NURSE
27th Jan 2004, 18:07
http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,11816,1132071,00.html (http://)
MMMM.....
Archimedes
27th Jan 2004, 20:53
'Mmmmmm' indeed!
Good though Sir Max usually is, some bits of that have the ring of something knocked out very quickly and with not much thought.
The last RAF CDS was ten years ago, so hardly recent. Why was Boyce's tenure 'embarassing'? Embarrassing for Buff, yes, but... If recent years extends to beyond a decade, then Lewin and Fieldhouse weren't embarassing either.
Getting rid of all destroyers shows a complete lack of understanding about maritime power - it looks and sounds good, until you think about, ooh, say, maritime interdiction. Easy to sneer at anti-drugs operations and the like, but profoundly silly.
A RN 'dominated by carriers and submarines' - until someone in a FPV or an SSK destroys the carriers, when the RN is dominated by submarines...
No need for an air-air capability is just potty, and the implied notion of cancelling Typhoon now fails to take account of the problem of penalty clauses, etc, etc, etc.
'Modest force of ground attackers' - get hold of some Hunter 9s, perhaps? What about transport? MPA?
Makes no mention whatsoever about ISTAR or UAVs (this is supposed to be about recasting the forces for future conflicts, yes?), and makes no suggestions about the Army, implying that no changes are needed there apart from more infantry.
Apart from displaying a complete lack of understanding about air power and maritime power and not deigning to make any suggestions about land power, that article was spot on.
:hmm:
The Gorilla
27th Jan 2004, 21:28
And let us not forget the man is flogging a new book!!