Alternative buys for New Zealand

[KiwiZac]

We seem to have had pretty good luck with the Seasprites. When I posted this at a Kiwi forum someone mentioned his encounters with Brits working on Lynxes who absolutely despised the cats.

We seem to have a pretty steady supply of Airfix naval Lynx kits in 1/48 in NZ, just saying 

[DarrenP2]

most service personnel hate the piece of equipment they work on and think someone elses is better. If its that bad how come its exported reasonably well?

[Weaver]

We seem to have had pretty good luck with the Seasprites. When I posted this at a Kiwi forum someone mentioned his encounters with Brits working on Lynxes who absolutely despised the cats.

We seem to have a pretty steady supply of Airfix naval Lynx kits in 1/48 in NZ, just saying 

They're lovely, and the naval one has three different sensor noses in the box, so you could always transplant one onto the army version to make a whiffy export version.

[Mossie]

You could then do a swap with the Army nose on a Navy Lynx.  The missing AH.6 was to be a dedicated hybrid for the Royal Marines, a Naval Lynx fitted with the weapons of the Army version.  When Westland told them how much it'd cost they went and ordered the Army Lynx instead.

That would also give you opportunity to whiff up the Royal New Zealand Marines.

[DarrenP2]

or could be a replacement for the Bell 47g

[DarrenP2]

I wonder if New Zealand entered the fighter user again Maybe with SAAB Gripen or Typhoon

[KiwiZac]

You could then do a swap with the Army nose on a Navy Lynx.  The missing AH.6 was to be a dedicated hybrid for the Royal Marines, a Naval Lynx fitted with the weapons of the Army version.  When Westland told them how much it'd cost they went and ordered the Army Lynx instead.

That would also give you opportunity to whiff up the Royal New Zealand Marines.

*melts at the gorgeousness of this idea*

[NARSES2]

I'm still trying to work out what the income tax rate will go up to if Zac ever becomes Defence Minister ? 

[KiwiZac]

  "if"

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Re-igniting this thread as I'm in the 'planning stages' for another project !! - Be afraid, be very afraid 



Ian.

[Rick Lowe]

Re-igniting this thread as I'm in the 'planning stages' for another project !! - Be afraid, be very afraid 



Ian.

Ian, I hope we're going to see some of these late-night-cheese-induced nightmares  Oops - Marvelous Creations at ModelX in June? 

[zenrat]

The RAAF have 71 F/A 18s which are being replaced with F35s.  18 are being sold to Canadia but that leaves 53 still up for sale.
RNZAF?
Although with modern grey paint jobs they would only differ from the RAAF ones by having a kiwi in the roundel instead of a 'roo.

[Weaver]

Good list, good mental exercise.

15. Gr1/AV8A Harrier purchace for attack instead of Skyhawk very late 1960's/early 1970's.
16. Instead of Skyhawk upgrades, Gr3/AV8C Harrier surplus buy from UK/US 1980's.
17. Instead of Skyhawk upgrade, new Super Entendards, 1980's- perhaps a stretch politically with the Nuke testing.

Thinking about this some more, the NZ government buys the Harrier (1st gen in place of the Skyhawks and/or 2nd Gen in place of the Skyhawk upgrade program) in order to support a more robust international peacekeeping/UN/ANZUS role. Why? Because the Harriers can be transported around the world using non-specialist shipping. All you need is a choice of suitable container ships and some elements of the SCADS system. Maybe they do this after the Falklands War demonstrates the utility/capability of such arrangements. In that scenario, they might buy a large (by NZ standards) job lot of ex-RAF GR.3s, cannibalizing the majority of the airframes to keep a dozen or so operational for a decent length of time.

Note that this is NOT a cheap aircraft carrier. It's an aircraft ferry. The Harriers would be flown aboard once, cocooned for the voyage with minimal maintenance, then flown off to a shore base once. There would be no attempt to fly missions while at sea, and no need for extensive aircraft fuel/weapons/support facilities or elaborate shipboard weapon and sensor systems. If the operating location is undeveloped, embarked helicopters could off-load equipment to make an RAF-style Forward Operating Location after the Harriers are off the deck.

The container ship or ships (two maximum I'd imagine) could be sponsored by the NZ government to be built to an easily-convertible standard and then leased to a commercial operator to make money with when they're not needed for aircraft transport. Using helos only, they'd also be useful for disaster relief around NZ itself or for Pacific Islands. They could also be used to support Antarctic operations.

[Rheged]

A very reasonable (and believable) suggestion.

[Rick Lowe]

The RAAF have 71 F/A 18s which are being replaced with F35s.  18 are being sold to Canadia but that leaves 53 still up for sale.
RNZAF?
Although with modern grey paint jobs they would only differ from the RAAF ones by having a kiwi in the roundel instead of a 'roo.

That would work - and I like the Hornet better than the Falcon too, so that's another Seal of Approval...

Please, Mr R.A.F., Sir, can we have our Jet Jockeys back? We're going to need them again...