British army (maybe) getting a new MBT?

[jlvfr]

The problem is that the EU doesn't have a "defense budget". I realise folks in this forum are not like this, but many in the US seem to forget that Europe is a continent, not a country, and what that means. It's a group of countries, each with it's economy, politics, etc. Which means each has to pay for it's armed forces out of what can be a very small budget. My own country, for example, could barelly aford a single 2nd-hand tank batalion (Leopard 2), for our single brigade...

And even the richer northern countries are feeling the pinch on costs. And replacing old gear isn't helping. The Netherlands is replacing 80+ F-16s with less than 40 F-35s! If this relatively rich country can't aford more, what about the others?...

 

[Monash]

The EU and Britain could afford a very effective defense force given the collective size of the member state economies. The problem is getting them to surrender national sovereignty as it pertains to defense force planning and procurement. The political and military elites of all member States each want control their own separate and independent armed forces, equipped along lines they choose and trained for missions they regard as a priority. All of them equipped with their chosen weapon and support systems and each with its own independent military ethos and training priorities. Yes there are some big ticket items like the Eurofighter where several nations have come together (because the cold hard reality of paying for them as individual states has hit them in the face) but apart from that its just way to hard to overcome the politics and bureaucratic inertia preventing any such system. (Imagine what the US defense forces would look like if all the state governments in the US had to collectively agree on the size and structure of defense spending every year).

So in a perfect world Europe could afford a centralized defense acquisition system that selected and purchased everything from uniforms to major strategic weapons systems based on the budget allocation it received from its member states together with centralized military planning agency run by senior officers of the major states. Here in the real world - good luck getting something like that up and running in the next few decades.

 

[Freyr]

BAE Package (Black Night)

link

The Challenger 2 Life Extension Project (LEP) is a UK MOD contract to remove obsolescence from Challenger 2 and extend its out-of-service date by ten years to 2035, and is worth over £700m.

The technology, developed by Leonardo in the UK, forms part of the BAE Systems led bid to upgrade the tank and would for the first time bring independent night vision for both the gunner and the commander.

Also known as ‘electro-optic technology’, the thermal imaging system will help British troops identify potential threats and move undetected in hostile situations, while also shaving valuable seconds off reaction times, which can make the difference between mission success and failure.

The company say that instead of sensing light like a standard digital camera, Leonardo’s infrared camera senses heat emitted by all objects with temperatures greater than absolute zero (-273°C).

The hundreds-of-thousands of individual pixels in the camera, each one-twelfth the thickness of a human hair, can detect temperature differences as small as one-fiftieth of a centigrade, allowing for extremely sharp images.

Contract is due to be awarded in mid 2019

 

[Freyr]

Rheinmetall recently released information concerning its bid which seems to show a completely new turret with smooth bore barrel. The turret is welded not cast.



Rheinmetall’s announced on 21 January that it would purchase a 55% stake in BAE Systems’ land business in the UK and has all but guaranteed work for both companies in the programme.

 

[tankie]

Makes my steam gunnery on cents look like hard work ,,,,and it was lol

 

[Freyr]

Makes my steam gunnery on cents look like hard work ,,,,and it was lol

Thats going back a bit.... Yeh the new tech is more like a video game from the operators point of view. I see they are digitising all their armour at present..even the Warrior is getting the treatment

 

[tankie]

Thats going back a bit.... Yeh the new tech is more like a video game from the operators point of view. I see they are digitising all their armour at present..even the Warrior is getting the treatment

The warrior with 30 mm rarden, i was a gnry inst on rarden on scymitar and smg .

 

[Freyr]

The warrior with 30 mm rarden, i was a gnry inst on rarden on scymitar and smg .

I'm not sure on the full upgrade package but I know they're putting a 40mm on the warrior. Same as on the Ajax AFV

 

[tankie]

I'm not sure on the full upgrade package but I know they're putting a 40mm on the warrior. Same as on the Ajax AFV

That may be true m8 but when i left it was 30mm rarden cannon , a weapon i loved , a punchy machine indeed with apse a gr8 round .

 

[Freyr]

That may be true m8 but when i left it was 30mm rarden cannon , a weapon i loved , a punchy machine indeed with apse a gr8 round .

Jrj.... here's a link for you pal ;-) https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-gb/products/armoured-vehicles.html

I guess they've had to use one company to have unified IT platform across the entire fleet

 

[tankie]

Jrj.... here's a link for you pal ;-) https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-gb/products/armoured-vehicles.html

I guess they've had to use one company to have unified IT platform across the entire fleet

Cheers Freyr the infantry reg are certainly becoming more mechanised .

 

[Albany Rifles]

Is the new gun on the Warrior/Ajax stabilized? That was always the knock on the Rarden and it's accuracy on the move. They may have fixed that since my days.

 

[tankie]

Is the new gun on the Warrior/Ajax stabilized? That was always the knock on the Rarden and it's accuracy on the move. They may have fixed that since my days.

Had a google A R and i cant find any stab on the 40s ,, but thats not to say they aint , maybe if a guy up to speed on em !!

 

[jlvfr]

Had a google A R and i cant find any stab on the 40s ,, but thats not to say they aint , maybe if a guy up to speed on em !!

It is. apparently. Found a PDF mentioning it, page 4 (warning: link autodownloads PDF).

 

[tankie]

Cheers mate .

 

[Freyr]

The UK are completely rearming and modernising their armoured component. So beware because if you are sat in a tin can with some pea shooter stuck out front, then you are just a target for practice ..and good luck with that!!!

 

[tankie]

The UK are completely rearming and modernising their armoured component. So beware because if you are sat in a tin can with some pea shooter stuck out front, then you are just a target for practice ..and good luck with that!!!

But can shoot back lol. Tin cans like chally 2 have proven great success on the battlefield and if one or two are targeting you well ,, good luck with that ,, the cvrt like warrior scorp etc etc are the tin cans you mention tho .Cheers for the conversation mate as i reckon im gonna pull down my cuppola in my tin can and ride off into the sunset playing my guitar singing about my dead dawg , my burned down farm and raped wife by the nasty indians ...yee haaa .

 

[Officer of Engineers]

The UK are completely rearming and modernising their armoured component. So beware because if you are sat in a tin can with some pea shooter stuck out front, then you are just a target for practice ..and good luck with that!!!

Each branch of the combat arms (guns, infantry, armour, enginners) have their place. Infantry can deny armour ground. Artillery can pound infantry. Tanks can rance under artillery ballistic arcs before the shellls can land. Engineers can make or breach obstacles.

Within context, I would hate to be the bellycrawler with my ears ringing up the kazoo, my body shaking from the artillery blast overpressure, and what little focus my eyes have trying to see through smoke to line up the AT that is plowing over me.

I usually simplify things to uneducated civies (which I don't think you are). What is the best gun/grenade/tank/plane/nunchuck? The ones that are coming to my rescue when I'm being charged by a 1000 pissed off fire breathing dragons.

What is the worst gun/grenade/tank/plane/nunchuck? The ones that are not where I am when I'm being charged by a 1000 pissed off fire breathing dragons.

 

[Freyr]

Each branch of the combat arms (guns, infantry, armour, enginners) have their place. Infantry can deny armour ground. Artillery can pound infantry. Tanks can rance under artillery ballistic arcs before the shellls can land. Engineers can make or breach obstacles.

Within context, I would hate to be the bellycrawler with my ears ringing up the kazoo, my body shaking from the artillery blast overpressure, and what little focus my eyes have trying to see through smoke to line up the AT that is plowing over me.

I usually simplify things to uneducated civies (which I don't think you are). What is the best gun/grenade/tank/plane/nunchuck? The ones that are coming to my rescue when I'm being charged by a 1000 pissed off fire breathing dragons.

What is the worst gun/grenade/tank/plane/nunchuck? The ones that are not where I am when I'm being charged by a 1000 pissed off fire breathing dragons.

I can only hope this Tech further reduces blue on blue and increases battle space awareness. Slightly concerned about the ease of this tech and its ability to act quicker than the frontal lobe. But thats where we are and the tech can't be undone

 

[Officer of Engineers]

I can only hope this Tech further reduces blue on blue and increases battle space awareness. Slightly concerned about the ease of this tech and its ability to act quicker than the frontal lobe. But thats where we are and the tech can't be undone

More often than not, it's the frontal lobe that's the problem.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarnak_Farm_incident

However, this example shows what happens when the tech does work.