UK sends it's mightiest ship to take on Iran in the Gulf

Originally posted by Starling
Wrong!
Israel owns America..... and Britain.

Originally posted by JessopJessopJessop
The English don't pull the string. The City of London pulls the strings.

To see who's forcing WW3, check out the movie "Nazi Banksters' Crimes Ripple Effect". The name kind of gives some of it away, but it's got counterfeit-Jews, Banksters, City of London, Bush-Nazi connections, and WW3 all wrapped up tightly together.

i think UK should hit Israel ..could be a good bluff ..bring in every warship we have and then BOOM!!! ....hehe bet ya didn't see that coming

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
reply to post by thoughtsfull

 

Sorry my comparisons were lame, I was just trying to get at the double standards that are being played out in this lead up to war. All because Iran is supposedly developing a nuclear bomb. The same weapon possessed by numerous other countries with questionable intent.

I wasn't having a dig, but looking at the greater picture, and for me this has nothing to do with the bomb, but rather a pissing contest between the greater powers..

Which has happened far to many times for my liking, and seems as tho no matter how advanced we think we are, we have yet to grow out of that phase of greed and control

Roll things back to WW2 and Britain and Russia invaded Iran so the Nazis couldn't get the oil.. although allied neither side really wanted the other to have the oil, which caused a whole heap of trouble at the end of the war.

Now that seems to me to be where the Americans got involved in kicking the Russians out, and then we had a reversal of that with the Russians.. and it seems we are again looking at another pissing match

The History of the region reads like a ping pong match that has cost far to many people their lives in the process, with the Iranian peoples caught bang in the middle.. as I said, my opinion is that it's sad we have no out grown that attitude.

reply to post by irontyrant


Good points. Not to mention the logistical nightmare of having to supply a mobilization of that size overseas. I guess I was getting a little too creative.

Under what circumstances do you see Russia and China going to war over? Would it be a "I want your land" type of invasion, or will it be nitpicking each other for excuses? Would Russia even want to go to war with China?

Originally posted by Vitchilo
reply to post by michael1983l

 

The british debt is far from unmanagable at 72% GDP which is lower than most of our european partners an the US.

Now that's funny.

UK's debt? 950% of GDP

Surprise surprise, your government is lying to you.

If the UK's soverign debt was 950% we'd already be bankrupt and we certainly wouldn't have a AAA+ credit rating.

www.ukpublicspending.co.uk...

reply to post by michael1983l

If the UK's soverign debt was 950% we'd already be bankrupt and we certainly wouldn't have a AAA+ credit rating.

You do know that credit rating agencies are a joke right?

Canada still has a AAA rating when in fact all of our biggest banks are so overleveraged, if one falls, the whole thing collapses.

And let's not mention our population growth VS what was promised in benefits problem... we'll be like Japan soon enough.

reply to post by apodictic


Russia does not want to go to war with China. However, China does want Siberia and the Russian Far East Provinces; there are lots of resources(minerals,oil,timber) there. Not to mention space,China is crowded. China is trying to dupe Russia into letting down its guard. If China sees that Russia is distracted by some world event and has little chance of support it will invade to make a quick land grab. This will happen. I think Russia's leaders are wise enough to see through China's deception. China needs to modernize its land forces a bit more before it does.
Russian troops are much tougher fighters than their Chinese counterparts so the Chinese should have their combat ratio at 5 to 1 verses the Russians.

reply to post by irontyrant


Thanks for the info. I think I have a better understanding now. I wasn't knowledgeable of their feelings towards one another.

Do you have any ideas of what Russia's slip up might be? I can not off of the top of my head, think of a potential situation where Russia might be distracted any time in the foreseeable future. So I assume this may not be happening for a while?

reply to post by apodictic


Its hard to say but they are focused on the Middle East, especially Syria, at the moment. I think the biggest mistake that Russia could make would be giving up anymore of its territory to China in border dispute negotiations. Each time the two countries have done this Russia lost territory. This may make Russia seem weak and they would be wise to steer away from any future negotiations with China on border issues. Russia should concentrate on developing its economic strength and continuing the modernization of its military. It may also need to rethink its adversarial role with the West. Lastly, Russia should stop selling some of its best military hardware to China.

It's really no big deal. It's a destroyer REPLACING one that is already there. It's a fine ship, just a tad bit smaller than the Arleigh-Burke class destroyers that are standard American issue. (8,000 tonnes displacement vs. 9,000). In other words, this does not constitute any kind of escalation.

reply to post by irontyrant


I want to weigh in on this one, if China and Russia did go to war. Who would back which side? Would the Western powers even get involved or just watch it unfold?

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
Didn't the British Navy get destroyed by a pair of subsonic exocets? Ones that cost a few thousand bucks that ripped apart the HMS Sheffield?

Jeebus, you're a plank sometimes.

No, the RN didn't get "destroyed". We lost a couple of ships to a very good missile and in an era where CIWS didn't even exist! That said, the Argentine fighters who launched the missiles got mauled (over 100 Argentine aircraft lost during the war) with no loss from the Harrier force.

Compare that to the Exocet fired in 1991 at the USS Missouri, which a Royal Navy Frigate shot down before it hit the Battleship, which wasn't equipped to deal with the threat itself. Saved hundreds of US lives there.

Originally posted by Vitchilo
I know all about mines sweepers... but thing is, mines historically have a pretty good hit rate.

RN minesweepers are built out of a non-metallic fibre glass hull, so are pretty invisible to most mines. The RN also has quite a lot of practice in minesweeping..We still find German mines around our coasts to this day.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
Is Iran really a threat to the UK? I mean if Iranian ships were heading over to the British waters, everyone would be demanding we blow them out of the sea, yet we think it's cool to just go and intimidate another country with our Navy and should our Navy come under any attack, we will be demanding the destruction of Iran.

In all fairness, Iran is threatening to shut an international waterway which is vital to our economy. Regardless of your views on Iranian nuclear power, such an action cannot be allowed to happen. It's not as if we're in their waters and we have every right to be there, as they do, if they so wished, to sail up the Channel.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr

Originally posted by michael1983l
So the UK will now have the most advanced submarine in the world (HMS Astute) and the most advanced Destroyer in the world (HMS Daring) off the Straight of Homuoz. And people say that the Brits are a bankrupt nation falling to pieces

We are a bankrupt nation. the figures don't lie. It's great that we can spend money on weapons of war when we don't have it, but stuff the pensioners who have to choose between heating and eating and lets sack more care assistants and youth workers so we can buy more weapons.

We're not even remotely bankrupt, it's all media/Labour hype, which is ironic as it was Labour's "spend willy-nilly" policies that put us here in the first place. Our debt is amongst the lowest in Europe and the world, Japan has lived with around 180% GDP debt for over a decade, Germany is on around 90% GDP, we're only 70%.

Originally posted by Pervius
It would have been cheaper for England to hire the Sea Shepherd to keep the Iranian Navy at bay.

Iran has no Navy. Iran's last home made ship they made themselves and displayed to the world...is a joke.

Ironically, the bulk of the Iranians larger ships are either built by or based upon British designs from the 60's and 70's.

Originally posted by babybunnies
Given the recent cutbacks in UK military funding, I'm surprised that the UK's "most formidable ship" isn't a rowboat with a couple of kids and a pellet gun.

I mean, HMS Ark Royal is being sold for scrap metal for God's sake.

Common misconception. The UK armed forces are as formidable as ever and by the end of the decade will be even more so. We built an Empire with an army smaller than the one we have today.

Originally posted by scotsdavy1
I love it when it's the 'English Navy' and the English will fight etc
Do you forget that UK is combined with English, Scottish Welsh and Irsh that are in the Forces here?
Same as the English Queen!
Then again, if the English get their ship sunk it will be up to the UK to sort it out I suppose?

Winds me up too.. Never the less, it is usually British when going well, but if things go bad it's always "the English" that get mentioned. You Scots get off, well, Scot free!

Originally posted by Vitchilo
reply to post by michael1983l

 

The british debt is far from unmanagable at 72% GDP which is lower than most of our european partners an the US.

Now that's funny.

UK's debt? 950% of GDP

Surprise surprise, your government is lying to you.

You've been told and shown time and again this is a false claim, Vitchilo. But you still peddle this nonsense.

reply to post by Mcupobob


In my opinion, I think the West would eventually side with Russia against China. China,not Russia, is being taken as a more serious threat to world security,in the near future,than Russia is(at least by the West). If past history serves as indicator than the U.S. will definitely side with Russia. We almost joined the Soviet Union in a preemptive strike on China's fledgling nuclear missile program back in the 1960s. Although, I think China is going to have a tough go at it. Russian soldiers are formidable fighters,especially defending the Motherland. A Chinese invasion of Siberia, would more than likely, cause the dissolution of the Communist Party and perhaps lead to the unification of Korea. North Korea would be extremely isolated in such an event without China's support. Thus, I think it is very likely that the West would come in on Russia's side in such a conflict. The benefits of the world without a communist China or North Korea far out weigh the risks.

reply to post by stumason


stumason,
I want to thank you for you contribution to this thread. I am glad when people who actually know something about history post here. As an American, I am thankful for the how much the British have helped the U.S. in its military endeavors. The Falkland Island War was a one-sided British victory. The Royal Navy is the benchmark that all other navies in the world have to compare themselves to. I am proud of my county's navy but I look at the Royal Navy as the paragon of navies in the world.