4 ms·

Apart from BAE flogging their kit, I don't see what the point of this exercise is. There is zero chance of this being built by the UK, which can barely afford t

by yborg 8y ago

Apart from BAE flogging their kit, I don't see what the point of this exercise is. There is zero chance of this being built by the UK, which can barely afford the nuke subs it has which are its main military threat.

twic 8y ago
There's a white paper sort of thing from the Ministry of Defence that goes into the rationale, more than it goes into any technical details: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/combat-air-strategy-an-ambitious-vision-for-the-future https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/combat-air-strate... A large part of it is about supporting the high-tech manufacturing industry in the UK, so it creates good jobs, attracts investment, can compete for exports, etc.
sgt101 8y ago
The big spend in the UK defence budget is Eurofighter/Typhoon @ £23bn. Astute comes in at £1bn per pop, £7bn total program cost (I believe), future SSBN will be similar. Turkey and India are trying to develop fighters as well, the UK has the tech to build these, there are markets.
- adventured 8y ago
  It's pretty tough when you've got Russia and China out there competing with you and you're running from behind. The Tempest looked interesting, until I saw the hoping to fly by 2035 part, which really means 2040 or later. It's really a technology make-work project to keep their skills up and retain defense capability, which isn't a terrible idea so long as the cost is tightly contained.
  - simonh 8y ago
    Considering they already make the Typhoon and have a century of experience in the field across many different aircraft platforms, in what way are they running from behind?
  - Zarathust 8y ago
    Russia announced the abandonment of the su-57 yesterday. https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/russias-stealthkiller-fighter-project-has-been-abandoned/news-story/03e50ea76d6a5dfb5aaac69b9c75fbd6 https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/russi...
  - sgt101 8y ago
    In service by 2035, flying much earlier - certification, training, development and integration programs to run after flights of the production design, flights of early designs years before to work out the preprod kinks.
zokier 8y ago
Its fancy concept art to sell upgrades to Typhoon: > The important thing about the new concept is that it will illustrate a direction of travel and many of those technologies that will be embodied in that will first see their service through the Typhoon

by yborg 8y ago

twic 8y ago

There's a white paper sort of thing from the Ministry of Defence that goes into the rationale, more than it goes into any technical details: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/combat-air-strategy-an-ambitious-vision-for-the-future https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/combat-air-strate... A large part of it is about supporting the high-tech manufacturing industry in the UK, so it creates good jobs, attracts investment, can compete for exports, etc.

sgt101 8y ago

The big spend in the UK defence budget is Eurofighter/Typhoon @ £23bn. Astute comes in at £1bn per pop, £7bn total program cost (I believe), future SSBN will be similar. Turkey and India are trying to develop fighters as well, the UK has the tech to build these, there are markets.

adventured 8y ago
It's pretty tough when you've got Russia and China out there competing with you and you're running from behind. The Tempest looked interesting, until I saw the hoping to fly by 2035 part, which really means 2040 or later. It's really a technology make-work project to keep their skills up and retain defense capability, which isn't a terrible idea so long as the cost is tightly contained.
- simonh 8y ago
  Considering they already make the Typhoon and have a century of experience in the field across many different aircraft platforms, in what way are they running from behind?
- Zarathust 8y ago
  Russia announced the abandonment of the su-57 yesterday. https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/russias-stealthkiller-fighter-project-has-been-abandoned/news-story/03e50ea76d6a5dfb5aaac69b9c75fbd6 https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/russi...
- sgt101 8y ago
  In service by 2035, flying much earlier - certification, training, development and integration programs to run after flights of the production design, flights of early designs years before to work out the preprod kinks.

zokier 8y ago

Its fancy concept art to sell upgrades to Typhoon: > The important thing about the new concept is that it will illustrate a direction of travel and many of those technologies that will be embodied in that will first see their service through the Typhoon