boxer thing cant happen as the ajax isn’t filling in an IFV role more its filling in the role the scimitar left which is recon
KF-41 isn’t suitable for our needs, different sized turret ring so you can’t just drop in our turret, not enough British components, not economically worth it for us, and we would consider it inferior to CV-90.
Better solution is really just CV-90 though we would have to talk to the Swedish government about our domestic manufacture as post FRES SV deal, Sweden made it so all AB defence companies have to do manufacture in Sweden. So BAE would struggle to force Hagglunds to approve UK manufacture, but then again. The future of Sweden’s naval fleet lies in British hands, so I think we can do a deal there. As the Visby’s are getting CAMM from us, the Luleas are half designed in the UK, and they’re assessing a joint procurement with Denmark for Type 31, provided FDI doesn’t win that competition. So we have leverage.
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I did however recently discover that a significant number of components for PUMA are manufactured in the UK including the armour blocks, suspension, in the near future the turret, and sensors. Company building the RCT30 also is involved in the CTA40 turret (not the gun itself).
It’s not really any more suitable in fact its less suitable than KF-41 but it at least has more UK manufacture and is A400M transportable.
So what you are saying is that the AV-8A, AV-8C, AV-8B+ and AV-8B(NA) should all be in the British TT?
As well as all the RR Merlin P-51s
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B-57s?
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Oh yes, forgot about those too
BAE don’t have anywhere to build it in the UK
The proposal for FRES was to assemble vehicles from kits, shipped over from Sweden, in Newcastle. BAE sold that site.
Their only remaining major manufacturing facility for land systems is the RBSL joint venture in Telford, which is busy producing CR3s and Boxers for the foreseeable future. And the Rheinmetall part of RBSL wont bid to assemble CV90s when they could be selling us Lynx.
You forget that the KF41 is famously modular.
It has no 1 turret ring size, its a flexible system thats supposed to be able to handle all matter of adaptions.
One of the old forum regulars mentioned as well that the ajax turret is an offshot of the lance 1 0 turret
Rheinmetall is highly flexible with producrion areas as well
What does that have to do with anything, especially my report?
You are claiming a British weapon system that the US never purchased or operated to be removed from the British Apache and added to the US apache because they refused to let anyone else to do the intergration for it.
So im saying that if that is a valid argument, British aircraft that the US didnt build, such as the Harrier are in the wrong tree as well
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You are completely wrong.
The US was the one who went through the integration (on their own AH-64s no less), not on the behalf of UK, but because they were evaluating the Starstreak as a replacement to the unsuccessful AIM-9 tests and as “competitor” to the Air-to-Air Stinger.
Here’s the budget document on ATASK integration with the AH-64D:
Now, my question is, why the hell should the UK freeload off of a US initiative to upgrade their own AH-64Ds with ATASK, when the UK did no such thing - they gave up on their ATASK program without ever even mounting them because the US ATASK program had failed.
Please provide a primary source that states the US purchased Starstreaks.
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I’m not going to waste my time searching for the elusive President signed signature stating that the US used Starstreaks when you’ll deny that as well, but here’s an easily findable news article from 1999 confirming multiple rounds of tests, and if you want more proof, just google a picture of an AH-64 firing a Starstreak - they’re all US AH-64s anyways.
Pretty sure it’s known that the US wanted to test Starstreaks, but did not in the end, even saying they “never wanted to test them”. I did see some images of Apaches having Starstreaks, but I did not bother to look which Apache it is. It appears one of those reasons might have been that normal mounted Starstreaks could damage the Apache
Screenshots are from Janes from 2002, which are dubious from time to time, but it would have to make due
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I mean you can find a video of an Apache firing a Starstreak online
Hello, US AH-64A
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Aight, thanks
I’ll try to find the image of the mentioned Apache carrying Starstreaks tomorrow or smth. I do remember it being on the ground, and the Starstreak launcher looking different (compared to the in game one)
Nah it looked different I think, was a close up too at what I assume might have been a military exhibition
