When two British firms competed to build one naval aircraft
The Gannet competition illustrates a 1950s industrial base large enough for Fairey and Blackburn to develop rival naval aircraft for the same requirement.
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Defence spending follows political priorities
Service imbalances emerge when governments fund the war they are currently fighting while cutting capabilities needed for other contingencies.
How a fast fighter could overshoot a Swordfish
A hypothetical Bf 109 attack shows how excessive closing speed could expose a fast fighter to a slow Swordfish's gun.
Why carriers may need longer-range ASW aircraft
A growing submarine threat could renew the case for longer-range fixed-wing anti-submarine aircraft aboard carriers.
Why Swordfish were lost during the Channel Dash
The Channel Dash put Swordfish making an unescorted torpedo attack against very heavy Bf 109 cover, where low-speed agility could not offset the tactical disadvantage.
The X-32 and F-35 procurement trade-off
The X-32 appeared promising for production and reliability, while the F-35 offered a possible advantage in overall aircraft capability.
Merlin AEW instead of an expensive Osprey conversion
Merlin-based Crowsnest offered a practical airborne-warning option for smaller F-35B carrier forces in this 2020 assessment.
An upgraded Viking as a carrier ASW option
A 2020 proposal considers upgrading stored S-3 Vikings if their remaining flying life made reactivation worthwhile.
A naval V-280 proposal and the Merlin replacement timetable
Merlin's replacement programme offered a possible route for a naval aircraft with more reach than a conventional helicopter.
The unresolved air group for Aquila
Italy considered navalized fighters and new designs for Aquila, but its carrier air group remained largely a paper proposition.
What to reactivate in an emergency
Reserve equipment is worth reactivating when it still works and retains a credible role, especially in patrol and stand-off missions.
Why Merlin replacement planning mattered in 2020
Merlin's 1999 entry into service made replacement planning a live issue after twenty-one years of operation.
Looking beyond the Osprey for Merlin's eventual replacement
A 2020 forecast places Merlin's successor beyond the Osprey and its immediate successors, without choosing an aircraft.
A submarine's last-ditch missile against helicopters
Some submarines carry short-range air-defence missiles in the sail as an emergency response to a helicopter that has closed too far.
Why a Tomcat's missile load depends on its hardpoints
A proposed ten-plus-AMRAAM Tomcat load would depend on weapon-station changes as well as missile weight.
When a missile ship becomes an arsenal ship
The dividing line is less the missile count than whether the ship has the sensors and combat systems to employ its weapons independently.
Spearfish answered the Alfa class's speed
The high-speed Soviet Alfa class helped drive a faster British torpedo response, while the submarine's own sensing degraded sharply at maximum speed.
Why Japan might seek a newer carrier design than Queen Elizabeth
Domestic design practice and the timing of a move to larger carriers made a Japanese purchase of the Queen Elizabeth design appear unlikely in 2020.
The 2020 case for replacing Albion and Bulwark with LHDs
A 2020 proposal uses three LHDs to preserve amphibious lift while adding aviation and air-defence flexibility.
Why fleets need both P-8s and carriers
Long-range maritime patrol aircraft cover broad areas and free carriers to concentrate where their mobile air power is most needed.
Why the Royal Navy chose a Danish-derived Type 31 design
Domestic construction does not require a wholly domestic concept when a proven foreign design offers the stronger starting point.
A 2020 forecast of British-Japanese fighter cooperation
In 2020, Project Tempest and Japan's stealth-fighter effort were expected to cooperate and share information, with wider American participation possible.
Where the 2019 Midway film loses historical clarity
The film follows a recognizable version of Midway but omits important people and allows distracting ship-continuity errors.
The 2020 expectation that Prince of Wales would remain in service
A 2020 forecast expected Prince of Wales to remain in service and considered the Army more exposed to possible cuts.
A 2020 proposal for British carrier support in the Pacific
A possible Royal Navy carrier presence in the Pacific could support the United States while its fleet rebuilt capacity.
Why a destroyer label could be easier to fund than a battlecruiser
A speculative destroyer proposal was considered easier to fund because the battlecruiser label could trigger resistance.
A recession warning and the case against defence cuts
A 2020 warning linking recession with war also appeared intended to discourage defence cuts.
The difficulty of attacking a submarine below 1,000 metres
A very deep-diving submarine raises weapon-reach problems, prompting tentative suggestions of deeper charges or an attack before it reaches deep water.
A Royal Navy name with a long lineage
The 1935 cruiser continued a Royal Navy name previously carried by sailing-war fifth rates and a ship later converted to a paddle frigate.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
An Arethusa-class cruiser with a destroyer's spirit
The Arethusas were small light cruisers whose aggressive employment gave them something of a destroyer personality.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
The later Penelope's second career in Ecuador
A later Leander-class HMS Penelope continued the name after 1962 and then served Ecuador as Presidente Eloy Alfaro until her reported 2008 decommissioning.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Operation EJ and Penelope's Norwegian service
Penelope's Norwegian service included Operation EJ's air attack on shipping at Glomfjord, work with HMS Eskimo, and a major repair to her bottom.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Penelope's Mediterranean formations and wartime operations
Penelope's assignments included Force Q landing operations and Operation Stonewall's anti-blockade-runner duties.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Why Penelope's battle honours understate her service
Penelope's long list of operations did not produce an equally long list of named battle honours because many actions were grouped under broad theatre awards.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
How two U-410 torpedoes sank Penelope
Penelope was lost to U-410 in 1944 after two torpedoes struck 16 minutes apart around the after engine room and after boiler room.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Small-cruiser dimensions and underwater vulnerability
Penelope's draft of roughly 4.3 metres raises the possibility that a slightly deeper torpedo might have passed beneath her small hull.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Penelope's guns and torpedo armament
The armament list combines six 6-inch guns with a secondary battery, several types of light anti-aircraft weapon, and two triple torpedo launchers.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Why anti-aircraft stopping power favoured cannon
Quadruple machine guns promised dense fire against approaching aircraft, but practical experience favoured the stopping power of 20 mm and 40 mm cannon.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Penelope's belt, magazine, and deck armour
Penelope had a two-and-a-quarter-inch belt, one to three inches of magazine protection, and about one inch over several other protected areas.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Trading cruiser aircraft for anti-aircraft guns
Access to other ships' aircraft and land-based aviation reduced the need for a cruiser to carry its own aircraft, freeing space and weight for anti-aircraft guns.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Why Penelope became HMS Pepperpot and Porcupine
Repeated air attacks while Penelope remained at Malta left her full of patched holes, producing the nicknames HMS Pepperpot and HMS Porcupine.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Penelope's career as inspiration for C. S. Forester
A C. S. Forester book based on Penelope receives a personal recommendation over the author's Hornblower novels.
From HMS Penelope (1935) an introduction to the Arethusa Class part 3/4 ·
Flak against high-speed missiles
A fast missile's own speed can make even small impacts destructive, suggesting that flak could complicate a Zircon-style saturation attack.
Can military AI cope with human chaos?
A joking prediction of human victory over AI draws on machine-learning errors, including a Force K video reportedly misclassified as pornography.
Networked warfare needs resilient backups
A fully connected combat network improves information flow, but its many access points demand backup arrangements that avoid a single point of failure.
Using science fiction to test naval ideas
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock tests whether science fiction can sharpen thinking about future naval problems.
From Bilge Pumps does Battlestar Galactica Deadlock for Navy Con 1/2 ·
Cylon origin stories and weaponized AI
The original and reimagined Cylon origin stories offer two fictional routes to the same real question about building autonomous machines for war.
From Bilge Pumps does Battlestar Galactica Deadlock for Navy Con 1/2 ·
AI combat results and the limits of exercises
An AI's reported F-16 success raises a harder question: what did the exercise actually test, and how much confidence should its result carry into war?
From Bilge Pumps does Battlestar Galactica Deadlock for Navy Con 1/2 ·