Would folks, given the option to serve on our own Aircraft Carrier, improve recruitment and retention figures? Throughout the fleet and the other services.
Manned by three allies (RAN RN and RNZN)!! Gives three services a chance to maintain a strike force in the Pacific and South East Asia. Be cool to do Rimpac with our new ships.
Shopping list:
New QEII class Aircraft Carrier (33% UK build, 33% RAN Build and 34% RNZN build. Approximate cost to each of $2.1 Billion (NZ $$ - total $6,123,957,000) Gives the UK a foot in the southern hemisphere (and a UK sourced manning given their navy shrinking) and already have a trained workforce available
10 RNZAF F35B Lightning (all up cost to us of $1,120,000,000) and 15 RAAF F35B Lighning with possibly a UK share of another 20 F 35 Lightning II
3 x RNZAF 4x NH-90's and 2x Seasprites- 5 RAAF S-70A Black Hawk and 2x CH-47D Chinook ( no acquisition costs as all in service)
New Royal NZ Marines 100 for deployment by Helo or landing craft (four fitted) 200 RAN Marines. All dual purposed. All SAS units from NZ/Aus/UK can be carried as required as well.
New Zealand and Australian governments share fuel. Australia and UK funds maintenance.
Aircraft Carrier Range is 10,000 miles and speed in excess of 25 knots. ANZAC's do 27 knots and have a cruising range of 6,000 Miles. Do Carriers do Refuelling (RAS)
Possible name? How about something like HMNZS Te Waka o Maui or HMNZS Kupe??
Discuss.
Facebook feedback:
- Michael Richards Dale Forsyth no, it hasn't settled down ag all. There are huge holes that are not likely to be filled in the near future. The purge as you put it has created big problems. And believe it or not, a lot of the ratings didn't join to go to sea!
- Paul Holland There are other problems with this suggestion. What NZDF capabilities are you going to get rid of to fund this? There is the sovereignty issue where one party does commits to a course of action that one or both of the others don't agree with. How do you deal with that? The UK have shipboard nuclear weapons, how is that going to impact on it operating with NZDF personnel, equipment and in NZ waters? Is it in NZs best interest to be involved in such a capability? I can answer the last question by saying no. It would not meet any of the NZGs policy requirements that it sets for Defence.
At the end of WW2 we made the mistake of taking cruisers, which was a political decision against the advice of the navy who knew that cruisers weren't what NZ required for the Pacific. We probably should've gone with destroyers and frigates. We were offered a carrier, but wisely turned it down, even though we had the FAA aircrew for it and the aircraft to fly off it. RNZAF F4G Corsairs and TBM Avengers all bought and paid for. It would have been an absolute drain on the Navy Dept funding and personnel.
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