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Mr T

Senior Member
Cutting tank numbers and/or delaying upgrades until the Challenger 2 is due to be replaced is one of the best ways for the MoD to conserve money right now. The C-2 still has its uses in the sort of medium-intensity conflicts the UK has been getting into recently. As for wars involving countries with top-grade tanks, the UK simply isn't going to get into them by itself.

That doesn't mean the UK should get rid of its heavy armour, but it's not a priority right now. The Royal Navy and RAF should be the priorities.
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
It is very unlikely that UK will hold ground against another country far from home shores
Right now the UK has deployed said tanks to Inland Europe against another country. Russia.
what 21st warfare is about is power projection, look at Spain LHD, look at Turkey LHD, look at Australia LHD, look at Egypt LHD hell even Algeria is getting one none of these have a history of power projection
Naval capabilities are an asset but they don’t hold terrain they operate at sea and push into terrain. Air power is useful. Yet boots on the ground effect the situation on the ground.
thats why UK is investing more in air and naval platforms its all about mobility

moving heavy armour around is very costly and cumbersome, Americans are doing it but thats a exception
it’s also necessary. What’s the point of The Albion class LPDs if they can only roll out Land Rovers?
The argument made here is short sighted it only considers the needs of the RN and no other aspects of potential conflicts. It reflects the same issues that have hampered British operations for decades. Right now even the existing Challanger 2s are hampered by lack of tank transports. The British army can only supply 91 HETS units. The want since 2015 is a rapidly deployment force of Division strength. 18 of those HETS are in Europe another 3 are recovery vehicles as it stands. Leaving 70 Of Those have to transport 112 Challanger 2 plus AS90, Warrior and Ajax, Briding and recovery vehicles as well.

a single Attack helicopter can take care of a entire column of tanks

Desert Storm proved that

less tanks more fighting vehicles
No it didn’t. It proved that AirPower could overwhelm an adversaries who lacked response. Attack helicopters can get chewed up by air denial systems. Heck a flack trap of heavy machine guns disabled a large number of them in 03. . They also have short operation periods where they can maintain control. A vehicle on the ground doesn’t need to RTB for Fuel after a hour of flight.

Next you lay in a misunderstanding. This wouldn’t scrap just Challanger 2 but also Warrior. Leaving only Ajax and possibly maybe Boxer. Neither was intended to serve the same role as proper Tank and IFV.
Cutting tank numbers and/or delaying upgrades until the Challenger 2 is due to be replaced is one of the best ways for the MoD to conserve money right now. The C-2 still has its uses in the sort of medium-intensity conflicts the UK has been getting into recently. As for wars involving countries with top-grade tanks, the UK simply isn't going to get into them by itself.

That doesn't mean the UK should get rid of its heavy armour, but it's not a priority right now. The Royal Navy and RAF should be the priorities.
What you are talking about would kill British armor more effectively than mothballing the whole force and reassignment to infantry.
The want is to maintain a set number of operational capacity for an armored force for rapid reaction However consistently the armored force has been at the back of the line. I get it the RNFAA needs F35, RN needs Escorts,RAF needs Typhoons and transports yet the British army is being nickeled and dimed to death.
The article that spawned this conversation’s origin has since been refuted.
Defence secretary denies plan to mothball British army tanks
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gelgoog

Brigadier
Registered Member
The British are just falling into the same trap the Canadians did. Then they were stationed in Afghanistan. So much for the LAV III replacing MBTs.

The Ajax is a decent platform but a modern army needs MBTs.
 

Mr T

Senior Member
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Boris Johnson has agreed a four-year £16.5bn surge in defence spending at a time when Britain’s public finances have been stretched by the pandemic and a day after it emerged that billions of pounds could be cut from the foreign aid budget.

Experts said the windfall represents the largest real-terms increase in the defence budget since Margaret Thatcher’s premiership and will be partly spent on a National Cyber Force of hackers and a new Space Command designed to protect orbiting satellites and launch its own rockets.

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It will see £16.5bn extra being spent on defence over and above a commitment to increase the existing £41.5bn budget by 0.5 percentage points above inflation. Taken together, the increase amounts to £21.5bn until March 2025, and defence sources said it would mean the UK remained Europe’s biggest defence spender.

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MwRYum

Major
There are British private small launchers in work(as in many countries)
Entry barriers have fallen low enough...
As long as geosynchronous orbit isn't a requirement in the profile, UK is still a viable option. Also, the weight of the payload is important.
 

gelgoog

Brigadier
Registered Member
The UK is the only nation to get a space launch capability and then drop it.
I wouldn't count on it. Just look at their frigates. Almost as old as the Russian ones.
 
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