RAF to revert to Prop engine aircraft for ground attack role!

[TarJak]

:o http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article6997720.ece

[=FI=Ghost]

Maybe they will bring back Tempests and Typhoons:)

[Letum]

Maybe they will bring back Tempests and Typhoons:)


Oh gawd yes!
Let this be so!

[TarJak]

Nah they are getting a Brazillian!

Next comes the back sack and crack.:O:

[Skybird]

I am wondering since long why this has not been considered earlier. Propeller ground attack aircraft are used with great success in South America since long. And the advantages are not only financial, but flight-related as well.

And now I'm off to FS9 to do some low altitude stunts with my SF.260 tactical trainer! :cool:

[Tribesman]

Its probably the best idea the MOD has come up with in a long time.

[Torplexed]

Everything old is new again. Might be time to dust off some of those Vietnam vintage Skyraiders. :cool:

http://www.salute.org/images/SkyRaider.JPG

[Oberon]

Maybe they will bring back Tempests and Typhoons:)

Somewhere in deepest darkest Spain, there is a Dutch man who is frantically writing a letter to the MOD... :hmmm: :haha:

[SteamWake]

I know Embraier's ears just perked up. ;)

[XabbaRus]

Ah now while I agree that for COIN work props are a much better asset to have than fast jets. Just look at the OV-10 Bronco, IMHO one of the most suited planes to COIN if you want to build a new one, but this has come at the request of the army.

Now he would like to see the RAF reduced to an airline and the navy reduced to coastal protection. He seems to forget how without the navy his army would effectively be able to get anywhere and also that there are more than a few occasions you want a fast jet.

Typhoon has pretty much been paid for. To cut back now would be stupid. They say we always equip ourselves to fight the last war not the current or future war, however I feel in the future we will see a return to state vs state wars as resources dwindle so we could end up with a scenario where we need tosend out a good strike force and have nothing but a few rowing boats and prop planes and an army stuck in blighty.

Also £67 million for a Typhoon but £60 million for an F-35? I think that is just a bit wrong. The JSF is way over price now. Personally if they need to save money scrap the JSF, buy Rafale or Super Hornet and have two seat Typhoons for your Tornado replacement.

As a SDR is coming up each force is trying to set out its stall. I personally fear that the Army will win over at the expense however of the Navy. The RAF this time round can take it. It is easier to reactivate mothballed Typhoons stored in a hangar than it is to restart a ship that has been tied up at dock for 6 months.

[=FI=Ghost]

Somewhere in deepest darkest Spain, there is a Dutch man who is frantically writing a letter to the MOD... :hmmm: :haha:

I can only imagine the contents of the letter:D

[Raptor1]

Yeah, bring on the Sopwith Salamander!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Sopwith_Salamander.jpg/800px-Sopwith_Salamander.jpg

[August]

Yeah, bring on the Sopwith Salamander!



On a cost effective basis it most surely wins.

[SteamWake]

On a cost effective basis it most surely wins.

I dunno you ever seen what it costs to restore one of those things? :haha:

[nikimcbee]

Maybe they will bring back Tempests and Typhoons:)

Nope, it's the Swordfish torp plane!:haha:

[papa_smurf]

Makes sense.... £5 million vs £60 million. As you yanks say "Do the math"

[Hakahura]

Hmmmm
Typical Pongo thinking.

Remember big SDR coming up in the UK soon.
The 3 Services are just squaring up against each other for the biggest slice of the pie (or the smallest cuts)
An aircraft like this might be useful in the counter insurgency role.
But absolutely no ****ing use against an adversary with any kind of Airforce!
No one knows what tomorrows war will be.
Balanced Forces with capabilities across the board are what is needed.

[Oberon]

Hmmmm
Typical Pongo thinking.

Remember big SDR coming up in the UK soon.
The 3 Services are just squaring up against each other for the biggest slice of the pie (or the smallest cuts)
An aircraft like this might be useful in the counter insurgency role.
But absolutely no ****ing use against an adversary with any kind of Airforce!
No one knows what tomorrows war will be.
Balanced Forces with capabilities across the board are what is needed.

Aye but tell the bloody bean counters that... :damn:

[Highbury]

But absolutely no ****ing use against an adversary with any kind of Airforce!

Well the thinking is based on the fact that most countries with a useful Air Force are all friends.....





...for now.

Of course you will always need front line, cutting edge units.. but using the US as an example.. do National Guard pilots really need to be flying state-of-the-art jet fighters? In alot of countries reservists are not even armed (alot of National Guard members should not be lol).

I was in the Navy, and any military man can understand wanting the latest and greatest toys, but it is not necessary in every level of the service.

[bookworm_020]

Everything old is new again. Might be time to dust off some of those Vietnam vintage Skyraiders. :cool:

http://www.salute.org/images/SkyRaider.JPG

You beat me to it!


If you had a squadran or two of light attack aircraft that can double as trainers and gerneral purpose aircraft, it may be cost effective. How many wars or peace keeping missions would they suit?:hmmm:

[Tribesman]

If you had a squadran or two of light attack aircraft that can double as trainers and gerneral purpose aircraft, it may be cost effective.
The RAF used Hawks like that for many years in many roles, many countries still have them as front line combat aircraft.
What is the issue that some find objectionable?
Is it that it has a propeller?

[DeerHunter UK]

The Tucano's payload is poor at best, the RAF should be looking at A-10s as a cost effective weapon. I like the idea of using Skyraiders though, wonder if there's any left in a serviceable condition? :hmmm:

[TarJak]

Only two airworthy exmaples left in the US. The UK decommissioned it's RNFAR Skyraiders in 1962. Unlikely they would look to a 60 odd year old design that's no longer in production anywhere in the world.

The 1.5 ton payload isn't insignificant given the advances in even iron bomb technology since the Skyraider left service.

[Schroeder]

The Tucano's payload is poor at best.
How much payload do you need to take out some insurgents? I think small cheap propeller planes might be an alternative for the jets in the close support role in Afghanistan and other countries like that. Sure they aren't that useful against a modern army (actually they are pretty much completely useless against them:O:) but for now they could give a hand in the deserts of this world at an unbeatable cost/efficiency ratio. Imagine, just cut down your Typhoon orders by one plane and buy ten close support prop planes.
Sure the Typhoons, Tornadoes etc. can't be replaced by those aircraft and have to be available in case that the big sh*t hits the fan. But for now those planes could help in easing the financial burdens of the military.

[HunterICX]

Somewhere in deepest darkest Spain, there is a Dutch man who is frantically writing a letter to the MOD... :hmmm: :haha:

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/7324/blackeyes3dsmileyw.gif Pleeeeeaaaaaasee...bring back the Typhoons and Tempests

:D

HunterICX

[gutted]

Good luck finding "fighter pilots" willing to fly them.

[XabbaRus]

The lolwaffles are all current on the Tempest, Typhoon and Spitfire and all its subtypes.

[Raptor1]

The lolwaffles are all current on the Tempest, Typhoon and Spitfire and all its subtypes.

You would quickly lose all the money you otherwise saved on the replacement parts if you let us fly them...

[AVGWarhawk]

Right! We're off:

http://regmedia.co.uk/2006/10/24/marweb.jpg

Bearcat:

http://www.warbirdalley.com/images/Bearcat-Taxi.jpg

[Rilder]

I dunno if jets were banned and everybody went back to prop planes, I would join the Air Force in seconds flat. (Well I can't because I have 20/80 vision. :rotfl2:)

[Castout]

Umm the govt of my country has ordered the Tucanos too for border patrols

[Steel_Tomb]

Sad thing is, in the not too distant future we will have UCAV's. The US are developing them now so I should imagine its only a matter of time before the UK gets some. Cheap to run/maintain and can carry a half decent payload.

Big problem with the spending review is all 3 services have been neglected in some fashion for so long they ALL need stuff yet the Gov't in its wisdom will make cuts for sure. The Navy needs more Type 45's is it's to defend the 2 carriers effectively when they launch, the RAF needs far more fast jets we have a pitiful amount of jets now compared to 20 years ago. Choppers too for the RAF/Navy and AAC. The Army too needs newer vehicles and weapons. The list seems endless... but thats what a decade of neglect and constant cut backs does... oh and 9 years of active operations!