 Sea Harriers sent with the Task Force four were lost in accidents, including one that fell off Invincible's deck in bad weather.

STOVL is a good way to keep a fixed wing capability when you only have small decks available, but if you have a 65,000 ton carrier to play with it's a stupid, short-sighted and inferior system.