On Mar 16, 9:58*am, Colin Williams
wrote:
On Mar 15, 9:38*pm, allantracy wrote:



Yes, you can always rely on the French to be a bunch of poseurs.

Pity they aren’t so good at armies.

"According to historian Niall Ferguson, of the 125 major European wars
fought since 1495, the French have participated in fifty - more than
both Austria (forty-seven) and England (forty-three). *And they've
achieved an impressive batting average: out of 168 battles fought
since 387BC, they have won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10."

(From 'The Second QI Book of General Ignorance', funnily enough).

France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
77002 wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.

B2003

On 16/03/2012 12:42, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.


Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

On 16/03/2012 12:42, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.


Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

I thought we didn't have any in-service fixed-wing aircraft carriers,
with or without aircraft? Of course, we do have two under
construction for delivery in a few years. The only conceivable
current threat would seem to be to the Falklands, and this analysis
suggests that we're adequately defended the
http://www.rusi.org/analysis/comment...C4F6324444BE2E

On 16/03/2012 14:24, Recliner wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

On 16/03/2012 12:42, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.


Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

I thought we didn't have any in-service fixed-wing aircraft carriers,
with or without aircraft?

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

Of course, we do have two under
construction for delivery in a few years.

One of which is scheduled to go direct from the slipway to the scrapyard.

The only conceivable
current threat would seem to be to the Falklands, and this analysis
suggests that we're adequately defended the
http://www.rusi.org/analysis/comment...C4F6324444BE2E

The bit that misses is the fact that the Argentine navy effectively
doesn't exist any more, they have no carrier, no operational subs, 3 old
frigates and 2 type 42 destroyers. Debatable whether any of those are
actually serviceable. They certainly don't have any heavy lift and
amphibious capability any more.

There's a presidential election later in the year and the locals are
****ed of with Christina. Also the economy is going down the drain
again so rattle the sabres and wave the Malvinas flags to distract the
peasantry.


--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

Yes she is.

Illustrious remains in service until some time in 2014, when Ocean will
become the only operational carrier.

Paul

On 16/03/2012 17:18, Paul Scott wrote:
"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

Yes she is.

Illustrious remains in service until some time in 2014, when Ocean will
become the only operational carrier.


I thought she was still under refit, must have completed it.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On 16/03/2012 17:18, Paul Scott wrote:
"Graeme Wall" wrote in message
...

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

Yes she is.

Illustrious remains in service until some time in 2014, when Ocean will
become the only operational carrier.

Paul



What happens if al-Qaeda invade when she is anchored in the Thames to
police the Olympics?

--
Myth, after all, is what we believe naturally. History is what we must
painfully learn and struggle to remember. -Albert Goldman

"Graeme Wall" wrote

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

We also have one commissioned battleship - HMS Victory.

Peter

On 16/03/2012 20:46, Peter Masson wrote:


"Graeme Wall" wrote

We still have HMS Illustrious, though she's not in commission.

We also have one commissioned battleship - HMS Victory.


Currently in refit :-)


--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail