The new HMNZS Canterbury

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

Also getting half the amount of LAVIII's as they bought as we didnt need anywhere near as many as they bought

Mow many LAVIII's did we end up getting??

[Delerium]

105 if i recall correctly

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

105 if i recall correctly

ferk... that many... we just about don't have enough troops to utilise them all...

[Delerium]

2 under strength battalions. ( I think, 2 under strength something.. im sure its a battalion.. dont know much on army structure) The lav's do match up with the NH90's nicely... I remember being told they carry the same number of troops. I dont know how much truth is in that statement.

[SPman]

ferk... that many... we just about don't have enough troops to utilise them all...

Sure we have - half them are broken down at any one time - useless fucking things that they are.......

[Delerium]

Where did you get that information? I dont know much about them but Im curious to know where you found that out.

[SARGE]

the OLD HMS CANTERBURY @ PAHIA

damn shame to see a glorious old girl like this scuttled as a recreational dive reef


Mrs. SARGE's dad served on her in her heyday and i almost shed a tear over seeing her in this shape

[mark247]

Because not having the A-4K's is saving nearly a billion dollars over 10 years... the UH-1H, while not being obsolete is now getting hard to source parts for... bell no longer supplies parts or engines for them so the only option is second hand... and one NH-90 does the job of two UH-1H's, can be better armed, has better avionics, better range, etc etc (it was a good idea to get them).

The big fat ship was also a good idea.

The smart thing to do which should have been done in 2001 was scrap the skyhawks, keep the Aermacchis and only buy 14 F-16's (rather than 28) which would be 4 two seaters for conversion training, and ten single seaters (or two seaters) for operational use. Also getting half the amount of LAVIII's as they bought as we didnt need anywhere near as many as they bought, and there was the option of upgrading the M113's to A3 spec such as the US Army uses then we could still transort them in the Hercules.

For what New Zealand needed ( An all rounder ), the Skyhawks were better than the F16. I believe that personally, and my brother ( flew the skyhawks and knows shit loads about jets )

[SARGE]

gas ax vandals


these pix were taken at Pihia this past weekend by the way

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

Mrs. SARGE's dad served on her in her heyday and i almost shed a tear over seeing her in this shape

I served on as well..

as well as Waikato, Tui, and Wellington all reefs now...

am unsure of F104 HMNZS Southland served on her as well...

[Delerium]

Had a similar feeling walking into a hangar full of skyhawks and macchis. Iv still got footage of the final skyhawk flight.

[R6_kid:Me]

For what New Zealand needed ( An all rounder ), the Skyhawks were better than the F16. I believe that personally, and my brother ( flew the skyhawks and knows shit loads about jets )

Our skyhawks got the same avionics suite as the USAF F-16's were running when they got upgraded to Kahu spec. They were more maneuverable at low speed, and also suited anti-ship more than the F-16... the F-16 is faster and more suited to modern air combat than our A-4K's, in saying that though we used to give the F-18's in aussie a good run for their money in dog fights... but dogfighting is a rare occurence in modern air combat.

The best fighter aircraft for NZ would be a new generation Harrier such as the GR7, but the F-35 would be overkill and probably be nothing like what we need. Also given the purchase of the MRV a Harrier is almost certainly suited to deck operations, even if there are only two on ship. It would also lead to the possible investment of a heli/vstol carrier to supplement it as they too are also very good troop deploy/supply ship - but i might just be dreaming!

[R6_kid:Me]

Had a similar feeling walking into a hangar full of skyhawks and macchis. Iv still got footage of the final skyhawk flight.

Skyhawks and Macchis? Must have been a fair while ago... the macchis are at Ohakea and still fly on an almost daily basis, just to keep them air worthy. The skyhawks are 'mothballed' at Blenheim awaiting confirmation of purchase. I would love to be the guy keeping the macchis going... i could tell he was enjoying it, he certainly wasn't taking it easy!

[mark247]

Iv still got footage of the final skyhawk flight.

Do you mean the final skyhawk flight ever? with just the one flying?
If so, that was my brother flying He was the pilot which kept one flying when they were trying to sell them all, kinda as a demo.

[YLWDUC]

The lav's do match up with the NH90's nicely... I remember being told they carry the same number of troops. I dont know how much truth is in that statement.

The NH90's can carry up to 20 troops, the LAV's only 7. A platoon of LAV cavalry is somewhere between 24 and 28 soldiers