The Leander class sold quite well, but after that... the UK designs tended to be too UK-centric to be of use to other nations. Meanwhile, the germans sold the MEKO concept like popcorn.
HMS EAGLE in the Falklands
- Thread starter flasheart
- Start date
On the positive side paying for fleet carriers in the 80s/early 90s means that more money will be available for future projects like the Astutes(a dozen at the very least please) and the Type 45s(again at least a dozen should be built) and to a lesser extent the Type 26s
True although a Type 45 without the RL versions known and noted flaws would be rather nice as well.
Getting the MK41 VLS tubes and Harpoons added while they are being built would be nice to.
Honestly I think a building program more along the JMSDF lines with smaller classes, but more frequent builds would be better. The practice of saving up the new construction until it all gets ordered in one big splurge contributed greatly to the fall of the British shipbuilding industry as it would have to endure severe lean years, and then be forced to rapidly expand to accommodate new orders at great expense only to be left with a new drought for which their new capacity became a costly burden.
Smaller classes of 4-6 ships would be better, but with construction being pretty much constant and designs being iterative and evolving. There should also be a ban on major refits. Instead new construction should be preferred with ships that are getting older being sold off before they are too decrepit to be worth much, bonus if the new owners want work done to modernise the hulls.
Maximizing the amount of work done in British yards will brings costs down, as they no longer have to repurchase the same capability over and over again, and also encourage new build export orders
Smaller classes of 4-6 ships would be better, but with construction being pretty much constant and designs being iterative and evolving. There should also be a ban on major refits. Instead new construction should be preferred with ships that are getting older being sold off before they are too decrepit to be worth much, bonus if the new owners want work done to modernise the hulls.
Maximizing the amount of work done in British yards will brings costs down, as they no longer have to repurchase the same capability over and over again, and also encourage new build export orders
I share to a limited degree @CV12Hornet's concern about the LEANDERs, but a decision to not go ahead with RAF Mount Pleasant seems very unlikely to me even in this timeline.
Even if the formal capabilities of the airfield might not be fully used, and the threat from Argentina very limited for the time being, it displayed a formal commitment to the future defense of the islands to the Falklanders - and in a very tangible, concrete way. Also, it meant spending a fair bit of coin locally, too.
Otherwise, a solid and fairly plausible update, Flash. You put some thought and research into it. Well done.
Yeah but the Argentine fleet and air force have been annihilated. That means you can get away with building RAF assets at the existing airport. Its only got to be a placebo anyway and if Stanley can be made jet capable go with that I guess.
I still never got how Scheer and more importantly the Kaiser was willing to take a ship named after Germany that was expected to last five minutes in combat into the operation that wound up being Jutland
Well, the Argies took a beating in OTL, too - they weren't seen as much of a threat in OTL, either, especially after the collapse of the military regime.
There was a pretty strong commitment to the idea as a gesture to the islanders OTL; I am just not seeing the dynamic changed much in this timeline to alter that decision. In short, it is a political decision as much as it is a military one. Perhaps its footprint might get trimmed a bit, but...
In fairness they came close to this with the 3 batches of Type 22s and 42s but then the cold war ended and the bottom fell out of any plans to build enough ships to keep the RN from shrinking anymore than it already had and by extension keeping the UK's shipbuilding industry off life support.
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OTL India bought the Hermes and made a pretty good job of keeping her in service
What happens ITTL?
Were they already buying Harrier 51 ITTL?
What happens ITTL?
Were they already buying Harrier 51 ITTL?
Well they have Vikrant but its old and seen hard use. Maybe they can get a Kiev early if the SU proceeds with their vague plans to turn the things into effective carriers.
That said if the Uk did pursue an export variant (or rather a scaled down version for the absolute minimum they need if the bean counters win) maybe India could buy one if they can wait about ten extra years.
Maybe they would get an Invincible when the first of the CVF90s enters service?
Yeah... That crossed my mind as well.
I seem to recall the Canadians purchased their CF18's direct from McDonnell Douglas as opposed to going thru the FMS process. Maybe the UK obtains their F18's the same way ?
Given the Canadians have already elected to buy to a batch of 120 F/A-18s and we know that the Australians followed suit in 1985 OTL it seems that this TL is ripe for a "Commonwealth F-18".
SsgtC
Banned
Not really. By the 80s, both Canada and Australia used almost exclusively American hardware. Particularly in regards to aircraft, avionics, radars and missiles. That would be a massive expense in both equipment and training to transition back to British standard equipment