The way that decision-making on HS2 has happened reveals some of the deepest problems with the operation of our democracy.

That the 2021 High Speed Rail Act was simply an enabling instrument and not the legislative allocation of funds and directive to build it means/1 that its cancellation - an enormous decision with vast and far reaching long-term consequences - could be done by executive fiat with zero parliamentary scrutiny or involvement of critical stakeholders across industry and regional government.

This is no way to run a country./2

A couple of thoughts on the Australian decision to abandon the Attack-class diesel-electric submarine programme in favor of pursuing a nuclear-powered submarine fleet in co-operation with the USA and UK./1 This decision, which has apparent bi-partisan support within Australia signals the commencement of what will be by far one of the most significant defence-industrial challenges their country has embarked upon in its history./2

Starter for ten: the near-constant use of the *very loud* whole ship's broadcast when they're supposedly being trailed by an enemy submarine...

https://twitter.com/FrPeterAnthony/status/1432822681980874763

Starter for eleven: an SSBN surfacing to pick anybody up at all. Immediately giving its position away to all and sundry)

(Which sort of invalidates the whole point of the show but 🤷‍♂️)

THREAD:

Through the 1970s and early 1980s the Royal Navy extensively retrofitted the Leander class of frigates to carry a range of more modern weapons systems and sensors.

So, what did it cost to convert one of these:
/1 Into one of these?
/2

I think i've teased you all enough. So here it is, how the FORTIS '21 (the Royal Navy's name for the deployment of the @HMSQNLZ carrier strike group's deploymenet to the Pacific) compares with similar annual group deployments conducted by the Royal Navy over the last 40 years./1 First of all, here are the four largest peacetime group deployments since 1982:
Argonaut '01 containing a whopping 26 ships of all types conducted in Exercise SAIF SAREEA 2 off Oman.

Aurora '04 visited the USA to develop amphibious skills after the '98 & '03 Defence Reviews./2

So, it's Friday and the sandcastle guy is gonna talk about aircraft carriers again.

I thought it would be worth it, in the general context of the recent rumors surrounding the QE Programme, the upcoming Defence White Paper and various social media reactions to the above./1 I hope that the last several years spent outlining why these ships, and other aircraft carriers, are the way they have percolated through to my audience.

That said, there are still a great many people who seem convinced that the whole programme is a delusional nonsense./2

Right, it's THREAD time on the Royal Marines' Future Commando Force, amphibious shipping, budgets and options. I'll preface everything I say here with a couple of caveats. This is very much a 'first contact' impression and some somewhat rough thoughts, I'm not possessed of all the facts & amphibious warfare practitioners within the RN & RM who do have them are free to correct any mistakes

Frigates, Destroyers and some cool graphics explaining why the recent "15 RN escorts" stories in the newspapers aren't telling the whole story in some rather important ways. First of all here's the key for these graphics.

Blue = In the water, avalable for tasking (including working up and training).

Black = In refit, out of the water and not available for tasking.

Grey = Laid up without a full crew (including units allocated for Harbour Training).

The Engaging Strategy take on this piece on the QEC programme.

ecfr.eu/amp-article/co… A hackneyed opening that dismisses carriers as "vulnerable white elephants" after zero engagement with the very live debate around their modern utility.

"Originally scheduled for 2012"
Yes, that rather inconvenient recession got in the way.

THREAD:
If you've ever taken any one of a number of ferries from Portsmouth International Port that shuttle back and forth to the continent you may have looked out and seen a rather sad-looking hulk. Stripped of her weapons and radars, she sits quietly alongside Whale Island.
/1 You may even have taken a moment to wonder what that funny looking grey ship was, how did she get there and why?

This is the story of HMS Bristol, monument to a fleet that never was, one of the last testaments to the "white heat" of a promised technological revolution.
/2

So yesterday @D__Mitch asked this question:

Here's an answer (and some graphs, because I know you really only come here for the sweet graphics).

https://twitter.com/D__Mitch/status/1081277056162426882

Our first metric, and most basic starting point, is a flat comparison of the number of ships and submarines of various types in-service with the four navies.

From this we can see a pretty clear hierarchy with the Russians leading by a substantial margin in 4 of the 6 fields.

Back due to popular demand, a long-form THREAD on the story of aircraft carriers and the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy's carrier story reaches back to before the creation of the modern Indian Navy, into the period immediately after partition. While the Raj was dissolved in 1947 it took almost a decade for the British-led Royal Indian Navy to transition into an Indian-led service.

"Tommy", by Rudyard Kipling

I WENT into a public 'ouse to get a pint o' beer, 
The publican 'e up an' sez, " We serve no red-coats here." 
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die, 
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I: O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' " Tommy, go away " ; 
But it's " Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play, 
O it's " Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play.

Considering we're on the cusp of putting planes on carriers again I'd like to take a moment to look at the previous generation of carriers. Back when we had THREE! *cue gasps from the audience*. I am, of course, talking about the Invincible class carriers; otherwise known as CVS.

(CVS is the acronym for an anti-submarine carrier, this will become rather important soon).

Outside small military history circles, no. Of course it doesn't appear in WW1 remembrance, because clear victory in the field in the most successful campaign the British Army have ever fought doesn't fit with the tragedy narrative. Like at all./1

https://twitter.com/thinkdefence/status/1024405740260347905

As for schools I can only speak to my own experience. I was taught WW1 in school, about the 60,000 casualties at the Somme, incompetent flailing generals and some vague bits on propaganda and the home front. Now being the inquisitive little troublemaker I was aged ~16/2

Lets talk about just how far fleet air defence advanced during Second World War. Mostly because it's interesting, but also because some of the lessons learned by our predecessors might just remain relevant today... This is, broadly, what a destroyer of the inter-war period looked like. This is HMS Walpole, a W-class destroyer commissioned by the RN in 1918.

Her air defence outfit at the outbreak of war in 1939 consisted of 2 manually sighted quad 40mm pom-pom mounts.

Ok. Good question well asked.

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Let's start with a brief examination of the UK's geographical and international position.

The UK comprises a group of islands (don't worry, I'm not about to make *that* argument) flanked on two sides by 'open seas' to the South and West and 'enclosed seas' to the North and East

Seeing as the UK NSA's comments about a sovereign task group has drawn some attention and the usual Falklands Task Force comparisons have come up, let's take a moment to look at the Royal Navy of 1982. The Royal Navy on the eve of the Falklands war appears formidable, it had 3 aircraft carriers, 2 Landing Platform Docks, 12 destroyers, 48 frigates, 11 SSNs, 17 SSKs and a multitude of smaller support, Mine countermeasures & Patrol ships.

Pictured below is the 1977 fleet review.