Red Arrows death

Unfortunate accident or the result of defence cuts?

The second Red Arrows death within three months occurs at RAF Scampton when the Hawk T1 trainer's ejector seat fired on the runway.

Normally, I'm of the watch and wait mind on this sort of thing, but given the criminal (and I do mean that literally) cuts the RAF has suffered, I want the Red Arrows' maintenance budget gone over with a fine tooth comb and if there's been any skimping, then I want to see prison sentences handed out–and as high up as possible.

Why the hurry?

Scrapped.

The British government sells the Harriers to the Americans "for peanuts".

There's a pattern here.  Invincible is being cut into scrap as we speak, Ark Royal is on the block, the Nimrods were shredded within weeks of demobbing, and now the Harriers are off to the USA to be stripped for spares.  Why?  The best answer I've seen so far is that the coalition is angered by all the criticism of the defence cuts and is doing everything they can to make them irreversible as, according to Con Coughlin at the Telegraph, an act of petty revenge.

I am reliably informed that the decision to sell the Harriers, which was only taken yesterday, was an act of vengeance against Admiral Stanhope for daring to suggest that the Government might wish to reconsider its decision to scrap a vital maritime capability. 

This government is not only incompetent, it is childish.

Another nail

The hammer hasn't fallen yet, but the MoD is once again threatening to disband the Red Arrows so that fit young layabouts and crazed Jihadist imams can keep getting their sacred giro cheques.

Maybe they should consider cutting something that might save a bit more money than the Red Arrows' £8 million.  Might I suggest the £9 billion sent to the European Empire EU every year for nothing in return except tyranny?

Questions

The Telegraph has an article about the capabilities of the Typhoon fighter plane, which they refer to as a "one-crew" aircraft.

On a fairly obvious point, though, they are a bit remiss about telling you how big that one crew is.

Some reward

In a show of gratitude for their valiant sacrifice, the British contingent in Afghanistan will be literally decimated.

I need to open a window and let the stink out.

Update:  In related news, eight spanking-new maritime patrol craft are coming on line to do the job the Nimrods just scrapped at a cost of £4.2 billion were supposed to do for Britain.  Only these planes are for India.  The same India that receives £2 billion in foreign aid from Britain.

I could weep.

Update: Exhibit A for why we're in this mess.  If Her Majesty's government had put Britain's defence needs first instead of worrying about being good "Europeans", the RAF would be flying Raptors built under licence with Rolls Royce engines and we'd have four nuclear-powered strike carriers waiting to trade in their fourth-generation Sea Harriers and Super Hornets for Lightning IIs (STOVL and carrier versions).

Cutting away the muscle

From the Telegraph:

A quarter of RAF trainee pilots are to be sacked in a cost-cutting cull that threatens to leave the Armed Forces short of airmen.

If you're going to scrap perfectly good aircraft, build carriers you never intend to use, and retire warships that still have decades of life in them, then sacking pilots a few air hours short of qualification after spending £300 million on their training makes the same sort of perverted sense.

It's a bit like a vending machine I once encountered that would refuse to provide a cup and then dispensed the coffee straight down the drain.

Update:  And if you're sacking pilots, why not get rid of coast guard stations and heavy tugs as well?

This isn't saving money; it's cutting capabilities.

Nimrod scrapping

A perverse example of how not to cut the budget.

History still flying

Vulcan XH558, a living reminder of what marvels Britain can produce when she tries, is heading back to the skies this April.

Well done.

How to fly a Harrier

Great.  Now they tell us!

Update: Farewell.

HMS Albion

Britain's new flagship is HMS Albion; an LPD.

You read it right.  It's an LPD.  There's no excuse for this.  We could have a Navy five times its current size including four nuclear carrier groups (I said groups) without breaking a sweat if Britain had a government that understood what its job is.  As it is, we have politicians instead of statesmen–and spineless ones at that.

An LPD!  I need to open a window.

Update:  Meanwhile the RAF may only have six fighter squadrons by the end of the decade.

Update:  And 93 magistrates' courts and 49 county courts are to be closed.  So when are those "green" energy subsidies going to be abolished?  Never? 

Meanwhile: "Cash-strapped local councils have pledged to identify the workers who are most useful and then sack them."  I'm not sure this is parody.  No wonder there are more Thacherites now than when Lady Thatcher was in power.

When the Coalition came in I lapsed into a brief fantasy that the so-called "Conservatives" might spend their time reversing the decades of idiotic decisions that brought us to this crossroads.  It looks more like they want to be a more efficient version of Labour.

Update:  And the hits keep on coming.  Cameron is going to do to the RN what the Kriegsmarine couldn't manage in six years of war.

Save the Vulcan

The last airworthy Avro Vulcan bomber needs £129,738 in the next day to keep flying.

Find the piggy bank, lads.

Building a Wellington bomber in 24 hours and 48 minutes

And it takes me most of the morning to get a headlamp bulb changed.

The death knell?

The Telegraph claims to have seen leaked budget proposals that would entail defence cuts that would end Britain as a major military power.

This is intolerable. Defence is the primary role of government, not a luxury. I accept that this is the current government having to deal with a crisis not of their own making, but if these cuts are true and they go through without being preceded by the wholesale abolition of entire departments, the halting of all foreign aid, and a firm commitment to dismantle the welfare state, then I will still regard the coalition as being criminally negligent and of questionable legitimacy.

Update: £43 million thrown away on useless electric cars while the Army faces a cut of 40,000 men? Just how much crack is the government smoking? I know they must be on crack. I just want to know how much.

Update: Ah, well. If we can't defend Britain, there's always the alternative.

I'm with stupid

I imagine that there were words when they got back to base.

Priorities

Britain's Afghanistan mission is without a rudder and public support is plummeting as a result, the Army lacks adequate kit, ammunition is low, proper air support is non-existent, relations with the US forces is frayed, the defence budget faces another round of insane cuts, and there's talk of out-right surrender to the Taliban, but don't worry, the MOD is leaping into action to rectify the situation by... deploying an all-girl Merlin helicopter crew.

Yes, I know I said "girl". I'm doing so because a) I do not subscribe to Newspeak and b) to highlight the utter fatuousness of this stunt–which, no reflection on the ladies, it most certainly is.

Dambusters Scoop

There have been a couple of stories about Peter Jackson's remake of The Dambusters this week, but we at Ephemeral Isle are proud to present this exclusive clip of the upcoming epic.

Caution: Spoilers!

Another Nail

The Red Arrows get their first female pilot, even though there are only TEN female fighter pilots in the entire RAF. But don't say that this is due to any orders from on high to put sex before competence. Not if you know what's good for you.

After all, it's not as if New Labour has its priorities skewed.

Vulcan To The Sky

Help keep the last Vulcan flying.

Let's Do The Timewarp Again

The Guardian still delivers, as this headline demonstrates:

RAF concerned about weakness on Hercules since second world war

This shows remarkable foresight, given that the Hercules wasn't even thought of until 1951.

The Shrinking Shield

In another throat-slitting cost-cutting measure, the government plans to decommission a quarter of the RAF's frontline bomber forces, leaving only SIX squadrons to carry the can.

When will they learn that it's supposed to be a defence budget, not a suicide pact?