RAF Defense Review & a new CAS platform: Raven GR.1

[AeroplaneDriver]

In March 2008 Prime Minister Gordon Brown was taken by surprise when three defense chiefs exercised their constitutional right to meet with the PM.  By the end of the meeting the three had threatened to resign if something wasnt done to address the critical overstretch of the armed services.  Round after round of cuts combined with combat deployments on two fronts had left the nations military in tatters.  Even the press were rallying to the support of the forces.

Brown agreed to a defense review, which was concluded in June 2008.  Among the problem ares identified was a need for increased Close Air Support for UK forces in Afghanistan.  While Britain's commitment to Iraq was drawing down and expected to end relatively soon, in was widely acknowledged that British troops would likely be in Afghanistan for a decade or longer.  With increased delays to the F-35 program, the heavy burden on the Harrier force was likely to cause a critical capability gap before the Lightning entered service around 2018.  Typhoon was readying for deployment, but this was seen as an expensive way to counter an insurgency.

Several options were examined to increas the RAF's CAS capability, including modifying Shorts Tucanos for the COIN mission, leasing F-16s from the US, purchasing additional Hawk 128s with full weapons capability, and fully finding the Nimrod MRA.4 PGM capability.  Two of these options; the Nimrod bomber and the COIN Tucano were singled out for further study and funding, but none could fill the immediate urgent need for additional support. 

With pressure mounting on the government to act, BAE Systems came forward with a unique proposal.  Saab Aerospace was attempting to sell additional Grippen aircraft to the Czech Republic, but the Czechs wanted Saab to take 30 retired Soviet-era Su25 Frogfoot aircraft as part payment for an additional 6 Grippens.  Desperate for additional export orders, Saab began thinking outside the box and approached BAES with the idea of modifying and refitting the Sukhois for RAF use. 

BAE's proposal was extremely cost effective, with the Sukhoi airframes being priced at under $4m each.  BAE offered to update the SU25s with the advanced avionics packages salvaged from the RAF's own Jaguar GR.3s.  Retired Tornado F.3s would donate their Mauser 27mm cannon to replace the 30mm guns in the Sukhois, and their Martin-Baker ejection seats.  Other equipment, such as refueling probes and chaff/flare dispensers would also be salvaged from recently retired equipment.  In addition to the 27mm gun, RAF SU25s would be modified to carry 500 and 1,000lb GP bombs, Paveway II and IV LGBs, CRV7 rockets, and external cannon pods as well as Maverick and Brimstone missiles.  Though not specifically a part of the RAF offer due to the lack of an air-to-air threat in the Afghan theatre, the BAE-Sukhois were also capable of carrying ASRAAM.  The Jaguar avionics were already TIALD capable, and an additional Litening capability would be added.

BAE's offer was for 22 upgraded SU25s plus support and training contracts, at a price that even the Brown government found irresistable.  The contract was signed on September 9, 2008, with first delivery expected within 8 months. 

At first there was some shock and resistance within the RAF at the thought of operating Soviet equipment, but it soon sank in that the service was recieving a rugged, capable CAS platform at a time when it was needed most.  However it was also obvious that 'Frogfoot GR.1' was not going to work out.  In an effort to increase public awareness and support of the armed forces, the MoD allowed the children's television program 'Blue Peter' to hold a competition to name the new aircraft.

So come on children, what should the RAF name their new CAS ship?  Post your entry here, or send in a postcard to:

Badass Bomber Competition
c/o Blue Peter
Television Centre
London

We'll be picking the winner when the finished aircraft enters service, hopefully by the end of the weekend.

[Sentinel Chicken]

Skua GR.1

Jaeger GR.1

Gyrfalcon GR.1

(All predatory birds. I'm partial to Skua, myself)

[retro_seventies]

If only this were true....


With regards to names, i have a couple of ideas:

The family Mustelidae contain many animals that have considerable punch for their size - some are native to the UK, some not, but the names remain evocative nonetheless....WOLVERINE, ERMINE, BADGER, POLECAT, SABLE.

In a similar vein, the Feliformia have MONGOOSE, MEERKAT, both renowned for punching above their weight.

Should a nod to the aircraft's russian heritage be in order, maybe BELUGA, STURGEON or URSA?


Looking forward to seeing this one - good luck!

[AeroplaneDriver]

If only this were true....


With regards to names, i have a couple of ideas:

The family Mustelidae contain many animals that have considerable punch for their size - some are native to the UK, some not, but the names remain evocative nonetheless....WOLVERINE, ERMINE, BADGER, POLECAT, SABLE.

In a similar vein, the Feliformia have MONGOOSE, MEERKAT, both renowned for punching above their weight.

Should a nod to the aircraft's russian heritage be in order, maybe BELUGA, STURGEON or URSA?


Looking forward to seeing this one - good luck!

Badger is one I've been thinking about.  They're vicious little creatures, so not a bad name for the aircraft's role.  I'd really like something along the lines of 'Werewolf'.  As I said, I love the legendary/mythological names, and the werewolf is a predominantly eastern European/Slavic legend, so it fits in with the Ukrainian origin of the Su25.  Anyone know of a werewolf themed name that flows off the tongue a bit better?

[rallymodeller]

Lovely!

But why would they ditch the incredible K-36C bang chair for a Martin-Baker one?

[AeroplaneDriver]

Lovely!

But why would they ditch the incredible K-36C bang chair for a Martin-Baker one?

An RAF type without a Martin-Baker seat!!??  Blasphemy Sir!!!



It's probably for maintenance commonality or some such reason. 

[B777LR]

As I said, I love the legendary/mythological names, and the werewolf is a predominantly eastern European/Slavic legend, so it fits in with the Ukrainian origin of the Su25. 

Mythological names:
Andhrímnir
Baldr
Borr
Bragi
Búri
Dagr
Delling
Forseti
Heimdall
Hermóðr
Höðr
Hœnir
Kvasir
Lóðurr
Loki
Móði
Magni
Óðr
Odin
Ríg
Thor
Tyr
Váli
Ve
Vidar
Vili

[NARSES2]

Love the Blue Peter touch - however in reality that would mean the Mandarines at the Beeb picking the name so it wouldn't be non-pc - alledgedly So something like Peacemaker possibly ?

[Spey_Phantom]

good backhistory, and the idea seems promising.
as for a name, frogfoot GR.1 seems a littel odd, i was thinking:

-Lancelot
-Sherwood
-Hurricane II
-Tempest
-Cyclone
-hellhound

[Aircav]

 Wolverine sounds good to me and I found this on Wikipedia

"The wolverine's (questionable) reputation as an insatiable glutton may be in part due to a false etymology. The animal's name in old Swedish, Fjellfräs, meaning "fell (mountain) cat", worked its way into German as Vielfraß, which means roughly "devours much". Its name in other West Germanic languages is similar (e.g. Dutch Veelvraat). The name in Old Norse, Jarfr, lives on in the regular Norwegian name jerv, regular Swedish name järv and regular Danish name jærv."

[blue520]

I think Mjolnir (the hammer of the Norse Thunder god Thor) would fit nicely, seeing the Scandinavian link through Saab Aerospace.

[AeroplaneDriver]

Construction is going fairly well.  The fuselage is together, and the wings are about to go on.  Fit is OK-typical Italeri, no seams need lots of work, but almost all need a little.  The plastic is very hard, so I used a little Sqn Green instead of just cleaning up the plastic.

Gear is painted and the weapons fit is going together too.  Hopefully first paint will go on tonight.

[lancer]

You sir are a bloody mind reader. I have the same idea/plan for using the SU25 for RAF CAS work in Afghanistan, I just haven't gotten around to building it yet, but it's one of my RAF 100 build ideas. So the question now is do I complete the build or do I scrap it??
Oh, coming back on topic, looking good so far Nick.

[AeroplaneDriver]

You sir are a bloody mind reader. I have the same idea/plan for using the SU25 for RAF CAS work in Afghanistan, I just haven't gotten around to building it yet, but it's one of my RAF 100 build ideas. So the question now is do I complete the build or do I scrap it??
Oh, coming back on topic, looking good so far Nick.

you BUILD it!!  How many British A-4s have we seen?  USAF Lightnings?  That's the graet thing about whiffing; there is no single interpretation that is correct. 

Go for it!!

[Jschmus]

The Su-25 is one of the few Soviet/Russian airplanes that I have heard as having a name other than the NATO identifier.  I've read a couple of places that Mikoyan and Sukhoi actually market their respective products overseas as Fulcrum and Flanker.  The Su-25 apparently has the unofficial nickname of "Grach", or Rook.  A rook is a sort of raven-like bird.  We in the West tend to associate the name Raven with sneaky stuff (like the EF-111, or the "Ravens" OV-10 units in Vietnam), but the RAF could name theirs the Raven GR1, and no one could say, "Boo!"