Patrick Little

Ex British Army infantry officer, company director, long standing interest & engagement in force development + passionate cyclist & enthusiastic European.

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@ChapinBlack @VeteranHODL @Mr_Andrew_Fox And that might have defended us against sailboats - it does n't defend us against very much else. Our security lies in and with Europe.

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@VeteranHODL @Mr_Andrew_Fox Not the "we are an island" defence 🫣? A line of thinking that continues to bedevil us and has been irrelevant for several hundred years now. What does the Channel protect against exactly ? Trade being switched off ? Interconnectors being switched off ? Gas ? The internet ?

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@FennellJW @peterrhague So the contention is "more often with the same money" justifiesthe UK not having to hit the same spending targets as quickly as all of those "fighting better with more money" ?

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@FennellJW @peterrhague The absence of anyone else with commitments to the North Atlantic, to deep blue operations, being as radical as this is a quite legitimate concern. One that makes it difficult not to see 💷 and implied savings at its heart🤷‍♂️

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@FennellJW @peterrhague If it was "purely" a "lessons from Ukraine" matter this would be being positioned as a UK limited theatre (Baltic/Black Sea/Mediterranean) adaption. The idea that there are easy read across lessons from the Black Sea to the North Atlantic is not well found and pretty risky.

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@rude_mechanic @FennellJW The very many navies now wishing they were as smart as the 🇬🇧 ? 🤔🫣

[🦐. @AhamadNooh]

At a time when western navies are building >10,000 ton large surface combatants (🇩🇪 F127x8, 🇳🇱 FuADx4, 🇮🇹 DDXx2, 🇯🇵 ASEVx2) it’s concerning to see Britain turn the other way, merging the T83 & T32 programmes to get something smaller and cheaper but without the number of hulls!

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@rude_mechanic @FennellJW Do we honestly think there is anyone in NATO who believe the UK has the keys to a paradigm shift of such magnitude that everyone should be chucking their ship building plans in the bin? More likely is everyone in NATO thinks the UK is trying to postpone or evade commitments🫣

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@FennellJW I'm unhappy because there is little evidence. Can we maintain LUSV availability & readiness in Atlantic conditions ? Is maintaining this significantly more/less expensive than manned platforms or are we just deferring/ignoring this bill ? No real empirical data just projections🤷‍♂️

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@FennellJW Not sure that labelling skeptics "luddites" is very fair. The fact that no-one else is being this radical, whilst plenty of others are adding adding adjuncts, says we must be in possession of insight not available to anyone else. That makes this a gamble. Should 🇳🇴 cancel T26?

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@Gabriel64869839 Absolutely fine. Type 45s have spent longer tied up than at sea so are v low mileage. I call it foresight that allows us to stretch their service life 🤔🤔🫣😉😉

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@mwgbanks1 @UKDefJournal @ConGeostrategy This is a nonsense take on what is going on in 🇳🇱. No dangerous fantasies - just a lot more urgency than is shown by 🇬🇧

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@thinkdefence For my money one of the best use cases - an opportunity to create more breaching opportunities, & breaching opportunities under conditions you would n't dare risk high value/scarce manned capabilities. We should be doubling down on this ....🤷‍♂️

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@thinkdefence You did n't have a Near Surface Infantry Battalion (NSIB) in your article or yourbingo card though did you ?🫣😉

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@BO3673 I obviously need a drug test. If Russia is a major threat in the next 5 years then this is far more plausibly achievable than new fast squadrons or new surface combatants.

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@BO3673 I think the belittling/sneering at another country is also pretty low. Why do it ? What does it actually achieve ? We should always be better than this 🤷‍♂️

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@MtarfaL @SkyNews @WilfredFrost All very valid points. But who would be optimally equipped in your view ? Is there a short list of politicians that meet all of these criteria? And if not - is Jarvis simply a not bad option amongst options that could be far worse?

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@MtarfaL @SkyNews @WilfredFrost MP since 2011; long spells as shadow minister across a various briefs; mayoralty experience; two years as security minister. The suggestion he's unqualified is a bit odd. Of course there may be others with superior knowledge on "where the bodies are buried".
But he's no novice 🤷‍♂️

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@MtarfaL @SkyNews @WilfredFrost There are no "qualifications" to be a cabinet minister let alone to be SofS for Defence. Grant Shapps, Gavin Williamson 🤷‍♂️ Did Ben Wallace, Penny Mordaunt even more modest military careers make them more or less suited than others ? So why the fixation on this?

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@thinkdefence Only the 🇬🇧 could have an army of 70k & somehow make this an unreasonable target. It should n't be. NL manages to generate 3 meaningful combat brigades from 26k, & some corps troops. So - it could be achievable. 🤷‍♂️ But not with business as usual ....

[Patrick Little @patricklittle19]

@thinkdefence In the context of a mutual defence treaty organisation we don't really get to do this on our own. We don't get to reveal that we fundamentally disagree with every other country and the organisation itself & therefore won't spend without significant undesirable consequences. 🤷‍♂️