BBC News - Britons flee Libya on navy frigate bound for Malta - firstly, BZ to ships company, and the CO for having a regional accent. 
Just a point, for all the naval nay-sayers (you listening WC? ). Often, aircraft are indeed the most useful and cost effective method of removing civilians from a war-torn state. Egypt, for example.
However, sometimes it gets to the point when an aircraft simply is not good enough to do the job. It is not as well defended, nor as clear a statement. They also cannot take anywhere near as many civilians.
Yes, an LPD would have been good, but it would also have been big, vulnerable and to be honest the kind of states that would be subject to this kind of insurrection wont have THAT many of our own people in anyway and a T22 is perfect.
I think that this gives a better example of why the RN needs a proper, pukka general purpose fighting warship again. The T22 is the closest we've come in years, big, well armed, PLENTY of space inside. T45 could have been, but since we a) decided to arm her properly and b) spent over a billion per hull to make it stealthed, we've missed the ball.
Much as I hate to admit it, we need to take a leaf from the yanks. The Arleigh Burke, with its very powerful armament, 70tons of kevlar and double-rolled steel armour plate, and large capacity for non-crew is EXACTLY what we need as a patrols ship - and another thing, stealth sometimes isn't the best thing, sometime you WANT the opposition to see a **** off great radar contact hovering off their shore...
In this situation, if T26 comes anywhere close to its capability, with gun, CIWS, ASuW, ASW and both kinds of AAW and maybe armour we'll finally have the perfect ship to deal with exactly these situations - big, powerful, able to fight itself in and out and defend itself whilst there as well as take off as many poor defenceless civilians as we need to.
NB: I do not see however T26 as having anywhere near this capability. We'll be lucky to have 1 4.5, 8 harpoon from the old 23's, a 12 cell VLS for FLAAD and maybe a phalanx or two. Such is life.
Just a point, for all the naval nay-sayers (you listening WC?
). Often, aircraft are indeed the most useful and cost effective method of removing civilians from a war-torn state. Egypt, for example.However, sometimes it gets to the point when an aircraft simply is not good enough to do the job. It is not as well defended, nor as clear a statement. They also cannot take anywhere near as many civilians.
Yes, an LPD would have been good, but it would also have been big, vulnerable and to be honest the kind of states that would be subject to this kind of insurrection wont have THAT many of our own people in anyway and a T22 is perfect.
I think that this gives a better example of why the RN needs a proper, pukka general purpose fighting warship again. The T22 is the closest we've come in years, big, well armed, PLENTY of space inside. T45 could have been, but since we a) decided to arm her properly and b) spent over a billion per hull to make it stealthed, we've missed the ball.
Much as I hate to admit it, we need to take a leaf from the yanks. The Arleigh Burke, with its very powerful armament, 70tons of kevlar and double-rolled steel armour plate, and large capacity for non-crew is EXACTLY what we need as a patrols ship - and another thing, stealth sometimes isn't the best thing, sometime you WANT the opposition to see a **** off great radar contact hovering off their shore...
In this situation, if T26 comes anywhere close to its capability, with gun, CIWS, ASuW, ASW and both kinds of AAW and maybe armour we'll finally have the perfect ship to deal with exactly these situations - big, powerful, able to fight itself in and out and defend itself whilst there as well as take off as many poor defenceless civilians as we need to.
NB: I do not see however T26 as having anywhere near this capability. We'll be lucky to have 1 4.5, 8 harpoon from the old 23's, a 12 cell VLS for FLAAD and maybe a phalanx or two. Such is life.
