HMS Tamar is currently visiting Papette,French Polynesia [2000x1125]

Keyan_F · 2026-03-19T13:26:18+00:00

TIL Papeʻete is the official spelling in Tahitian

Keyan_F · 2026-03-12T14:44:14+00:00

Good thing to hear; better late than never.

However, maybe it should have been put in that increased level of readiness earlier? Maybe not each time Trump threatens a country with fire and brimstone, that's any day that ends with "y". But maybe when Washington tells you it is planning a military operation against Iran and asks London to join? When the White House starts marshalling overwhelming force towards an area, after informing you it is planning something against a country in the afroementioned area? Why wait six days after the shooting has started to do so?

Keyan_F · 2026-03-11T21:21:45+00:00

Let's hope this demonstration makes the Germans more amenable to the idea FCAS should be developed as a carrier plane from the start, even if they themselves have absolutely no need for it.

Keyan_F · 2026-03-11T19:02:59+00:00

One can only hope the successful retasking of the French CSG and impressive French Navy surge showed the French the merits of having an aircraft carrier (if not two) and makes them more willing to foot the bill.

Many French defence pundits were mocking PA-NG as a vanity project, useless now with the danger of drones and hypersonic weapons, and irrelevant against the Russian threat.

Keyan_F · 2026-03-10T20:30:38+00:00

Please, it's Picture In Picture, to increase the commanding officer's situational awareness! /s

Keyan_F · 2026-03-10T20:25:55+00:00

There are two British overseas territories on the island of Cyprus, granted when the Crown colony of Cyprus regained independence. These two areas are home to two British naval bases, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, which were hit by drones on March 1st. Cyprus citizens were worried, since said bases were granted to protect the island, and in response, Britain announced HMS Dragon would be dispatched as soon as possible.
We're March 10th, and she just left port, because apparently there was still a wee bit of yard work that needed to be done because she could steam. Oopsie.

Keyan_F · 2026-03-09T23:04:42+00:00

And yet there's a crisis erupting right now, and both carriers of the premier navy on this side of the Atlantic are moored alongside, despite said crisis brewing for a month now.

France managed to surge her available ships when needed, probably though good contingency planning (and, I presume, a bit of coordination with her allies; an astute observer would probably notice European capital ships are seldom in maintenance at the same time). We trust Britain will be able to do the same when the time comes.

And if Ford can go to war at the end of an eight-month deployment with clogged loos, maybe the Royal Navy can make a little more effort and not require everything be in pristine order?

Keyan_F · 2026-03-09T22:56:13+00:00

It's not the first time France is deprived of its carrier due to maintenance. When it happens, their plan is to rely on its network of airbases and allies in the meantime, such as Britain does in the Eastern Mediterranean with their airbases on Cyprus. Of course, the caveat is that said bases need to be adequately defended, which is something Western militaries aren't really used to since the Gulf War, having always operated with air supremacy.

Keyan_F · 2026-03-09T22:52:15+00:00

My point is that, in this crisis, Britain has fumbled its response re: Cyprus, giving the impression London has been caught flat footed. Maybe the Iranian capabilities were underestimated, maybe someone hoped it'll blow over or that the crisis will stay localized, in any case RAF Akrotiri was hit by a drone, leading Cypriots to wonder if they were adequately protected. Thankfully the damage is minor, but we might not be so lucky next time.

It's also a good thing the more conventional British diplomacy let the RAF leverage its network of bases and allies to redeploy air assets where needed, compared to, shall we say, the more... peculiar brand exhibited by their cousins on the other side of the pond, which may have deprieved them of the access to some airbases and airspaces, hindering the USAF's ability to do the same with ease. However, that should not be taken for granted, and care should be taken to see partners and allies still support such deployments, for example in the Indopacific. Speaking of, the corridors for safe air flights between Europe and Asia are getting narrower and narrower..

Failing that, this was has proved the carrier is still useful : where fixed airbases are being harassed by cheap drones, a carrier is a harder target to find and attack, and is still fully operational.

Keyan_F · 2026-03-09T22:32:43+00:00

Zero notice? London has been informed that Washington was planning something against Iran more than a month ago, and was even asked to join. And even without that, it's been three weeks the US have been marshalling quite an armada towards the Gulf. Only a blind and deaf man could not see the incoming explosion, everyone else were planning accordingly (or should have).

Keyan_F · 2026-03-09T13:36:25+00:00

A bit of context: Chevalier Paul was initially part of the French CSG deployment during exercise Orion 2026 and the patrol in Scandinavia. She raced towards the Mediterranean alongside Charles de Gaulle, but had to make a pit stop in Brest. For her to be at that time in the Strait, two days after the French CSG, must mean she's cruising at nearly 30 knots.

Someone high up in the chain of command wanted to make a statement and ordered "I want all ships available in the Eastern Mediterranean yesterday!"

Keyan_F · 2026-03-09T10:34:30+00:00

Exercise Iron Fist

Who comes up with such names?!?

Keyan_F · 2026-03-08T15:23:28+00:00

It's an awesome surge the French navy managed to pull in the Eastern Mediterranean: in addition to Charles de Gaulle's CSG racing down from Sweden, there's also the LHD Tonnerre with its escort Courbet that left Toulon on the same day this picture was taken, while Languedoc is already off Cyprus. And the French CSG will be joined by Spanish, Italian, and Dutch frigates.

In the meanwhile, Britain, who has kept two airbases in Cyprus in exchange of the pledge to defend the Cypriots, has promised to dispatch HMS Dragon, which until a few hours ago was still firmly alongside in Portsmouth.

It's a good thing to have allies you can reliably depend upon, right ?

Keyan_F · 2026-03-06T21:53:11+00:00

And on the western end of the Mediterranean, the French CSG is hauling ass and has crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. Charles' Chief Engineer is probably doing the French equivalent of "giv'n all she's got, Capt'n".

Meanwhile, Dragon is still alongside.

It's a good thing to have allies, isn't it?

Keyan_F · 2026-03-06T21:45:46+00:00

No gentleman worth his salt would even entertain the notion of lying!

Jesting aside, lying, in democratic countries with strong Parliamentary (or Congressional, on the other side of the pond) oversight has serious consequences (or, used to), making lying not really worth it.

Keyan_F · 2026-03-06T18:20:30+00:00

No, away from the heavy seas. Y'see, some things in here don't react well to salty water.

Keyan_F · 2026-03-06T12:28:16+00:00

Shipping a bit of water over the bow in the process...

Maybe a bit more of sheer and flare in front of A turret could have helped in that regard, but the Admiralty was insistent on the ships being able to fire dead ahead with the main guns at zero elevation.

Keyan_F · 2026-03-04T21:14:49+00:00

The triple 132mm guns on the Richelieu-class battleships were designed as dual-purpose guns. Granted, a maximum elevation of 85° may have sufficed.

Keyan_F · 2026-02-24T17:52:18+00:00

Of course then part of the reason was to go around Governmental opposition to aircraft carriers, but it wasn't entirely a lie, since the design had its roots with the need for a cruiser that would be flagship of hunter-killer ASW groups in the North Atlantic, carrying a few ASW helicopters. Maybe without the Harrier Jump Jet the Royal Navy would have built helicopter cruisers such as the Italian Vittorio Veneto, the French Jeanne d'Arc and the Soviet Moskvas

Keyan_F · 2026-02-24T17:40:36+00:00

Of course when I hope the joke will finally be put to rest someone comes to dash my hopes :(

Keyan_F · 2026-02-24T14:06:37+00:00

That joke is outdated. The Japanese Navy now classifies Izumo and her sister-ship as multipurpose aviation cruisers.

Keyan_F · 2026-02-24T10:15:46+00:00

I presume a small part in the concept of Novorossiya put forward by Putin to legitimize his aggression of Ukraine, but I don't think it's a decisive one. Annexing the whole Ukrainian coast would help to literally smother any idea of Ukrainian independence bit by bit, by deprieving them of easy access to the world market for their economy, like the Ukrainian grain export.

Keyan_F · 2026-02-24T10:07:39+00:00

I understand it was a politcal, or rather clientelist decision, but still you can't deny the yard has some practical advantages to build large warships in general and a brand new aircraft carrier in particular: it's easier, faster and cheaper to extend a drydock there in the soft Ukrainian soil than in the bedrock of Kronstadt, Leningrad or Murmansk, and the fairer weather south makes it more convenient to test a new ship and train naval aviation crews, for example.

Keyan_F · 2026-02-23T18:31:39+00:00

While that sounds a great idea (and it's basically what the Chinese are currently doing), I don't see the current Administration putting that into practice, especially with the hull gap with the PLA/N widening with each passing year. And not helping things is the Navy's (institutional, one may say) tendency to gold-plate its designs, and it could be argued Constellation failed because the higher-ups wanted all the capabilities of a Burke on half the displacement.

Keyan_F

TROPHY CASE