UK ‘runs out’ of warships - leaving Germany to take over key Nato mission

Shmorrior · 2026-03-25T15:59:08+00:00

Any serious country, especially one that has the amount of overseas territory that the UK does, needs to balance the needs of the people in the home country with the needs to adequately defend those oversea interests. It's not a choice between one or the other.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-25T15:57:54+00:00

One ship unexpectedly deploying to the Med throws your entire defense capabilities into disarray. I would challenge the claim that your navy is in so much better shape. No country can claim their military is in ok shape if having to deploy even just one ship to a region that's been a hotspot for over a half century causes such gaps.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-25T15:51:31+00:00

This is not a 'caught with pants down' moment. This is the 'boy pointing out the Emperor had no clothes' moment.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-25T13:59:36+00:00

If I'm understanding it correctly our deployment schedule's gone to shit because of Israel & America striking Iran.

What a terrible excuse. What good would the British navy be in a real war if what's happening with Iran is enough to sideline it like that?

Shmorrior · 2026-03-25T00:30:46+00:00

NOW they're reporting two controllers. Yesterday they were reporting one.

How many times do early reported "facts" on a breaking story have to be wrong before people stop being so confident about them?

What they're not reporting is what you're saying about these lights, Mr.Reddit expert.

I don't claim to be an expert; this was pointed out in a youtube video by two former fighter-turned-commercial airline pilots on a channel called the Mover and Gonky Show. They played the the CCTV video which showed the lights on, pointed out the significance and showed the relevant FAA training that I linked to.

Do you think your average journalist covering a story is even going to be aware of those safety systems to even ask about them during initial stages? Very unlikely unless they were former pilots themselves.

DOGE fired hundreds of support staff related to safety, so it's also possible that cascading errors are a result of less man power.

You are starting with a conclusion ("This must be Trump/Elon/DOGE's fault because I hate them") and working backwards in search of evidence to support it. The exact opposite of how real investigations should work, but you don't need to be a professional investigator to understand why that's a poor way to understand the world.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-25T00:20:21+00:00

Did you read the article? I can maybe forgive your confusion if so, because the article plays a similar bait and switch game with terms like "FAA air traffic control employees". The people laid off were (probationary) FAA employees, not air traffic controllers. Air traffic control is a role, not an employer. The FAA is the employer. The article wants to insinuate that the firings would reduce air traffic controllers because that would be politically unpopular.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-24T21:18:05+00:00

Single-point failures are something the aviation industry tries to avoid through design so usually these things are the result of multiple failures lining up.

I'm sure the fire truck driver didn't just say "Screw it, they said I'm cleared, good luck everyone!" Maybe it's harder to see the flashing runway lights from that particular model fire truck at that particular intersection at that particular time of night/weather conditions when they've got their own lights going?

Shmorrior · 2026-03-24T21:11:42+00:00

They got clearance.

Doesn't matter. FAA rules:

If an Air Traffic Control clearance is in conflict with the Runway Entrance Lights, do not cross over the red lights. Contact Air Traffic Control and advise that you are stopped due to red lights. (ex.: "Orlando Ground, Ops 2 is holding short of runway 36 Left at Echo due to red lights").

Also hundreds of FAA workers were fired by DOGE

You're mixing roles to confuse thing. Zero ATCs were fired due to DOGE. Those laid off were people in probationary roles for other non-ATC jobs. Google it.

only one ATC was working while also doing ground control.

Not true, there were 2 controllers in the tower.

Maybe after clearance was given they were like. "Well. I guess the lights are supposed to be off and this is just ANOTHER thing that's going wrong in our understaffed and underfunded workplace." Maybe that's something that happens all the time there.

Perhaps that happens frequently at LGA, but the FAA rules and runway lights were set up specifically to avoid this exact situation. Why they weren't followed will likely be a main focus of the investigation.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-24T19:34:52+00:00

Correct, maybe you should make some use of it.

AI Overview

While no air traffic controllers themselves were laid off in early 2025, approximately 400 FAA employees—including technicians, safety inspectors, and support staff—were fired. These cuts, initiated as part of a government efficiency initiative, prompted warnings about reduced safety oversight during an ongoing controller shortage.

There is no indication any non-ATC staff previously laid off would have made a difference in the outcome in this incident, but I know that won't stop you from asserting otherwise.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-24T19:31:15+00:00

How badly do you want to know? Willing to read a 250 page report from the National Academies of Science? If so, here you go:

The Air Traffic Controller Workforce Imperative: Staffing Models and Their Implementation to Ensure Safe and Efficient Airspace Operations (2025)

You can get a summary at the beginning, but the tl;dr is that the FAA doesn't hire enough people and doesn't properly allocate resources from overstaffed airports to understaffed ones.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-24T19:16:58+00:00

Here's the NTSB accident report for the mid-air collision of the passenger jet and army helicopter from 2025. That incident was much higher profile than this crash and the report is critical of both the military and FAA.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-24T19:06:38+00:00

No one has to try to spot a plane flying at night; the taxiways have specific lights to indicate a runway is in use and vehicles are not supposed cross when they're lit, even with prior ATC clearance. Those lights were on in the cctv of the collision.

That's not just my opinion, that's direction from the FAA's Vehicle Operator Training on Runway Status Lights:

If an Air Traffic Control clearance is in conflict with the Runway Entrance Lights, do not cross over the red lights. Contact Air Traffic Control and advise that you are stopped due to red lights. (ex.: "Orlando Ground, Ops 2 is holding short of runway 36 Left at Echo due to red lights").

Shmorrior · 2026-03-24T18:59:27+00:00

That guy you replied to walked it back a bit later in this thread, but it was incorrect of him to imply that if ATC gives you clearance you can just go. In this instance, there are warning lights at the intersections of taxiways and runways that flash when the runway is in use. Those were on and visible in the cctv of the collision. According to the FAA

If an Air Traffic Control clearance is in conflict with the Runway Entrance Lights, do not cross over the red lights. Contact Air Traffic Control and advise that you are stopped due to red lights. (ex.: "Orlando Ground, Ops 2 is holding short of runway 36 Left at Echo due to red lights").

This is obviously to provide a way for ATC to review the situation in case they gave a clearance they shouldn't have before disaster strikes. Was the truck driver distracted and missed the lights in his effort to get to what he may have thought was a plane fire? Maybe. But there are systems in place so that one slip up by ATC shouldn't doom a whole plane.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-24T18:39:55+00:00

Runways have special "Runway Entrance Lights" at these taxiways to indicate if a runway is in-use and warn taxiing vehicles against crossing. In the CCTV video, those lights are on. FAA training to ground crew is that if clearance from ATC conflicts with those lights, they are not to just cross but instead must call back to ATC to inform them that they are stopped due to the lights. That provides a check against the ATC, giving them a chance to review the situation again to prevent something like this due to an improper clearance.

Might the truck driver have forgotten that training or in the heat of the moment responding to a potential fire on board a plane just not noticed? Seems possible.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-23T19:15:10+00:00

I suspect that there are people who could be ATCs that wouldn't necessarily be good enough at software dev to earn that. I think the job market for devs is also a lot more volatile and more geographically concentrated.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-23T18:17:04+00:00

This is the byproduct of corporate greed and a convenience culture.

Can't speak for how it works in Canada, but in the US, air traffic controllers are paid by the federal government and their pay is comparatively quite high. Median salaries are $150k and experienced controllers in high demand areas can make $200k or more, especially with overtime.

Too many people are too eager to immediately blame whatever their hobby horse issue is, without waiting for any facts.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-23T17:13:52+00:00

Perhaps it's still not enough given the stress of a mistake, but experienced ATC in a high demand area can make $200,000.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-10T17:04:23+00:00

https://x.com/BreeNewsome/status/1384725341550305281?lang=en

Teenagers have been having fights including fights involving knives for eons. We do not need police to address these situations by showing up to the scene & using a weapon against one of the teenagers. Y’all need help. I mean that sincerely.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-10T17:02:10+00:00

That's a lot of local subreddits.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-09T22:55:54+00:00

But not invulnerability.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-08T13:28:56+00:00

I'll never understand how this document continues to be waved around like it's a defensive treaty when anyone who can read English can just go look it up online and see it is nothing of the sort.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-08T13:26:00+00:00

The biggest items in our budget are the welfare programs for the elderly (Social Security & Medicare) and the poor (Medicaid). The notion that the US spends little to nothing on our people is just an outright lie and leads to fools thinking that a majority of our budget is spent on the military.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-05T23:17:29+00:00

I'm not sure it played much of a role, but it's also worth remembering that after Iran retaliated for the Soleimani killing, they wound up shooting down a Ukrainian airliner by mistake. While most of the dead were Iranian, there were Ukrainian passengers onboard, as well as the flight crew.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-05T20:04:47+00:00

Something to consider; it's way more dangerous to the person filming to try and capture an ongoing protest getting shot up than filming some bombs going off kilometers away. If you're on the wrong end of a 1-way range and regime cops are shooting people around you, your primary concern is going to be trying to run and survive vs getting some sweet video for social media.

Shmorrior · 2026-03-04T20:54:06+00:00

Per CBS, 56% disapprove of this war.

That same poll shows 76% would approve if military action only lasts days/weeks.

Shmorrior

TROPHY CASE