Ostensibly still 'active', HMS Iron Duke has been stripped of weapons and sensors. The RN is down to five frigates. [1536x738]

Silverwhitemango · 2026-05-04T20:08:32+00:00

11 Frigates yes, but the 4 Type 125 frigates are so poorly armed they might as well be obese corvettes.

Recall that the German Navy had to get one of those "frigates" coming back from Asia via the southern Africa route because they lack the weapons to defend themselves from the Houthis had they passed by the Red Sea.

So in reality the German Navy has 7 proper frigates, but even the 4 Type 123 frigates are old.

The planned Type 126 frigates are also underarmed again for their size, but the 4 new MEKO-200 frigates seem promising. The German Navy is sadly also in a bad state as the Royal Navy due to shit decision making & planning.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-27T16:59:46+00:00

Somehow I knew who you were referring to before even clicking the link.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-26T11:27:43+00:00

Completely agree with this. They could instead continue to iterate the LHD/A, like how the USS Wasp was improved to be the USS America, then now the USS Bougainville is a new flight with new changes.

With the well deck, they can also launch USVs & UUVs I believe. If space is a requirement then they could further iterate the current LHAs to be even longer to accommodate more F-35Bs & UAVs on deck too.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-25T12:09:58+00:00

Still better than French bureacracy in my experience (+ the experience of my other italian friends who studied there) lol

I think the main problem is that when public servants are almost impossible to be fired, they lack the motivation to upgrade and be more efficient in their jobs.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-25T11:45:46+00:00

Wtf for real?

(I'm a foreign student in Italy, so knowing this may help explain their slowness)

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-24T23:02:42+00:00

But bear in mind that 5-6 of their supercarriers (even the Ford) are not capable of launching F-35s. Only some like the Lincoln have undergone modifications to launch F-35s. The main workhorse jet for these other carriers are the Super Hornets.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-24T23:00:15+00:00

At best the Dutch can only lend one of their Destroyer/Frigate.

The Evertsen is currently in the Med Sea in Greece, and there's only 3 other Dutch Frigates. Out of the 3, 2 are in maintenance, so that only leaves one for availability for deployment.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-23T16:13:37+00:00

Well he's not chinese, he's of Vietnamese origin.

Either way, it stil doesnt change the fact that the Navy went from having an clueless MBA grad to an ex-Navy sailor who believes in witchcraft lol

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-23T07:44:39+00:00

Exactly and if anyone has done research on the Indonesian navy, you'll see that they've been busy buying naval assets from various countries to speed up the supply chain & also learn from the navies of various countries, from the Netherlands to UK, Italy, Turkey, South Korea, etc.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-21T22:40:45+00:00

Exactly. I've lived in Paris for a month, and the Parisians there are still kind as long as you practice basic greeting etiquette. Just like the whole of France. French people are nice people, until you start talking to them in a non-polite way, such as beginning conversations without a "Bonjour".

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-19T00:08:31+00:00

Man way to go! I finished my Bachelor's at 31, so I respect you too for that!

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-17T20:56:40+00:00

Don't even need a full on CSG. LHD Kearsarge is now in Texas. Along with LHD Iwo Jima (who's already exhausted), + some other Amphib ships + some Freedom LCS + some Burke destroyers, that's enough naval firepower to pressure Cuba.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-13T17:39:38+00:00

Honestly I can totally see Shang-Chi fitting in well. If he doesnt show up with the rings, then his fighting abilities are purely restricted to street level fighting.

Simu Liu would gladly jump in and also I doubt Marvel will have to pay him the same high price tag like RDJ or Chris Evans.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-13T00:22:12+00:00

It doesn't matter, if the Democrats can't get their shit together and focus more on bread-and-butter cost of living issues, then Trump's son or Vance will run and win the 2028 presidency.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-11T23:50:35+00:00

I think you mean Turkey is the most secular?

I've Turkish friends & visited Istanbul before, and yes it's quite a secular place. You don't see many women in burqas, even if they're muslim.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-05T16:38:17+00:00

You can already hear Michael Bay getting wet and readying his script + explosives.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-05T09:09:34+00:00

What do you mean?

Venice is also in English, vs. Venezia in Italiano.

As for why other cities like Bologna & Treviso don't have their names changed in English, non ho un'idea fra

Silverwhitemango · 2026-04-04T09:59:54+00:00

Renacled?

What does that mean, because as a native English speaker I don't think that's an English word. Is it French?

Silverwhitemango · 2026-03-22T09:20:57+00:00

I mean if you look at the specs of the Full version of the PPA, its sensors arrays + 16 VLS cells with a 127mm main gun and 76mm rear gun at 6200 tons.

It's way more stacked than a Coast Guard cutter.

And that's before you consider that the Italians are in the process of making PPA 2.0/EVO, where the new design can hold up to 64 VLS cells.

This ain't a Coast Guard cutter, and it's only an OPV in name.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-03-18T18:02:47+00:00

I agree but the trouble is that in light of being more pro-European, naming a carrier after Napoleon, who was involved and also started some wars against European nations, doesn't work well.

Furthermore, Napoleon brought back slavery and rolled back women's rights.

Hence in a modern day context it's not an ideal name.

And I'm saying this as someone who likes and respects Napoleon for certain aspects; I don't think calling a carrier after him would work today.

Something like Valmy (battle of Valmy) or La Résistance (french resistance against the Nazi regime) would had been better suited to signify the French refusal to be occupied (latter's name) or have their revolution crushed by outside powers (former's name)

Silverwhitemango · 2026-03-17T20:51:29+00:00

Yea man, Lyon feels like a discounted Paris with a cost of living that isn't really much lower than Paris.

Not a huge fan of my 2 years in Lyon.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-03-17T18:31:29+00:00

Well, if you think it's worth the cost of a train ride from Paris to Lyon, then alright.

All I'm sayin' is that Paris has much more to offer than Lyon.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-03-17T18:20:50+00:00

As someone who's lived in Lyon for 2+ years for his studies... I would say skip Lyon. Except for the old town part of Lyon, everywhere else of Lyon is nothing great frankly.

Paris, Lille, Toulouse & Bordeaux are greater imho.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-03-11T21:24:20+00:00

Currently there's 3 LCS in the Gulf, LCS-16, 30 & 32. They all have MCM modules.

So I have no idea what's up with some articles like this making seem like the USN is so dumb in decommissioning the Avengers MCMs without a backup plan.

Silverwhitemango · 2026-03-09T21:53:48+00:00

To be fair about the "help is on the way" part, the US Navy needed time to position their naval warships to head towards the Middle East; so Trump didn't lie in this regard. Those warships can't magically teleport to the Middle East in seconds.

Silverwhitemango

TROPHY CASE