A Discussion About the Falklands
During part of the Falklands War or soon afterwards, I was at an Artemis Users Conference in Denver Colorado.
After dinner one night, four of us, got together and had a few drinks. The other guys were the Project Manager of the McDonnell Douglas Harrier program, a guy with a similar position at Long Beach Naval Shipyard and a banker from New York.
The banker kept on about us needing a nice big flat-top (aircraft-carrier) with a few Tomcats and that would have dealt with the Argentines. I wanted to stand my British corner, but really didn’t know what to say. In the end the other two Americans, just let him have enough rope and then they played their card; the awful weather. One said that the weather reports from the Falklands, they’d seen, were so bad, that the only aircraft you could take-off and land back again was a Harrier.
The banker wasn’t seen again that evening,
The Anonymous Widower 
The Harriers will be flying again on Carriers. Landing Ship Dock [LHD] : two new RAN Ships Canberra & Adelaide, have full through decks Plus a Launch Ramp Bow. The current Spec is for Helicopters on the Deck.
This class, is similar to USS Tarawa Landing Ship Dock, which can carry 2500 Marines, Tanks, Vehicles, Landing Ships etc. Australia’s new white paper, is changing the Military training along the lines of SAS, Commando Regiments & the remaining Fighting force trained to US Marine Levels.
OZ is building up to 2 LHD’s Plus the HMAS Choules {a smaller similar vessel} . . .
Obviously, the Banker at the Artemis Unsers meeting . . . did not understand the unique Flying / Fighting characterics of the Harrie in Flight {VIFFING ? }
Comment by Steam Lover | May 22, 2012 |
We should have gone the same way. Instead we’ve now got two enormous flat-tops being built. It was all about Brown buying votes in Scotland.
Comment by AnonW | May 22, 2012 |