angry_mac said:
Being a Seawolf maintainer, I cant actually see how a replacement for wolf is going to be worth the cost. Seawolf is the dog's bollox. Reliabilty of certain parts of the system is an issue, but once wolf has got a target, that target is going down. Seeing the issues brought around with SWMLU (seawolf mid life update), I'd jst love to see how they would start all over again.
If it works dont fix it.
This is aiming for 2015 at the earliest, by which point Wolf will be getting very long in the tooth (and assorted parts - like the missile stockpile - running out of life). By then it'll be either buy a new system, or build lots of new Wolf. The Block 2 program worked well, but demonstrated that it wasn't a straightforward job to "build more of these" after a decade or so of technology changing and companies changing hands. SWMLU should sort out some of the tracker issues as well as giving a significant performance uplift, but again that's (in procurement terms) short-term stuff.
One issue the new system fixes, is how many threats you can engage at once, where Wolf does have a limitation. It's also useful to be able to take off the 911s, which gets rid of a lot of topweight. Nobody's talking about binning Wolf tomorrow (Sutherland's only just getting her SWMLU fit!) but it's the long-term plan of how to give frigates effective air defence - when we run out of fireable Sea Wolf missiles, what do we use instead? And if we really are bringing FSC forward, what will she use to make enemy air threats fcuk off and die?
Agree, though - a properly-sorted Sea Wolf system is Very Bad News for enemy air threats...
dontchya know.
