Quote:
Originally Posted by Olefin
Its not quite as bad as that
the RN still has seven nuke boats in service - 5 Trafalgars and 2 Astute's that would definitely take their toll of any Russian subs in a war - and given the worsening situation could probably put Turbulent back into shape and ready to deploy if need be.
the French have the six Rubis class SSN's as well
As for ASW the British still have Illustrious and Ocean that could be used as baby carriers for ASW, and they still have thirteen Type 23 ASW ships - you could see the RN delaying decommissioning Illustrious and hurrying up Ocean's refit if things continue to get worse
So its not quite as bad for the Europeans as has been painted here
And if Putin wants to start hitting US cities with conventional warheads then i cant wait to see whats left of Moscow after 20 or so B-2's drop their payloads of conventional bombs and blow the heart out of Moscow - or instead take out every AA site along the way and clear the way for a B-1 strike with F-15 and F-22 escorts to do the same
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NATO still has an ASW capability, but it's a shadow of its former self. Britain had the best of NATO's ASW fleet and it still is, but it's a lot smaller than it used to be. In 1990 there were 3 ASW carrier, 46 escorts, 26 SSN's and SSK's, 30 long ranged patrol aircraft. Today there is only 19 escorts, 7 SSN's and no patrol aircraft. If HMS Illustrious is decommissioned this year there will only be HMS Ocean until the two Queen Elizabeth's come into service in 2017/18.
The Nimrod was the best ASW platform in the world and its gone. This leaves 7SSN's, 13 Type 23 Frigate with 2087 towed sonar and about 40 Merlin helicopters. Its adequate but not a large enough fleet to the job right.
If Russia comes under NATO air attack Putin will do the same to Europe and America.