UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

UK completes transition of Merlin from RAF to RN

The United Kingdom officially completed the transfer of the AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin HC.3/3A troop transport helicopter from the Royal Air Force (RAF) to the Royal Navy (RN) during a ceremony held on 9 July.
The ceremony, which took place at the type's former home station of RAF Benson, saw the last of the 25 helicopters transition from the RAF's Merlin Force over to the RN's Commando Helicopter Force (CHF).
During the event, 28 (Army Cooperation) Squadron, which operated the platform for the air force, was re-rolled as the new Boeing Chinook and Westland Puma operational conversion unit at RAF Benson under the designation 28 (Reserve) Squadron, while the RN stood up 845 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) as the service's second Merlin unit, to be located at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton alongside the already constituted 846 NAS.
The decision to transfer the Merlins from RAF to RN control was one of the initiatives announced during the Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) in 2010. The transition features a GBP445 million (USD685 million) Merlin Life Sustainment Programme (MLSP) that includes converting the current HC.3/3As into the HC.4/4A configuration. Major features of this programme comprise the fitting of folding main-rotor blades and tail boom for shipborne operations, as well as a new 'glass' cockpit for commonality with the RN's Merlin HMA.2 and AW159 Lynx Wildcat.
While the Merlin will replace the Westland Commando (Sea King) HC.4 platforms that are being retired from RN service in March 2016, they themselves will be replaced in RAF service by 14 new Chinook HC.6 helicopters.

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Naval Today said:

HMS Artful, the third of the Royal Navy’s new Astute Class attack submarines will set sail for sea trials this summer.

Artful, which will provide the Royal Navy with its most technologically advanced submarine, is currently preparing to leave the construction yard in Barrow-in-Furness for sea trials, before joining the Royal Navy fleet around the end of this year. The seven Astute Class submarines support the jobs of 3,700 workers and 400 supply companies across the UK supply chain.

Defence Secretary Fallon confirmed the news as he visited the home of the UK’s submarine manufacturing industry in Cumbria today. He was also able to see progress on an eight-year infrastructure upgrade programme at the yard, costing in excess of £300M, which will prepare the site for investment in a new fleet of four Successor Ballistic Missile submarines and the renewal of Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

The Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:

The Astute submarine programme is a key part of our £163 billion plan to ensure that our armed forces have the equipment they need.

Artful will now join Ambush and Astute, helping to keep Britain safe. The next four boats are already under construction, securing thousands of jobs and showing our commitment to increase defence spending each year for the rest of the decade.

The 7,400-tonne Artful submarine will shortly leave the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, conduct sea trials, before sailing to its new home at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde in Scotland.

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Jeff Head said:

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So she has an odd little shape, not the normal straight elongated teardrop shape we normally see, I am assuming those longitudinal swells are for some kool function? or ?

Astute get a look for the forward close to Vanguard, all UK SSN/SSBN have this rather square shape.

I always thought the Astute class looked a little bit like an Alien

lucretius said:

I always thought the Astute class looked a little bit like an Alien

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lucretius said:

I always thought the Astute class looked a little bit like an Alien

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"I Like Big Butts" comes to mind when viewing her, I note the fair-weather planes are located in the forward upper bulge. first line or so of that song is "I like big butts I cannot lie" or some such nonsense?? Those fair-weather planes seem small for such a large vessel, I don't dislike the front, I am supposing that is something similar to the wasp waisted fuselage of super sonic aircraft, for drag reduction.

any word on speed? 35 knots plus submerged?

UK Seeks To Update Falklands Air Defense

LONDON — Britain has taken a significant step toward updating its air defenses on the Falkland Islands by kick-starting a competition to supply a key element of a new ground-based system.

Defence Ministry officials recently briefed industry on its requirements for a battle management C4I system and have triggered the process toward selecting a contractor to do the work by issuing a pre-qualification questionnaire.

An MoD spokesman declined to confirm the system is destined for the Falkland Islands, saying that commenting on deployment details is "inappropriate" at this time.

Industry sources, though, said the BMC4I system is scheduled to head to the British overseas territory in the South Atlantic, some 300 miles off the coast of Argentina.

Britain and Argentina fought a bloody war over the islands in 1982 and the dispute concerning sovereignty of the territory, known in Buenos Aires as the Malvinas, continues to rumble on diplomatically.



Back to bottling my Grenache

Those Tornados are still Fantastic aircraft and much of the ground attack against ISIS is still being carried out by the Tornados and not Typhoon

The HMS Prince of Wales coming together on the left, with its forward island landed. The HMS Queen Elizabeth outfitting on the left, preparing for its sea trials. Both of the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers seen together here.