UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Jura said:

I wonder if it's true
MoD sinks £2bn sub-hunter jet deal

... don't have access to the rest; source:

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The MOD continues to assess future requirements as part of the work we are doing on the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). No decisions have been taken.

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asif iqbal said:

The Nimrod should never have been retired it was a great aircraft and provided UK with a great naval aircraft

Instead we could have used that £2 billion to build another 1-2 x Type 45 DDG

Or better still used that £2 billion to keep the Prince of Wales for CATOBAR not STOBAR

First we throw money away then we say we are short on cash, I can't think of a another country which does it so well as UK

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Brumby said:

Defence as a percentage of GDP for the UK compared to the rest of Europe is probably not unreasonable.

Unfortunately there is no political will when investment in security and defence is not popular with the masses. It is the downside of extended peace when such a state is assumed rather than protected. It will typically require a catalyst to change such dynamics and that unfortunately is the sad part of it.

Do you get a sense in the UK that support towards increased spending has changed since Putin's assertive behaviour or is it still business as usual?

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SamuraiBlue said:

Nope, the Government made a direct comment towards the article.

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FORBIN said:

Typhoon a true dog fighter soon a versatile fighter bomber, Tranche 2/3 get operationnal
Storm Shadow, Meteor and Brimstone II for 2018.
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BAE Systems is halving Typhoon combat jet production in order to keep assembly lines working beyond 2018 when delivery of current orders come to an end, the company said in a trading update issued Nov 12.

On the upside, Europe's largest defense contractor also announced it is in discussion with the Saudi air force over a potential order for a further 22 Hawk jet trainers to add to the 72 it has delivered or has under contract.

The company declined to detail current or projected production numbers resulting from the slow-down, but said the financial impact would see Typhoon sales revenues reduce from about £1.3 billion (US$1.97 billion) this year to around £1.1 billion in 2016.

Industry sources said reduction would halve current assembly and parts manufacturing rates at BAE.

BAE said the short-term slowdown was being implemented to "ensure production continuity at competive costs over the medium term."

The Eurofighter Typhoon is built by a consortium of Airbus Defence & Space, BAE and Finmeccanica for core customers Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The jet has also won export contracts in Austria, Oman and Saudi Arabia and been selected by Kuwait, although that deal is not yet signed.

The slowdown will allow production to bridge the gap between the end of delivery of current orders in 2018 and the upturn in assembly work generated by the expected order for 28 Typhoons from Kuwait.

Kuwait and the Italian government agreed to the deal in the summer. The expectation is work on the Gulf states jets will pick up around the turn of the decade.

The British jet maker had been expecting to book an order for around another 48 Typhoon's this year to add to the 72 combat aircraft it is already producing for Saudi Arabia under an earlier contract.

That deal has failed to materialize so far but could emerge in 2016.

Saudi's neighbour, Bahrain, could also be a near-term customer, although the numbers would likely be small.

"Although there can be no certainty as to the timing of orders, discussions with current and prospective operators of the Typhoon continue to support the Group's expectations for additional Typhoon contract awards in the months ahead," the company said in its trading statement.

BAE executives speaking at the UK Royal International Air Tattoo in July signaled they were investigating manufacturing options ahead of the potential 2018 closure date, including allowing the line to go cold for a short period.

Under the slowdown plan, manufacturing of major structural items for the Typhoon at BAE's Samlesbury plant in northwest England will be impacted first, although that will feed through to the British assembly line at Warton.

BAE produces structures like the forward fuselage for the assembly lines of all four Typhoon partners. It is not known at this stage whether the BAE low down decision will have a knock-on effect elsewhere in Europe.

The slowdown will result in the loss of 370 jobs, most of them at Samlesbury.

On a possible extension of Hawk sales to the Saudi's, BAE said it had confirmed the requirement for 22 Hawk jet trainers and associated ground equipment and training aids as part of an enhancement of pilot training capacity in the country.

The Saudi's ordered 22 Hawks in 2012 to add to the 50 delivered between 1987 and 1997. The first aircraft from the 2012 order is due to be handed over from the Warton assembly line next year.

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While attending the 2015 Dubai Air Show, Navy Recognition learned that the Eurofighter is set to get an ASuW (anti-surface warfare) capability with MBDA's Marte-ER. The information was revelaed by Programme’s Capability Manager, Paul Smith, a former UK RAF Pilot and Fighter Weapons School Instructor.
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Navy Recognition learned during the event that a Typhoon with Marte-ER payload would be limited to subsonic speeds.

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The Navy is a major question mark. It unfortunately starts to sound like it will be shafted once more, to some degree. Earlier optimism about being granted a manpower increase has been watered down, and there is still no real indication of what, if any, answers the SDSR will give about the fate of the River Batch 2, MARS FSS and other plans.
We are also still waiting to understand exactly what “in service” will mean for HMS Prince of Wales.

The SDSR will reaffirm the objective of putting into service 13 Type 26 frigates, but in the facts we can only really expect the order for the first batch, of just 3 ships, with a contract expected in early 2016. It seems almost certain that the other two batches of 5 ships each will be left for future parliaments. With the last Type 26 due in service in 2035/36 and with the government having decided to go for a procurement in small successive batches instead of the hoped-for contract for 13, or even the earler "ASW batch" of 8 in one go, we can expect the uncertainty about the final number of frigates to be a fact of life for many years.

No ship is expected to be axed, but probably the out of service date for HMS Ocean will be confirmed as 2018/19 (not necessarily saying it into the SDSR document, of course).
The Navy is very likely to be asked to provide one carrier group presence in the Gulf with a certain regularity. This will be particularly welcomed by the US Navy, which probably wants the UK’s help to be free to focus its own carrier groups more on the Pacific, without leaving the Middle East uncovered.
The new british base to be built in Bahrain will help support this role as well as the enduring operation Kipion presence, with its significant MCM element.

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