UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

I quite like the look of the Arrowhead design and the fact it's based on a proven but also sizeable ship (the Iver-Huitfeldt class). Although BAE's Cutlass is based on another existing project, it's just a Corvette that they're hoping they can enlarge. That's riskier than modifying a larger ship.

The US Should Seize Its Chance to Help Shape a Key Ally’s Capabilities



"Less than three years ago, the UK’s defense strategy seemed well in hand. For the military, the 2015 Strategic Defense and Security Review promised – if not blue skies ahead, then at least relief from the cuts that resulted from the global financial crisis. But just a little over six months after the document was published, the wheels began to fall off.

The UK has a long history of underfunding defense plans, and the 2015 review turned out to be no different. Its own failings were compounded by the pound’s post-Brexit vote crash, which increased the price of foreign equipment, including the U.S.-made P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and F-35B Lightning II fighter. Ultimately, the military faced a budget shortfall of around $27 billion over the next decade – no small sum against Britain’s core annual defense spending of roughly $50 billion. That gap, plus the need to update the country’s posture to reflect changed strategic circumstances, led to a new review, which has evolved into the Modernizing Defense Program."

Jura said:

Yesterday at 8:19 PM
I wonder what the armament of this 'whopper'
("... with a displacement of approximately 5,700 tonnes ..."

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)
would be; I've read somewhere 1 m of the hull = 1 m Pounds, I'll leave it at that

Click to expand...

actually now extended this, with Jane's link, additional pricing info, and some armchair admiralling, in
The Main-Armament Level Of Warships Entering Service 16 minutes ago

Britain's F-35B aircraft will be ready to use its weapons system by the end of this year, say manufacturer Lockheed Martin. They are promising software upgrades will be made to allow the jet to work with its AMRAAM - an air-to-air missile. James Hirst has been speaking to the Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin in the UK....

UK to lengthen Type 23 Gulf deployments from 2019.

Key Points
The UK has announced plans to lengthen the duration of Type 23 frigate deployments to the Gulf region starting in 2019
The longer deployments will enable RN destroyers and other frigates to be committed to carrier task group operations
The United Kingdom has announced plans to lengthen the standard deployment times for Type 23 frigates operating in the Gulf under an initiative that will be implemented from 2019.

The plans are designed to increase UK presence in the region. Jane’s understands the move will also support the UK Royal Navy’s (RN’s) re-set towards carrier task group operations.

The move was announced by Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson in late May. Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute (RUS) sea power conference, the defence secretary said the United Kingdom will from 2019 extend its commitment to providing security in the Gulf region “by sending Type 23s to the Gulf … as an enduring presence”.

The United Kingdom’s growing engagement in the Gulf, he continued, also includes the development of the United Kingdom’s naval support facility, HMS Jufair, at Mina Salman in Bahrain; UK commitment to the Omani port of Duqm; and, within the last month, conducting – for the first time in the Gulf – a joint expeditionary force (JEF) exercise with eight other countries. Such commitment “signals that we are investing heavily in the Middle East at a time of unprecedented uncertainty”, Williamson added.

An RN spokesperson told Jane’s that, from 2019, the Type 23 frigates “would be deployed for a longer duration than the current six- to nine-month [rotations]”. While the ships will still be homeported in the United Kingdom, the navy is “examining all requirements for in-theatre support and maintenance, including utilising the new naval support facility in Bahrain”, the spokesperson added.

Type 45 Destroyer HMS Diamond has escorted the Russian Intelligence Gathering ship Yantar through UK territorial waters.



A Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond shadowed a Russian Navy spy ship as it passed through the English Channel along the Cornwall coast.

The Portsmouth-based Type 45 destroyer plus a Wildcat helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton were dispatched to follow the Russian underwater reconnaissance ship Yantar as it passed Cornwall on Friday.

cross-posting from
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter News, Videos and pics Thread
:





The first 4 of the F-35Bs that will equip the are due to arrive at RAF Marham after crossing the Atlantic today

Today at 8:02 PM

Jura said:

cross-posting from
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter News, Videos and pics Thread
:

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The first 4 of the F-35Bs that will equip the

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are due to arrive at RAF Marham after crossing the Atlantic today

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cough, cough





We are aware that a number of people have come to view the arrival of the F-35 Lightning aircraft. Please be advised that it will not be arriving today (5th June), we will continue to post updates as they become available.

A Babcock-led industry team, has officially unveiled the Arrowhead 140, concept as their design for the UK defense ministry’s Type 31e general purpose light frigate program.

Babcock, Thales, OMT, BMT, Harland and Wolff and Ferguson Marine are all part of the team bidding for the UK MoD’s £1.25 billion Type 31e program.At almost 140m the platform will optimise operational flexibility. This ‘wide beam’ ship is easier to design, easier to build and easier to maintain due to its slightly larger size, Babcock said.

“Arrowhead 140 will provide increased survivability, operability and capability – compared to a standard 120m design. When you consider that this ship can be delivered at no extra cost and that it will support improved radar performance, increase platform stability and facilitate better helicopter operations in bad weather, whilst enhancing crew comfort – we believe it will bring a significant edge to modern naval capability,” Craig Lockhart, Babcock’s managing director, Naval Marine said.

Four new RAF F-35 Lightning stealth fighter jets have landed in the UK.



The jets, which cost £92m each, made the 3,000-mile journey across the Atlantic from a US Marine Corps base in South Carolina.

The supersonic planes will be based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, where they are expected to be in operation by the end of December.

The UK's military has committed to purchasing 138 of the US planes from aviation company Lockheed Martin.