Comments by "Billy Bob" (@davidrobertsemail) on "BFBS Forces News" channel.

  1. Ouch. I was drooling over that. That’s too much for a service optic.
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  2. Did you just read a bit off Wikipedia?
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  3. The British military is no longer top tier. …..but we have lots of diversity!
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  4. Forces TV revisionist history. This is BS propaganda. Shame on you for putting this out. You aren’t a soldier obviously. Our troops were not equipped property because of politicians like Blair and brown.
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  5. We aren’t defending our own borders but we are going into debt to defend Ukraines.
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  6. Manic Mute tell that to the wife of sergeant Steve Roberts who was killed by friendly fire after he was ordered to give up his body armor due to shortages. Or tell it to the parents of the Red Caps that we’re slaughtered because they didn’t have enough bullets to defend themselves because of shortages. Ask Reg Keys who stood against Blair in 2005 because his son died because of shortages caused by politicians like Blair and Brown who refused to fund our troops at war. The snatch land rover scandal is one story of many.
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  7. Calling it a strike group is very generous indeed.
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  8. Fantastic. Now double the number of frigates .
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  9. It’s a great destroyer. But there’s only 6 of them. Not nearly enough. One may be able to track a thousand targets at once but so what? Air defense ships can be easily overwhelmed by missile salvos.
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  10. This is awful reporting. The t90 was on its own without support which is stupid. The Bradley’s and probably two FPV drones disabled the tank. The Bradley’s gun can’t penetrate the tank’s armor. Also the reactive armor doesn’t react from 25mm fire. The t90 used countermeasures which may have looked like the ERA was exploding. The real story here is the incompetence of the Russians putting a tank out on its own.
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  11. A pathetic embarrassment. Aircraft carriers without aircraft. A navy without ships!
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  12. Shame it’s a ski jump. At 65,000 should have had catapults for the proper f35s No frigates either. Sad state of affairs indeed.
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  13. The important thing is we keep putting migrants in hotels. We keep subsidizing wind farms that don’t work. And we keep funding the war in Ukraine.
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  14. Jeez that’s insane! It’s a big fat target.
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  15. The most important thing is diversity. Everyone knows that’s how you win wars.
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  16. I though she was going to include some rubber boats as well.
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  17. I understand they are being upgraded/replaced but with 17 fewer. As to flying them off HMS Ocean they were a token force as we had just scrapped our remaining carrier and sold the harriers early. A stupid decision indeed considering we are now struggling with carrier operations.
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  18. You mean facts
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  19.  @tellyboy17  obsolete just like tanks? Russia is using its attack helicopters to great affect in Ukraine as tanks advance. These attack helicopters are frontline and loses are expected in a real war. We need more not less.
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  20. Tungst the video is BS Drayson was part of the problem. In June, when this was first raised in the Lords, the defence procurement minister, Lord Drayson, insisted that these unarmoured Land Rovers provided "the level of protection we need". Asked why the British Army was not, like most other coalition troops in Iraq, equipped with mine-protected RG 31s, he replied that the Army had used them in Bosnia and found them wanting. He was later forced to admit, grudgingly, that the vehicles used in Bosnia were not RG 31s
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  21. Turkey invaded in 1974. Please state the obvious.
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  22. gjssjg this is BS Drayson was as guilty as Blair. In June, when this was first raised in the Lords, the defence procurement minister, Lord Drayson, insisted that these unarmoured Land Rovers provided "the level of protection we need". Asked why the British Army was not, like most other coalition troops in Iraq, equipped with mine-protected RG 31s, he replied that the Army had used them in Bosnia and found them wanting. He was later forced to admit, grudgingly, that the vehicles used in Bosnia were not RG 31s
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  23. Steve Sheppard it shifts the blame. The whitewash report isn’t trustworthy. This video has plenty of truth in it sure. But it’s redirecting blame. It’s revising history. Hence propaganda. The whole picture is very clear. Government from the top down didn’t support our troops. I blame those at the top down. This lying politician claims to be the hero here when he is responsible for the shambles. Cabinet responsibility means he is answerable to the actions of the government. He’s responsible. The MOD works for him. He can’t blame the MOD then claim he solved the problem. He’s responsible!
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  24. Manic Mute great defense.
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  25. Dreadlocks? How far have we fallen
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  26. Two carriers. one doesn’t work and hasn’t any planes anyway. Not enough assets to protect them even if they could go to sea. Type 45 destroyers don’t work and if they did there’s only six of them. Our frigates are out of date and being replaced by a force half the size. That’s just the navy :-/
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  27. They can’t run a mile or do ten pushups. But they use the correct pronouns and play video games. Scary!
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  28. The colonial power here is China. The port is Chinas belt and road. Those billions come with strings. Britain won’t be allowed to use the port if it upsets the owner.
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  29. Only six ships. When 12 were originally ordered many said 12 was not nearly enough. How sad.
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  30. What ignorant “Journalism” China is not only an economic superpower it’s a military superpower. No mention in this report of the massive increases in its nuclear arsenal or the fact that the Chinese military budget is simply not known. Also no mention of the fact that the dollar number is only relief costs are the same. They are not. China produces military hardware and pays its military at a significantly lower cost than the US. China has a bigger army, marines and a bigger navy than the US. It’s Air Force is expanding at a phenomenal rate as well. This is CCP propaganda journalism.
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  31. It’s got no planes on it.
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  32. So what about the 50 RAF fighter pilots who have trained the Chinese pilots? What about those traitors? Was that your idea?
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  33. No early warning aircraft. Not enough planes. Not enough escort ships. The aircraft carriers are a joke.
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  34. So not less diversity Equity and Inclusion? I’m surprised.
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  35. Sad there’s only 6 of them. When the initial order of 12 was placed most commentators complained that was far too few.
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  36. Royal artillery without artillery.
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  37. Ha ha. The port is being developed as part of the belt and road. Billions from China.
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  38. A carrier strike group! Not enough escort ships, planes and no early warning aircraft! We can’t put our “carrier strike group” near the Houthi’s! Never mind a near peer adversary.
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  39. Winning wars is the important thing. Not diversity and Inclusion.
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  40.  @jp3630 end of the Cold War is when the cuts started. During the Cold War Britain was a force to be reckoned with.
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  41.  @Orbital_Inclination better protected than a container ship.
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  42. Correct about the destroyers and frigates. The current number is a joke. We had 42 frigates in 1982 13 now And they keep cutting back on their replacements. Eg type 31!!
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  43.  @tellyboy17  drones are great but they have not and will not replace tanks, APCs or attack helicopters any time soon. Ukraine shows us that.
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  44. Giving 30 of these away leaves another gap in our defense. We have the money to defend Ukraine but not to replace or upgrade what we have.
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  45. We are giving them away with no replacements for us!!! Insane
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  46. How many will we buy? 20? 30?
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  47. Tungst this video is revisionist history. Lord Paul Drayson was not the man that solved the problem he and his government were the problem. Forces TV should not publish this BS propaganda. He, Blair and the rest of his cabinet are responsible for the MOD. They new they had a problem but they didn’t want to spend the money.
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  48. Paul E don’t believe it. The Labour government didn’t care about dead soldiers. They sent them there without the right equipment and they knew it.
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  49. No planes. It’s just a target.
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  50. I can predict the future…… They will take ages to build and there won’t be anywhere near enough of them.
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  51.  @jackryan9712 low standards do yes.
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  52. What a wonderful big target.
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  53. A big shiny target. Great for humanitarian missions though.
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  54.  @bigmatthews666 with about 60% available due to repairs and training we still don’t even have enough for 1:03 one carrier. Even if we had all 74 that’s only enough for one carrier. To make it worse the RAF planes were cancelled so the RAF is sharing the planes. What a joke.
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  55.  @JaneGalvin this one left the US with no planes. Sailed across the Atlantic with no planes and sailed in to port with no planes. It’s an AIRCRAFT carrier with no planes.
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  56. Off the shelf proven Blackhawk.
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  57. There’s money for Ukraine, illegal immigrants and everything else but not the military.
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  58.  @nigg2811  I never said only white males were capable. Pushing diversity is what this is about not merit based. All employment in all walks of life should be based on merit. Your policy is racist and sexist. It also weakens the military.
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  59. Embarrassing. A woke military is an incompetent military.
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  60. Kwek Jeng Yong the design of these carriers was decided by politicians who wanted to save money. They chose to have ski ramps instead of catapults for political reasons not defense driven requirements. That was decided by then chancellor Gordon Brown. The next PM David Cameron wanted to install catapults by because of his cost cutting to the military budget stuck with cheaper ski ramps. Both these governments between them cut the number of replacement frigates and destroyers significantly from the already inadequate number. So the whole history of military spending on these projects has been a farce. The end result is a large carrier with short range jets with low payloads and not enough ships for the navy. Notwithstanding no carrier capability for over a decade and the loss of skills associated with it. The whole thing has been a shambles.
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  61. Mark Cooke we don’t have enough of either frigates or destroyers. 1982 we had 42 frigates now we have 13 and they aren’t being replaced with nearly enough. Hence the cost cutting from 12 to 6 destroyers and the cost cutting measure of the type 31s. Simply put if this shop goes to sea we don’t have any ships elsewhere. It’s numbers that are the problem.
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  62. MidgetDylan the NHS is a joke as is the education system. Overfunded not underfunded. Gold plated pensions in both fields and early retirement guaranteed. Incompetence runs rife in both government run sectors. The military has been gutted for decades. In 1982 we had 42 frigates. Now 13
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  63. Tea Lover 65,000 ton with no catapults? That’s quantity not quality. 13 frigates. With half of their replacements being type 31s That’s neither quality or quantity. I wish it wasn’t so but don’t kid yourself.
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  64.  @DanielsPolitics1 the truth hurts
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  65. Two carriers need a lot more than that. The Air Force are also sharing the planes. 70 odd planes is enough fir one carrier. Operational availability requires nearly double the amount. Training, maintenance and other repairs means you are looking at maybe 60% available at any one time.
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  66. Wow. So much to take in
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  67.  @patterdale4332  we don’t have replacements for the AS90s we have sent and we have a pathetic amount of munitions in reserve.
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  68. So not enough of anything.
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  69. Manic Mute yeah no defense.
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  70. Wonderful the aircraft carrier with no planes is back at sea.
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  71. No planes!!!! You can’t make it up. Not enough destroyers, subs or frigates to protect it either. It’s an embarrassment.
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  72. Of course catapult is better for large carriers. For small aircraft carriers a ski ramp is appropriate. The range and ordinance needed to project power off large carriers is a necessity. The US six Gen. fighters are being designed with 50% more range because otherwise carriers will be destroyed by longer range anti ship missiles. Small carriers can’t go anywhere close to near pier adversaries. The fact that large British carriers have ski jumps is a testament to incompetent government.
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  73. Another stupid decision by our political class which weakens our military. As if they haven’t done enough damage already.
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  74. Not an inch East!!!
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  75. It can’t afford anything because it’s giving it to Ukraine or France!!
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  76. Agreed or enough ships to protect them.
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  77. Never since they cut the order
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  78.  @infinitydoge8819 we don’t have 36 planes available. Planes are used for training and require extensive off ship maintenance. Once 50 or so are delivered we might have enough for a full complement for one ship. Why have a 65,000 ship if you are only ever going to have a fraction of the aircraft? We could have built 3 or 4 smaller ships for less and much quicker. These are white elephants and sitting ducks without enough escorts or early warning planes to protect them.
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  79. We have two carriers and not enough aircraft for one. We have two carriers and not enough ships to protect them. We have two carriers and no early warning aircraft.
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  80. It’s a very nice little boat with one tiny little gun on it.
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  81.  @admiralmallard7500  we only have 31 in total I understand of those only 27 are available if they aren’t being maintained. Each of our two carriers is supposed to have 36 on board or at least close to that number if other aircraft are needed for the mission.
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  82. 50 British fighter pilots were paid to train the Chinese Air Force. Why haven’t these traitors been prosecuted???
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  83. So we didn’t have enough MK1s now we will have even less E variants.
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  84. The only thing worse than a floating white elephant is two of them.
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  85. Not enough planes, escorts or working engines.
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  86. Traitors. Name and shame them.
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  87.  @Orbital_Inclination each carrier carries 36 planes but we only have 27 or so in the UK between two carriers and apparently the RAF is supposed to share them as well. It’s a joke. Add that to the lack of surface ship’s required to protect a carrier and no early warning defense aircraft the whole program is a white elephant. I don’t care what you say aircraft carriers are supposed to have planes.
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  88. Are these the same pilots training the CCP pilots?
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  89. Trump will bring peace. Enough of these endless wars.
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  90. Mac 73 well said. Encounters require missiles. For every ship added you significantly increase your chances of winning. We simply don’t have enough ships.
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  91. So the Apache fleet is being reduced. Only 50 ordered. I wonder if we will even get all of them. Cuts cuts cuts.
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  92. Is it just the one plane then?
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  93. Or the Ukrainians just sell them like they have sold loads of our kit already.
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  94. Giving away equipment that we have very little of and isn’t being replaced.
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  95. We all know that diversity and inclusion is how you win wars. China is shaking in its boots!
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  96.  @regarded9702  I didn’t realize so many of our frigates had already been retired. It’s worse than I thought. Depressing :-/
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  97.  @Digmen1  what’s your point. We don’t need a military? I don’t need car insurance until I do either. It’s a fact our military is stripped to the bone. We have huge gaps in our defense and giving away gear that we need and aren’t going to replace is a bad idea.
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  98.  @Ukraineaissance2014  that’s an emotional argument. The fact remains we are stripping our already stripped military to defend a non NATO country.
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  99. Great ship. Not nearly enough of them planned though. Eight plus five type 31 frigates is half of what the navy needs.
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  100. Jeez. No money and woke.
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  101. Ever shrinking.
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  102. 4?
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  103. I though British Pilots/Traitors were too busy teaching Chinese pilots how to kill Americans.
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  104.  @kalidilerious the “Journalist” doesn’t seem to know anything. That’s what’s awful.
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  105. It’s a great plane let down by older missiles and pilots with too little training.
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  106. Steven Homan sorry I wasn’t criticizing you. I’m mad at this video as it portrays this scandal as incompetence as the politicians saved the day. The politician in this video knew of the problem and did nothing. In 2006 he said”In June, when this was first raised in the Lords, the defence procurement minister, Lord Drayson, insisted that these unarmoured Land Rovers provided "the level of protection we need".
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  107. Tungst it’s deliberately misleading. Drayson is on record in Hansard as stating the snatch was fit for purpose. This while they were being killed in it.
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  108. Glenn Ridsdale he was in office from May 2005 for defense equipment and support. This video shows him bragging about him solving a problem yet he was part of it. He defended the use of the snatch Land Rover and only did to outside pressure changed government policy.
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  109. 1300? ;-)
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  110. 5 What a joke
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  111.  @normanboyes4983  I can wire a plug but even if I couldn’t I could figure out that an aircraft carrier without planes isn’t very good.
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  112. They don’t even have planes!
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  113.  @luciussander8217  it should have at least 36 f35s There are only 28 in country for BOTH carriers! so only a proportion of those will be available. No early warning. Not enough escort ships. It’s s big fat target.
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  114. Lovely target though ;-)
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  115.  @davidhouseman4328  don’t trust politicians to hold on to it that long. They got rid of our last carrier early and gave away our newly modernized harriers for free without any replacements on the horizon.
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  116. And half an air wing
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  117. Carriers without planes, early warning or escort ships. Impressive.
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  118.  @abrahamdozer6273  so do the Americans and Chinese only have one air wing per carrier? Of course they don’t. We don’t even have one full air wing! Slow walking the purchases and not buying enough of them is a joke. These are big shiny targets that cost a fortune. Please go ahead and defend a carrier without planes!
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  119. Yes and actually have planes on them.
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  120. No planes. These things are a floating target and a reminder of how far our military has fallen.
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  121.  @abrahamdozer6273  are you saying that the original order for 148 f35s was a mistake? That the new order for 74 is enough for two air wings? There are only 28 in the country. What percentage are operationally available from 28? 70%? Carriers in dry dock being refitted don’t need planes. These two carriers aren’t in dry dock they are “Operational” ;-) no planes but “Operational Aircraft carriers”
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  122. No planes!!!!
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  123. China is the threat not Russia. The 50 British fighter pilots that helped train the Chinese pilots would agree.
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  124.  @MrVenturadog  you are right Britain has never fought a war.
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  125. Comments disabled on last video. Because everyone knows wokeness damages the military.
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  126. We don’t! the Royal Artillery participated in the exercise without guns!
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  127. The US is depleting it’s sticks of munitions at a terrifying rate. US stocks in Israel and South Korea have been raised to supply Ukraine. China knows this and is eyeing up Taiwan. The Secretary of the Navy tweeted 4 weeks ago that if we continued to blindly supply Ukraine we would be out of ammo in the Fleet by June… that was immediately taken down and memory-holed…
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  128. Odd the “Journalist” forgot that
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  129.  @1chish  read Christopher Bookers articles on this and many other “Buy European” projects. Eye opening.
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  130. Exactly buying European that was twice the price, delayed and not as capable instead of cheaper, off the shelf American was always about politics not logic.
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  131. British traitors training the Chinese pilots flying them.
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  132.  @adamatch9624  any military analyst knows this. This isn’t journalism.
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  133. More fancy stuff we are giving away.
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  134.  @annoyed707  Ukraine is currently using its feared lgcbtqfckhgtb division to destroy Russian battle groups now. Diversity is strength.
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  135. @cjjk9142 it’s a huge waste of taxpayer money and an embarrassment.
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  136. @cjjk9142you are wrong. Both ships were supposed to have a full complement of planes and escort ships. The cuts happened and it was too late to cancel the PoWs
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  137. That’s what I thought!
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  138.  @admiralmallard7500  agreed. They are all f35bs anyway so designed for small carriers.
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  139. 8 f35s What a sad state of affairs.
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  140. Sad day indeed.
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  141. Pro war anti peace propaganda.
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  142. Really? Europe has been reliant on the American taxpayer for 75 years.
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  143. It’s a stalemate.
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  144. Importing Afghanistan and it’s problems to Britain is insane.
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  145.  @furiousscotsman2916 nope. There will never be enough for both carriers.
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  146.  @matthewwelch3007 we would struggle to defend one carrier against any half capable enemy.
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  147.  @thetruthhurts7675 I agree that’s why we shouldn’t have retired the harriers early. If we had kept them on and at least one carrier we would have had continuous carrier operations.
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  148. ⁠​⁠ @D-Z321 I know. The point I made was that we should have kept the harriers until we received the f35s. Thus keeping continuous carrier operations. We received our first f35s in 2018. The harriers were supposed to be retired in 2018. They were retired early in 2011 and effectively sold for scrap.
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  149. ⁠ @furiousscotsman2916 Italy, Spain and the US still use harriers. They are still extremely capable. When we sold them for £35 million to the US they had just been modernized. We sold them for peanuts. It was a terrible decision. The f35s we have are the b variant not the c variant. The 65 thousand ton ships we have don’t have a catapult! We should have bought 3 or 4 smaller ships which would enable us to field 2 or 3 at a time and sustain losses. Instead we have in effect one great big target with shorter range b variants and not enough escort ships to protect it.
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  150.  @furiousscotsman2916 that’s because we sold off our carriers and scrapped the harrier fleet. Another genius decision. On top of huge carriers without catapults.
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  151.  @matthewwelch3007 not sure I get your addition 5 plus 8 plus 6 plus two equals… Either way we don’t have enough of any class of ship.
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  152.  @importantjohn it has less than 20 combat ships. Two of which are aircraft carriers without enough planes for one of them.
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  153.  @furiousscotsman2916 this one has zero planes the other doesn’t have enough for a full load out.
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  154.  @Orbital_Inclination we don’t have enough aircraft for one carrier never mind two. We retired our carriers too early and scrapped the harriers. These two ships are great big white elephants and the navy has half the surface ships it needs fir two carriers anyway. Even if we buy 73 planes in total that’s still only enough for one carrier. I suspect one will be mothballed soon enough. Probably the POWs. You know the one without planes.
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  155.  @Orbital_Inclination so no planes then.
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  156. An aircraft carrier without planes is like a Lamborghini without an engine.
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  157. Every day this war goes on China gets stronger and the west gets weaker.
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  158. @SuperVHSchannel our border isn’t secure! We are paying billions to defend their border. Money we have to borrow. I’d be ok with borrowing money to defend our borders.
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  159. New fancy kit is great. Not enough soldiers, tanks, ammo etc. is the problem. As one general put it the shop front is full but there’s nothing in the shop.
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  160. Ukraine isn’t going to get air superiority over Russia. Is this journalism?
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  161. Ha ha ha. Pathetic!
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  162. People should get jobs based on merit not sexuality or skin colour. This policy is racist and sexist and makes the military weaker.
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  163. David Houseman 5 31s and 8 26s simply are not enough. It’s not about doing more. It’s about have a full time blue water navy. Building 65,000 carriers without catapults is dumb. Only have 6 destroyers and 8 frigates and 5 fancy corvettes simply isn’t enough. These “Strategic” defense decisions are shambolic. Driven by cost cutting as they are too weak to cut costs where they should. The navy simply doesn’t have enough ships. You can still be proud of those serving and recognize that. In 4 years we may be able to send a carrier group out but any other commitments be dammed. Sustained operations simply are not possible with a carrier group at sea. There is no redundancy for shore leave, repairs or resupply. We need 30 frigates and 15 destroyers. But to pay for that domestic welfare spending would need to be cut.
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  164. David Houseman the US operates both With catapults and without. The ones without aren’t deemed carriers. They serve different needs so yes in some instances the smaller America/wasp class is required but it’s certainly not better. The f35bs have low payload and range which defeats the point of two 65,000 ton aircraft carriers. FYI HMS Invincible class was 22,000 tons. If we wanted ski jumps we should have built ski jump carriers a third of the size and built three. This current choice is a mess. Two hulking carriers with short range jets and only enough ships to guard them. Any other blue navy operations have been gutted to pay for them. We are pretending to be one of the big boys with big shiny elephants but we can’t even protect our ships in the gulf as we don’t have any frigates to do so. I’m repeating myself but we had 42 frigates in 1982 and still didn’t have enough to avoid an invasion. Now we are cutting to 8 real frigates and 5 type 31s
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  165. David Houseman also I would add that the decision to only buy 8 type 26s and make up with the 5 type 31s is a bigger cut again. The type 31s won’t be frigates they will call them that but in reality they will be corvettes much less capable. Nothing against them at all they are valuable but type 26s are capable and what is required.
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  166. David Houseman ships can’t stay at sea all the time. That halves the fleet. 6 destroyers and 13 frigates is pathetic. It’s a big world and if we want a blue navy we have to pay for it. What we have is a part time blue navy. We used to have a full time one. Nothing against the people in it at all but these big shiny ships are white elephants without decent aircraft and the ships needed to project power. It’s sad.
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  167.  @unreal4010 watch the video! These ships have literally ferried illegals into Europe!
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  168. Well at least they aren’t crying or praying to mecca.....I suppose its less worse than last years.
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  169. US Army is under strength and can’t recruit. It’s also demoralized all thanks to Biden and his woke attacks on the military.
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  170. £100,000 missile for £400 drone.
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  171. Stupid politicians buying European junk instead of cheap American kit that works.
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  172. Finally getting rid of the SA80 and getting the AR platform. Should have done that when we replace the SLR Those optics are very very nice indeed.
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  173. Stop beating around the bush. These are traitors. They are telling the CCP how to kill us in a potential future conflict. These traitors need to be made an example of.
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  174. Giving away tanks and kit we can’t spare. Germany is a disgrace.
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  175. It’s an advert for the army or the fire brigade?
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  176. Peace deal now.
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  177. Woke and broke. What an embarrassment.
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  178. I’m surprised they still have horses! I thought they had been sent to Ukraine with everything else.
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  179. Stupid decisions made by government years ago. Ski jumps make sense for small carriers not big ones.
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  180. Sad but very true.
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  181.  Follow the howl  hiring by skin colour, sex or sexuality is a bad way to recruit. You think warriors are attracted to a military that celebrates LGBT?
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  182. Ben Wallace is a minister. He has collective responsibility for cabinet decisions. If he really felt so strongly then he would have resigned years ago.
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  183. You take Trump literally but when Biden says stupid stuff …..every day he’s ignored.
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  184. What they didn’t say is that this boat has been picking up migrants in the channel and helping bringing them to the UK.
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  185. The load outs for the cells do vary by mission. It’s always a compromise. The type 45 is supposed to be getting 24 sea ceptors fitting in a couple of years. The Arleigh Burke class has 96 VLS cells in comparison to the 45s 48 cells. Same size of ship roughly.
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  186.  @Oxley016 do you know what specific ammo the Ukrainians have been given? Either way the ERA would have acted as spaced armor and the videos show the tank was still driving and all three crew got out alive. No doubt the bushmaster did some damage but what disabled the tank isn’t clear. The tank was disabled by two Bradley’s and at least one perhaps two FPV drones. The first drone likely disabled the tank.
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  187. These look cool but are outdated. Sea Ram is better.
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  188. What an embarrassment.
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  189. Great destroyer. But only six of them is a joke.
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  190. Men need not apply.
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  191. What flag was flying?
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  192. Sandhurst video commentary disabled because…..?
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  193. Steven Homan Drayson was part of the problem. He was perfectly happy with the snatch Land Rovers despite what this video says.
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  194. shane also this is full of lies Drayson was guilty of letting our troops down. In June, when this was first raised in the Lords, the defence procurement minister, Lord Drayson, insisted that these unarmoured Land Rovers provided "the level of protection we need".
    1
  195. Paul M the video. It suggests the minister solved the problem. In fact he was responsible.
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  196. Paul M except this is simply not true. In June, 2006 when this was first raised in the Lords, the defence procurement minister, Lord Drayson, insisted that these unarmoured Land Rovers provided "the level of protection we need".
    1
  197. Spot on. This is revisionist history. They knew how to solve the problem but they didn’t care.
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  198. Tungst In June, when this was first raised in the Lords, the defence procurement minister, Lord Drayson, insisted that these unarmoured Land Rovers provided "the level of protection we need". Asked why the British Army was not, like most other coalition troops in Iraq, equipped with mine-protected RG 31s, he replied that the Army had used them in Bosnia and found them wanting. He was later forced to admit, grudgingly, that the vehicles used in Bosnia were not RG 31s
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  199. John Bond you’ve got me confused with someone else. I’ve pointed out that the politicians are to blame for knowingly sending them in with the wrong gear.
    1
  200. John Bond I think we are in agreement.
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  201. Glenn Ridsdale great tactic...you can’t see what I’ve written. Strong.
    1
  202. Glenn Ridsdale I’ve even given you a link to read. Even when it’s in black and white you refuse to believe it.
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  203. Glenn Ridsdale In June, 2006 when this was first raised in the Lords, the defence procurement minister, Lord Drayson, insisted that these unarmoured Land Rovers provided "the level of protection we need".
    1
  204. Glenn Ridsdale I’ve quoted you Drayson contradicting this videos portrayal of himself at the time. Yet you defend the piece and Drayson. Wouldn’t it be nice if politicians like him were held to account for the needless deaths.
    1
  205. That’s a quote from Hansard. Whoever put this piece together either is incompetent or covering for the needless deaths of British soldiers. Pick one.
    1
  206. Glenn Ridsdale is this your piece?
    1
  207.  @T-1001  different ways to look at the problem. Firstly it’s priorities, we spend money on things like foreign aid and a huge welfare state. I’d say the money is available it’s just a choice. As to procurement waste you are right other countries waste money as well. It doesn’t excuse our waste or preclude us from not wasting it. As to outright defense spending we are the 6th biggest in the world which is also our GDP ranking. We are somewhere around 20th in terms of GDP defense spending. We used to spend 5% on defense during the height of the Cold War with tiny deficits. Now we spend 2% with huge deficits. We have the money. It’s a choice to spend it elsewhere. Not enough frigates but a massive public sector and nearly every Brit is in some way part of the ever growing welfare state.
    1
  208. It is pathetic. There should be 20 plus frigates and a dozen destroyers.
    1
  209.  @verdebusterAP  “Operationally ready” without planes ;-)
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  210.  @mikelovesbacon  fyi we don’t even have enough for one carrier!
    1
  211.  @mikelovesbacon  so the original plane for 148 planes was a mistake? The US carrier fleet has been doing it wrong the whole time? And all our other carriers in the past got it wrong as well?
    1
  212.  @asb358  we ordered 148 planes originally as that was what two carriers needed for training and losses now it’s down to 70/80. Half. The full air wing includes early warning. Still not available. Two 65,000 ships with half an air wing makes no sense. Huge ships without catapults makes no sense. The f35b is a compromise plane because of it weight and lack of range. No escort ships either! 6 destroyers that have a terrible operational record and half the number of required frigates. The whole thing is an incredibly expensive joke. Two big fat targets. As others have pointed out better to have three small ski ramp ships with the required escorts or two large carriers with catapults and much better f35cs I would point out that those saying we have 32 already are wrong. We only have 28 the other three are still in the US and we already lost one aircraft in training. That’s why we need lots more.
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  213. It’s an aircraft carrier without planes mate. Pretending it doesn’t really need them or that it can realistic share planes is ridiculous.
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  214.  @asb358  so we have two carriers with half an air wing. We MIGHT get two full air wings eventually in the fullness of time, all things being considered, ;-) You need lots of spares for maintenance and loses to sustain an air wing. These will never have fully operational air wings with 70/80 planes. These are floating targets. Expensive taxpayer funded floating targets.
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  215. What a joke
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  216.  @thomasrotweiler  I agree with your original post. Smaller carriers could be built quicker and cheaper snd keep the harriers until f35s were delivered. Politicians have ruined the military.
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  217.  @john_in_phoenix  you are defending aircraft carriers without planes! Are you American? The history of our carrier force is that they were retired early and scrapped to save money. We had modernized harriers and we scrapped them. Now we have two silly aircraft carriers designed by committee with no planes, early warning or escort ships. The scrapping of our carriers and planes caused this debacle.the US has enough planes to cover any delay in f35c deliveries. The UK government keeps cutting the number of planes. It’s plan is never to have enough to fully equip both carriers. In ten years time they will be mothballing o e carrier or selling it on. A ridiculous waste of money.
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  218.  @john_in_phoenix  it’s a silly point to compare the UKs two carriers with half an air wing between them with the US super carriers air wing. This thread is about a UK carrier back “On station” after repairs but it’s got zero planes! Apples and oranges.
    1
  219.  @john_in_phoenix  that’s a silly point. One or two are in dry dock at any given point. All seaworthy ships that could be active have enough planes. Also f 35cs are being deployed.
    1
  220.  @abrahamdozer6273  so half an air wing isn’t enough for two carriers. Glad we got that cleared up. We also agree on the wrong type of carriers and the wrong type of aircraft. We should have had three smaller ski ramp or two flat top catapults. Politicians made these mistakes and people like me can be vindicated for our criticisms of them at the time. The reality is these are a joke and a huge waste of money without planes, early warning aircraft, crew and escorts.
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  221. Nope
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  222.  @johnallen7807  I think we are pretty much in agreement. There’s plenty of money the government isn’t willing to pay for our military though. One analyst put it well. “The shop window is full but there’s nothing in the shop” Aircraft carriers without planes. Jeez.
    1
  223.  @johnallen7807  both parties have stripped the military. GDP Spending during the Iraq and Afghanistan war peaks is questionable as we we’re burning through equipment. The a400 over the Hercules is a good example. As is Ajax. There are plenty of others. The French do well on some fronts but they also pay a high price for their independence in costs. Yes some success such as planes.
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  224.  @johnallen7807  the cuts have been from both parties. I agree about the spending though. Procurement is key too. I think buying cheap off the shelf US instead of expensive European or developing expensive home grown white elephants like Ajax.
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  225.  @abrahamdozer6273  there’s a whole backstory about the design. First cats then ski jumps then the next government tried to change them to cats but it was unfeasible at that point. The whole time debate about the f35 and which model and it’s limitations and timelines etc. the end result is this debacle. Huge ships, no cats, wrong f35 and no planes. It was all avoidable and all predicted by armchair pundits like me. So when I see an aircraft carrier being described as, “Operational” I just sigh. “I’m from the government. I’m here to help”
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  226.  @abrahamdozer6273  the criticism of these procurements, both the carriers and the planes is completely justified and understandable. They are big enough to be catapults but they went with the ski jumps thus inferior planes. Retired carriers early and junked their planes along with decades of experience operating carriers. No early warning. Completely insufficient escorts and not enough planes.
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  227.  @abrahamdozer6273  if it was a war we would put two to sea. That can’t happen without planes and even if they had planes they aren’t protected with escorts or early warning. With 3,4 or 5 carriers the argument could be made that one would nearly always be unavailable. As is expected with the US carrier fleet. Two new carriers with an original order for 148 planes were clearly intended to be mostly both available and definitely both available in a shooting war. At the time many people argued for three smaller ski jump carriers so two would always be available and they would be much cheaper and faster to build. These ships are white elephants.
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  228.  @abrahamdozer6273  the reality is we should have not retired our carriers and harriers until we had replacements. These two ships are a debacle. Smaller carriers should have replaced our retiring carriers one for one with f35s replacing harriers as available. 28 f35s are in country and MAYBE in the future we may get a total of 74 for two carriers that’s half the original order for both carriers. Not enough escort ships and no early warning. The people defending this debacle as “Perfectly normal” to have carriers without planes need to read the story of the emperors new clothes.
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  229.  @abrahamdozer6273  sure!!!! It perfectly normal to have aircraft carriers without planes! That’s what the US and China do ;-)
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  230. Stop lying about the troubles.
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  231. We are doomed. The military is a joke. Diversity, green nonsense and woke!
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  232.  @almightykingpin6322  you realize that I’m right. As to the frigates. You mean the order that was halved. Which was still less than half of what we had when the Falklands was invaded. Even the handful of new frigates won’t be all type 26s they cut that again to include less capable type 31s Don’t get me started on the few type 45s that live in port. The navy is a husk. Completely reliant on the US.
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  233. Full speed ahead training Chinese pilot’s!!!
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  234. Blah blah blah. Britain has hollowed out its military.
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  235. You can’t have a strong military with a weak economy. End the war on fossil fuels snd manufacturing. We should frack for cheap energy and build up our economy and military.
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  236. All ten of them are ready.
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  237. Green means slow
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  238. The world is on fire. Who’s the leader of the free world???
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  239. And the US. Democrats hate America
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  240. This is all to appease Biden voters that hate Israel. There’s no logic to it whatsoever. Too much did us getting in to northern Gaza. The problem is distribution not aid. $320 million wasted. Also hamas has already been firing mortars at it and small arms fire. This puts American soldiers on the ground in Gaza for zero benefit. …..except Biden’s politics.
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  241. To appease his anti Israel voters in an election year.
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  242.  @dynamo1796 the navy can’t even go near the houtis without US air defense. Best in Europe!!! That’s a laugh. Europe is an absolute joke.
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  243. It’s a joke
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  244. If they doubled the aircraft order and doubled the destroyers and frigates then two aircraft carriers would be sensible. At best we will have one with insufficient protection.
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  245.  @rogerwilco5918  you think a man in a frock insisting on preferred pronouns is going to win wars?
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  246. Not if there’s none to give them.
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  247.  @RoninTF2011  army munitions from Israel and South Korea. I quoted the Secretary of the Navy as he accidentally was honest about the problem. It’s across all the services supplying munitions.
    1
  248. Is this a joke? This port is part of the CCPs belt and road. China is going spendings billions on this port. We will only have permission to use it in the future if we cowtow to the CCP.
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  249. No mention of belt and road. “Journalism”
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  250.  @Yummy-12-d7d  moronic comment. If you are that concerned look at the Belt and and road debt traps China uses to colonize countries. Half of Africa is Chinas now.
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  251.  @firasajoury7813  CCP apologist.
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  252.  @tams805  debt trap colonization. Sri Lanka, Pakistan, etc.
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  253. Propaganda that didn’t mention the port is part of Chinas belt and road. Britain will only have access if China allows it.
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  254. The “Journalist” forgot to mention it’s a Chinese belt and road port. That’s where the billions come from.
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  255. The US is drawing down munitions supply’s in South Korea and Israel. Every day China is getting stronger and we are getting weaker. Taiwan needs the weapons we are giving to Ukraine. China knows this and every day this war drags on the more likely we will have a war with China.
    1
  256.  @nian60  it’s what we promised Russia in regards to NATO expansion at the end of the Cold War. “Not an inch East” One reason for Putin’s 2014 invasion was the talks of Ukraine joining the EU and NATO. Our eastward expansion of NATO set the groundwork for this war. Millions of ethnic Russians live in Ukraine. Russians under NATO command? We need to think through our actions better. What’s done is done…. But Ukraine should not be part of Nato.
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  257. Nobody voted for you.
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  258. How can you talk about this gun without mentioning lethal weapon and die hard!
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  259. The important thing is economic migrants pretending to be asylum seekers get looked after. That’s what we really want.
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  260.  @russmarkham2197  ;-)
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  261. ⁠ @russmarkham2197 the last type 45 was operational over 10 years ago. Please explain how Brexit is the reason the order was cut from 12 to 6 in 2008?
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  262.  @russmarkham2197 when it rains you blame Brexit.
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  263. Our military has become a joke. What little we have we give away. What’s left doesn’t work and if it did it’s not enough. …..but diversity is our greatest strength so it’s all good…
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  264. Is this a joke?
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  265.  @1chish  you aren’t very polite. If the A400 was so great why is everyone upset about it? You know the 130 is a proven platform and off the shelf means ready to purchase not sitting on a runway. How long and how much did we have to wait for the a400! My goodness do you have shares or something?
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  266.  @1chish  yes. Have you read his articles on the subject? Very informative.
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  267.  @jimbodimbo981  that was never the plan. The original order of planes was 148 and it has been cut multiple times. We will see how many we will end up with. Two aircraft carriers and not enough planes for one. A waste of money.
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  268.  @jimbodimbo981  the QE has 27 available….In theory if none require maintenance. This ship has none unless it borrows them from the QE Aircraft carriers. The clue is in the name.
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  269.  @jimbodimbo981  as I understand it there are 27 airframes available for two 65,000 ton carriers. Not enough for either carrier. Even if they were operational planes.
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  270.  @jimbodimbo981  the availability of type 45s is abysmal. Only having six when 12 were planned. The purpose of the navy is to be able to fight. Peacetime sailing without sinking isn’t success. No early warning, not enough escorts and I hate to point it out but no aircraft!
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  271.  @chrislye8912  they don’t work and there’s not enough of them. Besides what’s an aircraft carrier without aircraft?
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  272.  @jimbodimbo981  Chinese navy is the threat.
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  273. Russia isn’t the threat China is and China owns our politicians.
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  274. Tge sooner we have peace the better.
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  275. We sold ours to the US for nothing! What a disgraceful decision. We should have kept them and at least one carrier until replacements were ready. How can forces news report this without pointing out that obvious mistake!
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  276.  @NoFlowerPolicy  how is Chinas baby garbage? It’s massive and has some of the best equipment in the world. Please explain your logic.
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  277.  @NoFlowerPolicy  CCP bots downplay Chinas strength all the time. It’s been a strategy for 50 years. It’s belt and road initiative is colonizing the world. China is a world superpower. Anyone that tells you otherwise is lying or ignorant.
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  278.  @Jabberstax  biggest navy in the world. Massive nuclear arsenal. Biggest army. Largest marine force. Are you another CCP bot?
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  279.  @NoFlowerPolicy  it’s got a blue water navy. More ships than the US. Hundreds of ICBMs and a full nuclear triad. It’s economy rivals that of the US and it’s growing. You are a CCP troll.
    1
  280.  @Orbital_Inclination  you don’t have the internet?
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  281. Biden picked Dudes in dresses to run the military!
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  282. Out of date reporting. 4 of the 8 brigades in reserve have been deployed already. They were being held in reserve to exploit a breakthrough instead they are being used to break the defensive lines.
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  283. All should be upgraded.
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  284. Russia is winning. Ukraine is running out of men.
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  285. They don’t drop bombs! Jeez.
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  286. Ethnic Russian population in Crimea in 2014 was 55% Russia isn’t giving it up and Ukraine can’t take it back. Peace is the only solution.
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  287. Destroying our ability to win wars by virtue signaling. China won’t care about our emissions as they kill us on the battlefield.
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  288.  @barrybeebenson8102  six destroyers that don’t work is not nearly enough. Not enough frigates either. It’s a joke. Massive big targets with no aircraft or protection.
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  289.  @simonbird1973  the delay is not at the production end it’s ordering them and paying for them.
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  290. This is pro war propaganda. Fuel and food inflation is caused by sanctions on Russia. Remove the sanctions that don’t work anyway.
    1
  291. Wow. Will we get some more ships to put the 5” gun on?
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  292.  @syryder3236  without the US our carriers are useless.
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  293.  @davidhouseman4328 148 to 74 was done years ago. None for the RAF not enough for two carriers. Sad.
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  294. @cjjk9142the strategic defense review of 2015 was when the decision was made to only ever field one carrier with one in reserve. When the carrier replacement process started in the 90s and through into the early 2000s multiple carriers were planned. Two were settled on. Sadly cuts meant only one would get planes or support ships. So a very very expensive spare was born. It was never planned.
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  295. @cjjk9142they were built to carry 36 jets or more. If we wanted smaller carriers we should have built smaller ones at a fraction of the cost and much much faster.
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  296. @cjjk9142two were ordered to be used. The second ship wasn’t supposed to be an incredibly expensive spare!!
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  297. @cjjk914274 isn’t enough for two carriers! What nonsense. The availability rate of modern jets is 60-70% That means there will eventually be enough for one carrier. They are also sharing them with the RAF since their order of planes was canceled. Even if there were enough planes it’s moot because there’s not enough ships to support two carriers anyway! We are struggling to support one.
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  298. Several are in training use in the US and with repairs and maintenance you are looking at nearer 20 available. Even if we had all of the 74 that’s only enough for one carrier taking into account availability. Don’t forget due to the cancellation of the RAF planes they are supposed to be shared as well!
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  299.  @admiralmallard7500  we don’t have early warning as we retired them before the e7-a was available and the helicopter based early warning is inadequate. We should have double the destroyers and frigates but that’s another problem that overlaps the carriers. Replacing the light carriers like fir like was argued for a long time ago. Politicians and top brass got their big shiny ships and the rest of the navy was cut. Equipped with the wrong planes for their size. The f35b is ideal for light carriers because of its short range. Every time I see these ships I see government incompetence and military weakness. Jeez aircraft carriers without aircraft, early warning or escorts. You couldn’t make it up.
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  300.  @admiralmallard7500  large carriers make sense if we were buying the f35c We have been buying the f35b We don’t have enough escort ships or any early warning. We have ended up with two huge ski jump carriers, no early warning or escorts and half an air wing for one carrier. Also no carrier operations for nearly a decade. We shouldn’t have retired our small carriers or harriers until a replacement was ready. I can remember arguing this 10 years ago. We could have had new light carriers with harriers flying off them and replace them with f35bs as they were delivered. Now we have two very big targets.
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  301.  @tonys1636  getting rid of our light carriers and scrapping our harrier fleet before a replacement was available. Politicians also chose 65,000 ton carriers with ski jumps! Moronic idea. Much better to replace our three light carriers with three new light carriers with f35bs Politicians created this debacle. Now we have two huge carriers with half an air wing between them.
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  302.  @admiralmallard7500  they are supposed to have 36 on board which means you would need several more per ship for maintenance and training.
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  303. Illegals are treated better.
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  304. Giving away what we don’t have enough of already.
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  305. Chinese military have lots of opportunities for RAF fighter pilots!
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  306. How about recruiting real men. Real men don’t want to join the woke military though.
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  307. When these next gen loyal wingman are operational they won’t exactly be low cost. $25 million is cheaper than an f35 though.
    1
  308. It is a joke though
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  309. Fighting age men are being imported into our military bases and our military is being cut.
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  310.  @Orbital_Inclination deadbeats.
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  311. It’s all a big scam. Shouldn’t the military be designed to win wars?
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  312. Pathetic.
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  313. We can thank our stupid politicians for this screw up. Billions spent on crap equipment.
    1
  314. @Guofu do you know the numbers you are talking about in the US? Quote me the numbers. You have millions in concentration camps. Millions of organs harvested. Mass sterilization of millions.
    1
  315. @Guofu sure. Is that what you are told. Or is that what you are told to say.
    1
  316. @Guofu concentration camps. Mass sterilizations. Live organ harvesting killing the donors. That’s not happy!
    1
  317. @Guofu concentration camps, Mass sterilization and mass organ harvesting of live healthy people. Genocide.
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  318. @Guofu China runs concentration camps and mass organ harvesting. I know who the bad guys are.
    1
  319. British pilots have been helping train the CCP to kill British and American pilots in the future. The CCP is our enemy. Russia is a joke.
    1
  320. Another endless war. Except this time it’s with a nuclear superpower.
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  321. Carrier of what?
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  322.  @thetruthhurts7675 several terrible decisions. The result are two big carriers and there will never be enough aircraft fir them. The argument repeated on this thread is that that was somehow the plan. It wasn’t. The decision to go for 2 big carriers instead of 3 or 4 smaller ones was defended because both were going to be fully operational with full complements of planes and plenty of support ships. Support ships (destroyers and frigates) have been halved and the procurement of the planes has been halved. So now we have two carriers and for £3.5 one is a spare! Celebrating this achievement is a farce.
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  323.  @Orbital_Inclination we could have built three or four small carriers by now and kept the harriers and replaced them with f35s as they came on line. Carrier operations are extremely difficult and we lost years of experience scrapping them before replacements were ready. The whole thing has been a debacle. Diehards defending carriers without planes and a navy with too few ships is where we are at. Sad.
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  324.  @Orbital_Inclination if we went to war would we need aircraft on the aircraft carriers? Or would no aircraft on them be perfectly normal.
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  325. ⁠ @Orbital_Inclination you are literally arguing for an aircraft carrier without aircraft. Two carriers exist and there’s not enough planes for one of them. If we go through with the purchase of the already reduced number of 73 planes then eventually we will have two carriers with enough planes for one carrier. The RAF are also supposed to fly the planes as no f35a planes will now be bought.
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  326.  @Orbital_Inclination it didn’t have any planes on it after it left the US. None on the journey and none as it arrived back here. It’s an aircraft carrier with no planes.
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  327.  @Orbital_Inclination it’s got no planes full stop. Between two huge carriers we don’t have enough for one carrier.
    1
  328.  @admiralmallard7500 we should have at least stuck with the original order of 12 destroyers. And 24 frigates. Cuts after cuts have left us in a mess. You can pretend otherwise if you like. Look a big shiny aircraft carrier with no planes. ;-)
    1
  329.  @admiralmallard7500 these carriers are not super economic. One is going to be a spare! What a waste of £3.5 billion! Yes I know the surface combat fleet has been slashed. That’s why this whole charade is a nonsense. Two carriers with not enough planes or escorts. It’s insane. A useless carrier coming back to port isn’t to be celebrated.
    1
  330.  @admiralmallard7500 we used to have three small carriers this the ability to always be able to field two and be in two places at once as well as sustain a carrier loss. Now we can only be in one place and can’t sustain a loss. Except it’s cost us a lot more money and taken longer. It’s a disaster.
    1
  331.  @FelixIsMyName both carriers will never have a full complement of planes. There will only be enough for one carrier.
    1
  332.  @admiralmallard7500  you don’t think an aircraft carrier without planes, early warning aircraft or air defense destroyers or frigates is a problem. It looks like a £3.5 billion target and a symbol of government mismanagement and Britain’s decline. Sad.
    1
  333.  @splatoonistproductions5345 nonsense. We retired our harriers not them.
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  334.  @admiralmallard7500 the carriers are sitting ducks without destroyers and frigates. They are only more capable with aircraft on them.
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  335.  @admiralmallard7500 deliveries aren’t slow. They are what they are. We retired the harriers too early and instead of going for 3 or 4 small carriers we went fir two huge ones without catapults that have taken twice as long to build. Then we decided to halve the f35s order and delay purchases as well as cancelling the A variant. It’s all a debacle. Now we have people fawning over a 65,000 ton carrier that will never have any planes or enough escort ships.
    1
  336.  @JaneGalvin it’s got no planes!
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  337. Biden is owned by China. That’s why he let it spy in the US
    1
  338. @SuperVHSchannel our border is wide open. Our border force is importing thousands of fighting age men every month. Our barracks that used to hold soldiers are now housing foreigners who came illegally.
    1
  339. @SuperVHSchannel you mean the invasion?
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  340.  @rayharth183  they already have because of open borders.
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  341.  @ralphdavis9670  Russia taking a slice of Ukraine with large Russian population percentages isn’t an existential threat to us. That’s hyperbole. Our borders being wide open is.
    1
  342.  @ralphdavis9670  water is also wet! The fact is it’s not our war. Our borders aren’t secure yet we are borrowing money to give to Ukraine to defend its borders. If our borders were secure and we had the money I’d feel differently.
    1
  343.  @ralphdavis9670  then let Germany pay for it. You don’t deny our borders aren’t secure yet we are spending billions (we don’t have) to defend Ukraines border. Russian didn’t invade Britain. Ukraine isn’t part of NATO
    1
  344. Actually they are more anti Russia. However many question the goals of the policy. Americans are struggling and they are borrowing this money to give to Ukraine to defend Ukraines border when their own border is wide open. Also the hundred billion that has been allocated is completely unaccounted for. Nobody has a clue where all the money is going. Don’t forget Ukraine was and still is a corrupt country.
    1
  345.  @jp3630 as a general rule the weaker foe loses.
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  346. The REAL reason the US military can’t recruit us because of the vaccine mandates and the woke nonsense! If Forces TV wants to report the facts it should play footage of the congressional investigations on the subject! Woke is destroying the military.
    1
  347. The green con. They are really expensive and unreliable. Meanwhile we are giving our industrial base to China and it’s coal power stations.
    1
  348. Another endless war we can’t afford.
    1
  349. Pensioners are freezing but we are giving billions to Ukraine.
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  350. Not enough aircraft or support ships to defend it. It’s a sitting duck.
    1
  351. 50 British pilots have been training the Chinese. I’m surprised they have time to do their day jobs. Traitors.
    1
  352. Russia is winning. Slowly but surely. The sooner we have peace the better.
    1
  353. Biden’s soft purge of the military.
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  354.  @rocketassistedgoat1079 actually it’s less cabable and tge navy isn’t growing it’s fleet it’s shrinking it.
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  355. Diversity and Inclusion is how the British army is taught will win wars.
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  356. JohnB Wright true. I was exaggerating. I should have said not nearly enough. I debated the number at length above. We are getting 8 type 26 and perhaps 5 type 31 We need 15 type 45 and 30 type 26 Then we would have enough for our carrier groups and a full time blue water navy. With Rotation, resupply, repair,etc. you can halve your fleet. We simply have cut so far it’s just a part time navy now. Big ships like these are nice to show off but they are white elephants.
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  357. MI6 I know. The C would be better on such a large carrier. More payload and range. Or 3 or 4 carriers of 22,000 tons with f35bs This is a ship designed by committee. We don’t have nearly enough ships either.
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  358. David Houseman we aren’t going to agree. Thanks for keeping it polite though. :-)
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  359. MI6 the Ford class is the best in the world.
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  360. David Houseman three is redundancy. Two isn’t. If we wanted ramps we could have had smaller carriers and more. The plans changed due to cost cutting. The conservatives tried to change to catapults but again they didn’t want to pay for it. Shambolic.
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  361. sensible driver you’ve just highlighted how badly planned these carriers were. Brown interferes with them and we ended up with two huge ski jump carriers. Don’t forget Cameron scrapped our carriers in 2010 and sold off our harriers for a bag of nuts. We should have kept them until the new carriers came online. I agree it’s a farce.
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  362. sensible driver I didn’t argue for nuclear I responded to the point made that there was room if needed. You don’t need nuclear for catapults. US carriers go through Suez.
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  363. sensible driver it’s 65,000 tons. It’s not like they couldn’t find the space.
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  364. David Houseman I used the US in relation to the catapult point you were making no comparison. The f35b has low payload and range compared to the f35c. The beloved harrier is not in its class at all.
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  365. David Houseman if the type 26 is a destroyer now what’s the 45? ;-) There are always navies that call corvettes frigates and frigates destroyers. However usually 2nd world countries like Iran. Their latest destroyer is a corvette! Either way saying we don’t need frigates when politicians don’t want to pay for them reminds me of Cameron in 2010 when he gave away our recently upgraded harriers and scrapped invincible. He said we didn’t need it....six months later we needed it in Libya. Type 23s are old and our enemies won’t be using 30 year old ships so we have to keep up and modernize you can’t compare old with new as our adversaries don’t stand still. I’d like to see our navy as a full time blue water navy but it’s not. Decisions have been made that we are only a part time one. It is what it is. I’m saddened by it but I won’t pretend we are what we were or we are something that we are not just because of this big shiny ship that they are so proud of.
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  366. David Houseman because they need repairs, resupply and shore leave.
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  367. David Houseman the changes were expensive because they were retrospective. No increase in spending meant less money elsewhere. Catapults are obviously better.
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  368. VIPICCB6 the latter half of my last post was in regards to the cheaper type 31s As to the limited number of f35s we will be getting it applies as well to the f35bs which are a compromise on such a large carrier.
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  369. Imaginary aircraft
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  370. The navy is a joke.
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  371. Only six of them. Pathetic.
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  372. Even that isn’t enough.
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  373. There won’t be enough to matter.
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  374. China is winning in every way. They own our political class. They own big business. They steal everything we have. They are dominating the world with the belt and road debt traps.
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  375. The MOD is too busy training Chinese pilots.
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  376. Imagine a day when Europeans pay for their own defense.
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  377. How about Europe pay for it’s own war? How about Germany giving long range weapons to Ukraine?
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  378. There’s no money for the military. Whatever we get there won’t be enough. Just shop window dressing.
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  379.  @Bob10009  so the fleet is being cut.
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  380. Socialism.
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  381.  @splatoonistproductions5345 operationally you only have about 60% available. So enough for one carrier. The Air Force f35s were canceled so they are now being shared. So at a stretch there will only be enough for one carrier.
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  382. Warmonger. Pensioners are freezing in Britain and we are sending billions to fight another war. All on borrowed money.
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  383.  @davidhouseman4328  there aren’t enough to give away and they aren’t being replaced.
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  384.  @davidhouseman4328  it’s been holding up tanks for months. It’s been delaying equipment from the start. Announcing kit and not delivering it. They have been dragging their feet. America has been running down its stocks as mainland Europe contributes a fraction of what’s needed.
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  385. It’s been a disaster.
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  386.  @woolyimage  our means the western world. Uk Europe US. It’s noteworthy you haven’t addressed the consequences of this war I highlighted. The TV commentary avoids the knock on problems we will face down the road as well.
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  387.  @woolyimage  you are frustrated? I predicted this ten years ago I was right. I predicted this last invasion if Biden got into office. I was right again. I know what Putin is and I know our political leaders are just as bad. They do nothing about genocide and concentration camps in China but they want to look strong so they throw our children’s money at one of the most corrupt countries in Europe. Not only was this avoidable this is now a losing strategy for us. Iran is getting heaven knows what nuclear or missile technology from Russia thanks to this. North Korea as well. China and Russia are now closer. Our deterrent against Chinese aggression in Taiwan is weakening by the day. Our economies are being damaged and our military is being further hollowed out. None of this is good. I cheer every Ukrainian success but I’m not ignorant of the cost of another endless war.
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  388.  @woolyimage  another cheap shot. I was right 10 years ago before the first invasion and I’m right now. Prolonging this war is not in our best interests.
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  389.  @woolyimage  Stalin moved millions of ethnic Russians all around the Soviet Union. Estonia for example has 1.4 million people but 400,000 are ethnic Russians. Ukraine has millions of ethnic Russians. Like it not where they live is their home. Imagine a different history where the Soviet Union expanded to include France and there were 5 million Brits living there and they were conscripted into the Warsaw pact army. People predicted this war and pointed out how to avoid it. Our political class ignored it and Ukraine is now a wasteland and a generation are dead or crippled. We are in another endless was that’s costing a fortune. It’s a poor argument when any criticism of this war gets you called a Putin apologist. Go look at the human cost on Telegram of young men dying from shrapnel wounds. It’s horrific and it was avoidable. Peace should be the goal. As quickly as possible. How we define what’s acceptable should be the debate.
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  390.  @woolyimage  ethnic Russians live in Ukraine. Millions. The baltic states as well. You think bringing NATO troops to Russias border wasn’t provocative? How about ethnic Russians being conscripts in NATO armies? View it from Russias perspective. This was predicted a decade ago. An avoidable war. Putin’s evil sure. So is the CCP I’m more concerned about the CCP than Putin and his economically insignificant country.
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  391.  @woolyimage  the imperialist EU created this problem. Can’t you even admit Farage was right? He predicted this. Another endless war tgat drains the west. China grows stronger every day. Russia is a sideshow. If we wanted to beat Russia we would end the war on fossil fuels that has driven up the price of oil which is funding Russias war machine. Low oil prices keeps Putin in check.
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  392.  @woolyimage  if Putin takes a third of Ukraine how does that effect us? The warnings about eastward EU/NATO expansion too close to Russia turned out to be accurate. 10 years ago people like Farage warned about it and he has been proved right. Millions of ethnic Russians live in the Baltic states and we are lucky Putin didn’t react when they joined the EU and NATO. Ukraine was too much of a provocation. Our policy led to this war. All predicted and proved right.
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  393.  @woolyimage  let Europe give away their kit. We gave up our aircraft carriers and scrapped our harriers because we were told they weren’t needed. Then six months later they were needed. 8 years later we have one barely operating carrier. The other doesn’t work and has no planes. Type 45s don’t work and there are only six of them. New frigates are a long way off and they are at least half as many as required. IF they get built. As to Putin’s invasion. A decade ago some people were warning against EU/NATO expansion too far east because it might provoke a response from Russia. The same people warning about cuts to our military and provoking Russia proved to be right. Now we are told Ukraine needs our equipment more than us. Tough it’s not theirs. We paid for it and we don’t have enough money to fund our military as it is. Giving away what we can’t afford to give away is what’s happening. We all want Putin to lose and Ukraine to win but at what cost to us?
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  394.  @woolyimage  it is where we are and many people have been pointing this out for decades. We find money to defend Ukraine but not for our own military. A navy without ships, an army without tanks and an Air Force without planes.
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  395.  @woolyimage  they shouldn’t be in storage they should be active. We need more than we have both active and in storage combined. Challenger 3 is just an upgrade and we have lost our ability to make tanks as Germany is upgrading them. Also when they eventually arrive we won’t have enough of them. It’s like this across all branches for all equipment and personnel.
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  396.  @woolyimage  all equipment is doing nothing if we aren’t at war. This war clearly indicates that yet again tanks are needed. We shouldn’t be giving what we have away. If we had a surplus that’s a different matter. We don’t have enough of anything in any service.
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  397. China is the threat. We aren’t ready.
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  398. Aren’t they supposed to have planes on them though?
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  399. And next week they will be trading Chinese pilots how to kill American pilots.
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  400.  @peterbrown1012  look up when we might be getting the upgraded challenger 2s from Germany. Then tell me that 140 is enough. We could upgrade all of our Challengers instead of giving them away.
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  401. Another moronic decision by politicians.
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  402. Dumb question. Russia isn’t the great China is.
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  403.  @robharris8844U  not nearly enough. Look at the numbers of stocks we are giving to Ukraine against a much less well armed Russia. Once China invades it will blockade Taiwan. Nothing will get it. They can’t last without resupply.
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  404.  @robharris8844U  Taiwan is not in a good position to defend itself and China is getting stronger every day. If we are Taiwan now it could prevent a war. Instead we are arming Ukraine and depleting our stocks. Generals always fight the last war.
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  405.  @robharris8844U  we don’t wNt nuclear war. Taiwan would be impossible to supply after the invasion started. Completely different to Ukraine. We should be arming Taiwan to prevent war. Instead we are depleting our stocks of everything and China knows that.
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  406.  @robharris8844U  don’t believe the media. The bigger threat is China and every day this war drags on we are getting weaker. The industrial military complex of the west is not prepared for a conflict with China. Supplying Ukraine only increases the chance of a war with China over Taiwan.
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  407.  @robharris8844U  who’s ignoring it? My point stands. Europe should be paying and arming non NATO Ukraine. Sure we can help but at a much smaller scale. Sending kit and money we don’t have is bad for Britain. We aren’t replacing the tanks or the guns. We don’t have enough as it is.
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  408.  @robharris8844U  they invaded in 2014 NATO is fine. Ukraine isn’t in NATO we are acting like it is. Germany should be arming Ukraine not us.
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  409.  @ricardosmythe2548  yes and maybe in ten years we will get a delivery of half of what we have now. We aren’t building any more tanks and the few we are upgrading are a long way off. The AS90 isn’t being replaced despite it being required so giving what we have away with nothing to fill it’s place is ridiculous.
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  410.  @hicks30  defending Ukraine is not defending us. Not even in NATO. Bad politics led to Putin’s invasion and the west shoulders much of that blame. In the last 40 years we didn’t expect Argentina to attack and they did. In recent years we gave up our carriers and harriers only to need them six months later in Libya. Only now are we close to having a carrier force. (No ships to protect them though) You are right building up our military takes years even decades. That’s why defense cuts in the last 30 years have been so poorly thought out. Our military is already woefully inadequate and giving away what we have left leaves us I’m a terrible state. I’m all for Ukraine winning but let Europe fund it.
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  411. That upgrade was canceled
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  412.  @davidhouseman4328  how pedantic.
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  413.  @davidhouseman4328  my point was clear we need to spend more on defense and less on stupid things like putting illegals in fancy hotels. How did you watch this video snd conclude we needed to spend less on defense?
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  414.  @davidhouseman4328  we spend more on debt interest than defense.
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  415. Britain is a second rate military power. Plenty of money for Ukraine and hotels for illegals but no money for defense. How sad.
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  416. This isn’t journalism it’s anti Trump propaganda.
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  417. You still pushing the Russian hoax?
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  418. Germany is the third biggest economy in the world. It’s expects the US taxpayer to pay for its defense. Europe needs to pay its bills.
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  419. This migrant taxi and fishing patrol boat represents the navy well.
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  420.  @mistressofthewoods5333  Britain has a third of the navy it had 40 years ago. A quarter of the tanks and half the Air Force. We don’t have the munitions to last a week in a real war. But we are giving what we need away. You really don’t know anything about the UKs capabilities or the lack of it.
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  421.  @mistressofthewoods5333  I pointed out that the British military is already hollowed out and completely underfunded. Thus giving away what little we have is reckless at best. A Swede telling Brits that giving away what we have is fine and don’t worry is silly. You give away your military if you want and I’ll advocate for keeping ours.
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  422.  @mistressofthewoods5333  you obviously aren’t British. Why else would you be dismissive of the defense of Britain. What’s your nationality?
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  423.  @mistressofthewoods5333  you are naive.
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  424.  @mistressofthewoods5333  profound
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  425.  @mistressofthewoods5333  simplistic view.
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  426. Our government is destroying our country.
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