tc27 wrote: ↑Thu May 11, 2023 12:24 pm
Look like the Ukrainian AF has had a number of its SU24s refitted to carry Storm Shadow. As with the American Harm it looks like the aircraft just carries the weapon to the right place and tells in to launch (the guidance is completely internal to the missile) so its not too hard to fit.
Does make me laugh as the MOD is really crap at (amongst other things) fitting weapons to aircraft without it taking years and millions of pounds...apparently when the shit hits the fan its not that hard.
Doing it and doing it well are two separate things.
Not that MOD does it necessarily well (and I should put 'doing it sustainably'), but integration is more than just getting it to sit on a pylon and fall off of it when required. Ukraine are going to take them and use them in short order, so no worries about developing, testing, integrating across complex sets of systems, training, facilities management commercial management, long term storage and capability uplift, or upon aspects like damage/wear and tear to launch vehicles.
I worked for many years in MOD Logs, and it is not easy - not least as it's a constantly shifting world that you have to keep changing to meet. Ukraine just has to beat Russia as it finds it, here and now, which is a remarkably clear mission statement. It's not worried about ensuring weapons systems remain effective against all possible threats, real and forecast, or operating within budgets and resource limits.
But your broader point is valid - MOD do drag thing out, and a lot of the issues I faced were either commercial, not technical, or caused by a constant revolving door of decision-makers who could upset direction on a biennial basis (two years being the standard back-office deployment for military folk) who may know what goes on at the sharp end but are not experts in technical design or project delivery.
