Yep, but good shots
Not bad for an i pad
Yep, but good shots
About the aid, China is getting some heat about the $100,000 they have given.
Haiyan: China's Paltry Aid to the Philippines | TIME.com
I imagine this will be a regular routine when the LHD's are operational. You have a floating one stop disaster relief shop. You can deploy earth moving equipment, water pumps and purifying equipment, food, medical supplies, you have a hospital onboard, an airport on board that doesn't rely on local fuel supplies, coms for command and communication. They can bring so much to the table and are self sufficient.
The issue I see is that they may be over deployed with only two ships and a region with many nations that a prone to volcanos, typhoons, tsunamis, civil unrest and is generally pretty poor to begin with.
About the aid, China is getting some heat about the $100,000 they have given.
Haiyan: China's Paltry Aid to the Philippines | TIME.com
Too late, the result was predictable given the forecast and warnings. They should have been loaded and sailing when the storm hit.
Easier said than done, Choules would have been in no state to go up and do this, given the defects and her tasking, near impossible.
Choules has got more problems or just the normal wear and tear and needs some tlc?
just a thought, the Philippine disaster would be the sort of deployment a LCH replacement would be ideal for.
There has been a lot of consultation and inclusion of NGO's ever since the decision on the LHD's. Planning for such events has been in play for a very long time, with some on here having been involved.
There is no doubt the 2 LHD's will be worked hard, but depending on the situation you would more than likely have 1 LHD sail in conjunction with Choules (or possible second support ship ?) and future success replacements in an initial deployment with the LHD parking for the duration with Choules/Success Replacement doing alternate re-supply runs
Cheers
You use ships and acrew hours towards to regular maintenance as well as things breaking. This is a big ship with lots of little thing that can break and the RAn doesn't have anywhere near the stores / parts holding they once did, nor the qualified and experienced artificers.
Did i hear something in the news tonight about Abbott giving Sri-Lanka a couple of patrol boats??
With the comparatively low cost of the Cape class Australia could actually build additional vessels to be supplied to Sri Lanka, Indonesia and as a replacement for the current Pacific Patrol Boats. These boats cost stuff all in the scheme of things and would be a great boon to our neighbours in improving their border protection capabilities, not just against Australia bound boat people but probably more likely to be used against piracy, smuggling and illegal fishing.
This would strengthen their ability to protect their borders, resources and economies while improving relations with Australia and some what cheekily supporting Australian industry with redirected foreign aid money. The economies of scale would make Austal more competitive on the global market and likely see even more exports of their designs accordingly.
The ASI Pacific Patrol Boats were pretty rugged and would fit the available Infrastructure that many small islands have, or can afford.
With 46 units built from Rabual to Nemesis the Pacific boat has to be one of the most successful Australian defence/security programs of all time. A third generation steel hull boat for aid provision to nations across South East Asia, Indian Ocean that can't afford their own boats (Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Maldives) would be a very good investment and also provide a replacement for the Pacific Forum boats.
With Kockums being sold to TKMS i am curious as to how this plays out for the future of the Collins replacement. The below article talks about TKMS trying to destroy the Swedish sub industry.
Germans look to sink Swedish sub maker - The Local
Would this be an issue for Sea 1000 and something that will effect a Collins 2 design and build?