Jaybird-UK

Costs like a Raptor, goes like a Tornado

SirFozzalot

Send HMS Invincible back to patrol the waters.......Oh no, wait....

HMS Invincible being scrapped in Turkey

tony de wonderful

Don't be silly. Libya isn't about chest-beating nationalism.
It's barely on the news now even.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Exactly, has rather backfired on the **** really hasn't it? LOL!

Leslie

I think that there will eventually be another attempt to take over the Falklands bearing in mind our highly depleted military defences.

Les

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Venezuela has been cosying up to Russia for a few years now as well, you'd have thought that would have set alarm bells ringing with obama. Unfortunately without any aircraft carriers, if the planes on the islands are destroyed then the islands will be a sitting duck.

pinkypurkhardt

iTrader: (9)

How is our military defences highly depleted. We got rid of some ships that are not needed in todays operational comitments and some out dated planes that have been replaced by one of the most agile planes of today. Using the savings to better equip ground troops which are some of the best equiped in the world, times have changed thanks to afghan. Also i belive we are more capable than fighting on two fronts as we did with iraq and afghan

Luan Pra bang

Has my great post about invading the bull raping tapas munching tin pot third world football cheating scumbags has vanished ?

mamoon2

True, they would probably be given benefits and housing.

vindaloo

If I was an Argentinian general, plan red white and blue would be to let the exploitation of the oil reserves begin, let the oil infrastructure start to take shape.

Take the softly, softly approach until the UK has SFA force projection capability, then stick a number of tanks on the runways at Stanley and Goose Green.

I reckon somewhere around if not before 2015 would be the best time.

PS: This is all the Americans' fault anyway. If they hadn't cleared the Argentinians from the islands in the 1800s we would never have had the opportunity to "own" them. "Common property of all nations" is how they described the Falklands in 1831/2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...Lexington_raid

J.

r32

The only way we managed to fight them off last time was the ability to quickly supply the forces that were out there. This involved the cargo planes refueling on Ascencion Island. This will not happen next time as the US will not allow it. So its a boat trip I'm afraid.
Plus have you not noticed we only have one carrier? Also the Army, RAF and the Navy are much smaller. They are struggling to maintain three ships of Libya and provide the protection for the UK. We are fast running out of missiles and spare parts. Three new planes have already been canabalised for spares as they didnt order enough of them either.
The Commander of the last task force Sandy Woodward has already said we are unable to respond in force or in time. I would guess that he knows what he's talking about? Unless some on here have more knowledge?

The SDR has gone too far too quickly in the hope that nothing happens until the two new ships are available in 2020. Dying the last conflict we werent occupied to any extent any where else.

hodgy0_2

presumably under the current international rules, if they manage to take them back they get to keep them?

on the surface, sounds fair

pinkypurkhardt

iTrader: (9)

well it was the ground troops that won the last war and being the best equiped they have been ever, stand a good chance. Air superiority is not everything, a good air defence network and air to air fighting capability which the typhoon was designed for puts us in good sted to fight off any "bull raping tapas munching tin pot third world football cheating scumbags" as for the supply network we manage well enough with afghan. If our lands are invaded then defending our own turf would become the main priority diverting all the efforts from other opperations imho of course

Leslie

Please explain how we could fight a war in the South Atlantic should the Argentinians walk in as they did before without the means to be able to transfer our military "might" into a position where it could operate successfully. Do you understand the distance involved?

Les

pinkypurkhardt

iTrader: (9)

yes and the goverment would do what it always does and offer close countrys lots of cash for a staging point and hire in civilian companys to transport equipment to the staging point

Leslie

Look at the area, the distance,and the countries around asking yourself where their loyalties would lie, and then tell us again how to do it!

Les

pinkypurkhardt

iTrader: (9)

you could say the same about the middle east but look how many countrys are staging grounds for opperations over there money talks as they say

The Zohan

There are some 1000 troops + support personnel, equipment and provisions. It has anti aircraft missiles and anti shipping systems. There is a very good chance it could defend and repel a sustained attack by the Argentinians at least until support arrived. A little better equipped that the 40 or so courageous Marines stationed there back in the early 80's

alternative lob 10 or so cruise missiles at key buildings into the centre of Buenos Aires from the nearest submarine, should they get a little hot blooded. I would not be at all surprised if there wasn't the odd British sub somewhere close by

GlesgaKiss

Just to keep things in perspective - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...y_expenditures

tony de wonderful

Since WW2 it has been though.

Leslie

Yes I hear that they have 4 Typhoons as well-if they are serviceable to fly of course!

Not enough to resist a full attack by the Argentineans and prevent them from taking over before shipborne troops arrived.

A very senior serving officer said the other day that militarily we have not got a chance of resisting a takeover of the Falklands now.

Do you really think that our politicians would have the bottle to attack Buenos Aires?

I think it is just a matter of time.

Les

Luan Pra bang

I think we should send some war ships to hang around off the coast of Argentina and make it clear who has the biggest strongest navy. Any dispute we can launch a few missiles into Buenos Aires.

Dr Hu

Hell! - Lets just send a few anyway.... lol

Luan Pra bang

Why can't we 'Liberate' the native population from their spanish colonial masters.

Leslie

I think we are doing our fair share of liberating already.

Les

pinkypurkhardt

iTrader: (9)

tell that to vietnam and the russians in afghan
here are afew more

Eight major wars were lost by the power that enjoyed air superiority:

1937-1945 Second Sino-Japanese War
1939 Soviet-Japanese Border War (Japanese air superiority was probably limited to air combat superiority)
1939-1940 Winter War
1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence
1959-1979 Vietnam War
1964-1979 Rhodesian Bush War (much more than a civil war)
1965-1989 South African Border War
1979-1989 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

pinkypurkhardt

iTrader: (9)

good find i think that alone speaks of how we would fair against the argies

ScoTTyB

What % of our spending is available for repelling an invasion of the Falklands though? The reason our budget is so high is because we're already fighting several wars.

I don't care how good eurofighters are they won't be able to take on 5 or 10 or however many planes the Argies can throw at them simultaneously. We have very little in the way of forward projecting our forces (what will we send, they're all in the middle east?).

You say lots of countries offered support in the middle east to the UK and the same would apply for the Falklands. Will it bollx, they offered support because the US was involved. No-one will allow our forces anywhere near the Falklands to repel the Argies.

SirFozzalot

She is saying that she is going to try to get the British government around the negotiating table as per some UN resolution and that they won't give up until they get them back but through peaceful negotiation.

She hasn't said that they are going to invade.

^Qwerty^

The Ascension Islands are British as far as I know, so they would be still available. But available for what is the big question? I could only see them as a stop off point for supply aircraft to refuel, so if we lost the Islands that would be it, game over, we have no way of taking them back.

In terms of the Black Buck missions, from what I've read, their success was more to do with the Argentinians realising we could bomb their home land, rather than bombing the Falklands themselves?

If you've not read the book, Vulcan 607 make sure you do. It's an amazing story.