R.I.P to the Harrier Jump Jet in the UK!

[Pilkingtube]

I hope they're giving the S.A.S jetpacks. Flying Techno Ninja Squad would kick arse.

That would be the solution to all of our problems.

Also. Royal Family. Necessary? No.
The one thing that only the Queen could actually do (declare war) went out the window with Blair and Iraq.
So now they are essentially useless.

I dont see where the Royal Family come into all of this?

Cost-cutting.

Hmm, now knowing you Rob, you're going to be dissapointed with me here, but I confess to being a bit of a Royalist.

Last year the royal family cost every person who pays tax in Britain 62p. Not exactly a massive dent out of people's income. If that's the price we have to pay to preserve a bit of tradition and history, then fair enough. Plus they probably help boost what little tourism industry we have.

Also, I like it when Prince Charles blocks horrible building projects that looks like prisons in historical areas or as replacements for historical buildings. That guy is a legend. And if we didnt have Prince Phillip, who would Mock the Week have to take the piss out of?

69p sounds fuck all, put per person brings that to £42,668,326.26
Which is a hefty sum. And I don't think they rake in that much from tourism.... that's also just the base cost, not security, or extravagant royal weddings (I'm looking at you, Harry) so, if we really wanted to cut the debt, it's genuinely worth thinking about saying bye-bye to the most comfortably-off-for-such-little-work people in the world. They're essentailly on the dole. A very sizeable dole.

I was under the impression that quite a lot of that goes towards maintenance for the various buildings. If you scrapped the family we'd still end up paying for it, just in a different way, because the buildings would be labelled 'Heritage' and the tories would tax us for it!

 

[Pilkingtube]

They're on their way mate, we just have to wait a while.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_class_aircraft_carrier

Nice. In 10 years you guys will have carriers that can operate normal aircraft. They're still smaller than ours, but ya'll's fighters weigh less too.

I don't understand, is it some sort of competition? The UK is a tiny island smaller than almost every single state of the US, and smaller than almost every other developed economy, obviously it isn't going to have a huge army/navy/airforce.

 

[Berethond]

I hope they're giving the S.A.S jetpacks. Flying Techno Ninja Squad would kick arse.

Yes, this is the obvious solution really.

In all honesty, if we had a regiment of highly trained and motivated experienced killers like the SAS who could zoom around the world as they were needed and drop in on baddies like Assault Marines from Dawn of War, then we could probably retire the rest of the armed forces, nobody would dare fuck with us again

<url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HALO_jump>You mean something like this?

And don't worry, Brits. We Americans will lend you some planes when you need them.

 

[AlexLoxate]

If I could have a Harrier I would be so happy.

 

[alittlepepper]

It's sad that the Harrier is getting Decom'ed. It wasn't the most elegant craft to ever cruise the skies and has been internationally known as being incredibly difficult to fly, but that to me makes it only more remarkable for what it and the pilots that operated them were able to accomplish with them. Though not really suitable for modern conflict and containing a lot of outdated mechanical and design flaws, they were the first of their kind and a major milestone in military technology development that will not soon be forgotten.

I think a lot of people will miss the AV-8. And I'm sure they'll find use other allied nations, assuming Britain will sell them...which I imagine they will, since they only cut them because of the terrible economy.

 

[TheTim]

when you lose the harrier you gain the F-35 jsf. so don't worry, be happy!

 

[Private Custard]

I don't understand, is it some sort of competition? The UK is a tiny island smaller than almost every single state of the US, and smaller than almost every other developed economy, obviously it isn't going to have a huge army/navy/airforce.

We don't have a huge military, that's why we're pissed off that they keep destroying what we have left.

And to those saying the Harrier isn't the right tool for the job and is too old. Just a year ago I watched first hand, Tornados, Typhoons, Hawks, Harriers and F-15s flying through the valleys of Wales, fifty yards in front of me (and quite often lower).

The Harrier was more than agile enough, totally embarrasing the Americans in their F-15s with the ease that it carved through the Bwlch Pass and around to Corris Corner, keeping a much tighter line (although I'm pretty sure it's the RAF in general that are superior, even the trainees in the hawks flew lower and quicker than the Yanks from Lakenheath!). Sure the F-15 is more spectacular, but the Harrier is more than capable of keeping up in our modern wars.

Plus, the Harrier isn't 41 year old technology. It's had constant engine, weapon system and avionics updates throughout the years. It's not an old aircraft. Until recently, 1 Sqdn were the only unit to be using the new night-vision gear, gaining them the nickname 'The Jedis' in the process.

A perfectly good aircraft, retired because penpushers had no fucking idea how to manage our economy and ended up totally fucking it.......and possibly putting up to 12,000 people out of work in an instant.

Nice going arseholes.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Huh. I would expect a force drawdown, sure, but to completely mothball the line- with its replacement still a decade away? Overkill, I think. The Harrier really is a unique platform that's held up well over the years and still fulfills its roles well.

There's some people saying "It's old, get rid of it", but when it comes to military action, you want: A) what works and B) what your people are familiar with. Replacing obsolete technology with new and improved is good (once you're sure that the new-and-improved actually works and that your people are capable of putting it to use); just saying "buy some new crap" is a path towards disaster.

 

[RobCoxxy]

I hope they're giving the S.A.S jetpacks. Flying Techno Ninja Squad would kick arse.

That would be the solution to all of our problems.

Also. Royal Family. Necessary? No.
The one thing that only the Queen could actually do (declare war) went out the window with Blair and Iraq.
So now they are essentially useless.

I dont see where the Royal Family come into all of this?

Cost-cutting.

Hmm, now knowing you Rob, you're going to be dissapointed with me here, but I confess to being a bit of a Royalist.

Last year the royal family cost every person who pays tax in Britain 62p. Not exactly a massive dent out of people's income. If that's the price we have to pay to preserve a bit of tradition and history, then fair enough. Plus they probably help boost what little tourism industry we have.

Also, I like it when Prince Charles blocks horrible building projects that looks like prisons in historical areas or as replacements for historical buildings. That guy is a legend. And if we didnt have Prince Phillip, who would Mock the Week have to take the piss out of?

69p sounds fuck all, put per person brings that to £42,668,326.26
Which is a hefty sum. And I don't think they rake in that much from tourism.... that's also just the base cost, not security, or extravagant royal weddings (I'm looking at you, Harry) so, if we really wanted to cut the debt, it's genuinely worth thinking about saying bye-bye to the most comfortably-off-for-such-little-work people in the world. They're essentailly on the dole. A very sizeable dole.

I was under the impression that quite a lot of that goes towards maintenance for the various buildings. If you scrapped the family we'd still end up paying for it, just in a different way, because the buildings would be labelled 'Heritage' and the tories would tax us for it!

Turn them into pubs/nightclubs? [/strawgrasp]