UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

The prototype AW 159 Lynx Wildcat (FLynx in case you were wondering) has made it's first flight at Yeovil:



from the website:

The maiden flight of the AW159, which will be known as Lynx Wildcat in UK military service, marks a major milestone in the development of this new six-ton multi-role military helicopter, 62 of which have been ordered by the UK Ministry of Defence for the Army and Royal Navy, to perform both land and maritime missions. The first aircraft will be delivered in 2011 with the aircraft becoming fully operational with the Army in 2014 and the Royal Navy in 2015. The British Army’s AW159 Lynx Wildcat will perform a wide range of tasks on the battlefield including reconnaissance, command and control, transportation of troops and materiel, and the provision of force protection. The Royal Navy variant will provide an agile maritime capability providing anti-surface warfare capability and force protection and will operate in support of amphibious operations and be an important element in defending ships against surface threats. There will be a high degree of commonality between the Army and Royal Navy helicopters that will mean that an aircraft can switch roles easily, principally through the changing of role equipment. The AW159 is powered by two new generation CTS800 engines, each capable of continuously producing 1281 shp giving the aircraft exceptional hot and high performance. The aircraft has an all up mass of 5790 kg with a built in capability to increase that to 6250 kg. The cockpit includes a fully integrated display system utilising four 10x8 inch primary displays. Sensors include a nose mounted IR/TV imager with built in laser designator and for the maritime variant the Selex Galileo 7400E 360 degree active array radar. The AW159 also has a comprehensive integrated defensive aids suite comprising a missile warning system, radar warning receivers and a countermeasures dispensing system. Additionally the AW159 will e capable of carrying a range of weapons including machine guns, torpedoes, depth charges and the Future Anti-Surface Guided Weapon (FASGW). The AW159 programme for the UK MoD continues to be on time and on budget and was the first major project to be awarded under the Strategic Partnering Arrangement signed by the UK Ministry of Defence and AgustaWestland in June 2006. AgustaWestland has also signed partnering agreements with a number of key supplier on the AW159 programme including Selex Galileo, a Finmeccanica company; GKN Aerospace, LHTEC – a partnership between Rolls-Royce and Honeywell, General Dynamics UK, Thales UK and GE Aviation.

Astute has left Barrow to start her sea trials!


Pictures and a video are available on the above link.

Interview with ADM Micheal Stanhope, clearing up a lot of rumours:

Deterrent cannot be guaranteed with three subs, says Navy chief

Michael Evans, Defence Editor

The Royal Navy will only be able to "guarantee" continuous deterrent patrols with Trident ballistic-missile submarines if the Government agrees to keep four boats, the head of the Royal Navy told The Times yesterday.
It would be possible to get by with three submarines, provided the Government was prepared to risk breaking the 24-hour, 365-day patrol cycle that had been maintained for 41 years. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope said that Gordon Brown had posed a perfectly legitimate question when, in planning for Trident's replacement, he asked the Navy to study whether the nuclear deterrent patrols could be fulfilled with three boats.
The Government announced in 2006 that it planned to replace the four-boat ballistic-missile Vanguard class boats with a new submarine system and an upgraded Trident being developed in the US. The programme, with four new boats, would cost £20 billion, and the first submarine has to be ready for service in 2024.
Admiral Stanhope said that in response to the Prime Minister's question, posed this year, the Royal Navy was examining whether it would be feasible to rely on three submarines. At any one time one of the boats would be in refit and another would be coming out of or preparing for refit, leaving just one submarine available for operational service, he warned.
'We can see no case for the cancellation of Trident by any future government'
"If there were to be a major incident on board, such as a fire, this could cause the continuous patrol cycle to be broken," Admiral Stanhope said.
The First Sea Lord and the other two Service chiefs will be playing a significant role in the defence review to take place after the general election, and work is already under way on the broad objectives.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, has told the Ministry of Defence staff that "support for operations in Afghanistan is now the main effort for defence".
While agreeing that Afghanistan had to take priority, Admiral Stanhope warned that it should not be the focus of all planning. "When Afghanistan is consigned to the history books there will still be a whole lot of different issues in the future which we will have to deal with, such as the security aspects arising from climate change and energy supplies, and 95 per cent of Britain's trade goes by sea," he said. Britain also had 14 dependent territories that required security guarantees.
Conscious of the different requirements of the three Services, he said his fellow chiefs agreed that the building of two large aircraft carriers would have multiple uses for the future, although, he admitted, "resources are going to be extremely tight".
If Britain wished to retain an interventionist role in the world, the carriers, which he said would be 64,000 tonnes, would provide a platform for ground-attack aircraft, helicopters, air defence assets and unmanned aerial vehicles (reconnaissance drones). They would also have hospital facilities.
Admiral Stanhope acknowledged that the Army and the RAF might have slightly different priorities when limited resources were shared out.
The Government, he said, was committed to building two aircraft carriers, and it made little sense to start talking about scaling them down to smaller ships. He dismissed a report that one of the carriers might be switched to a helicopter carrier, instead of having the Joint Strike Fighter F35, the replacement for Harriers. "We can put more helicopters on the platform if we want but we will not be converting one of the 64,000-tonne carriers into a helicopter carrier," he said.
The admiral said that the £4 billion carrier programme involved 10,000 workers and 57 British companies. He also pointed out that a considerable amount (about £1 billion) had already been spent on the two ships which will be called HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. The two carriers which would be around for 40 years, represented "a good investment".
He also underlined the multiple roles to be played by the fleet of Astute class nuclear-powered submarines, the first of which set sail yesterday from Barrow-in-Furness for sea trials.
Admiral Stanhope regretted that the Astute programme was four years late, but he said this was because Britain had stopped building submarines for a period, and the skills had had to be rediscovered.
Astute decision
• The Royal Navy is to be given seven Astute-class submarines, although the defence review next year might lead to a scaling back of this capability. The Navy was initially promised eight vessels
• Measuring nearly 328ft (100m) from bow to stern, HMS Astute is longer than ten London buses, and will be able to circumnavigate the globe while submerged
• Two aircraft carriers cost £4 billion. Four new Trident subs plus missiles costs £20 billion
• Navy chiefs get upset when the campaign in Afghanistan is described as an army operation: 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, part of the Royal Navy, has served two six-month tours
Source: Times database

Another welcome addition to the fleet:

HMS Dauntless Type 45 Destroyer handed over to Royal Navy

20:30 GMT, December 3, 2009 Portsmouth, United Kingdom | HMS Dauntless, the second of the Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyers has been handed over to the Ministry of Defence at a ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base today.

BAE Systems, which is building the fleet of six Type 45 destroyers, handed over HMS Dauntless to the Royal Navy's Deputy Commander-In-Chief Fleet, Vice Admiral Richard Ibbotson. During the ceremony, the BAE Systems company flag was lowered and the Royal Navy's white ensign was raised over the ship's flight deck for the first time.

Angus Holt, UK Programmes Director at BAE Systems' Surface Ships business, said: "Today is the culmination of hard work, commitment and a fantastic partnership between BAE Systems, the Royal Navy and our suppliers to produce one of the finest ships in the world.

"Everyone involved in creating this ship should be extremely proud of their achievements. HMS Dauntless is a magnificent feat of engineering and I am delighted to hand her over to the Royal Navy on behalf of BAE Systems today."

Vice Admiral Richard Ibbotson said: "The Royal Navy is looking forward to Her Majesty's Ship Dauntless taking her place in the Fleet with much anticipation and congratulates everyone involved in delivering her this far. HMS Dauntless and her sister ships are world beaters and the people of the Royal Navy are second to none. This is a winning combination, and the ship provides us with the tools to do the job, whatever the country requires of us, for years to come. It is therefore with great excitement that we welcome the cutting edge capability that the new T45 displays.

"With the ability to integrate both land and air forces, HMS Dauntless truly is a joint asset and will carry out a wide range of operations, whilst remaining a highly effective air defence ship."

The Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, said: "The six Type 45s will be the largest and most powerful destroyers ever operated by the Royal Navy. With the second of class now in the hands of the Ministry of Defence, we are forging ahead to deliver an unparalleled air defence capability to the Royal Navy.

"HMS Dauntless has gone through several stages of sea trials in which she has truly impressed the ship's company. She will now embark on a final set of trials that will really put her to the test before she is commissioned into the Navy in the summer of 2010."

The first steel was cut on HMS Dauntless in 2004 and she was launched from BAE Systems' Govan shipyard in Glasgow in January 2007. After extensive sea trials she set sail from the Clyde on Saturday morning under the BAE Systems flag, with a combined crew of BAE Systems and Royal Navy personnel, and made her first entry into her home port of Portsmouth yesterday. She follows HMS Daring, the Royal Navy's first Type 45 destroyer, which arrived in Portsmouth in January this year.

The prime role of the Type 45 destroyer will be air defence - protecting UK national and allied and coalition forces against enemy aircraft and missiles. The technology onboard the Type 45 will set new standards in air defence, capable of defending the Type 45 and ships in its company from multiple attacks from even the most sophisticated anti-ship missiles and aircraft.

Small Story According too Soldier systems daily and Strike Hold. The British Ministry of defense is now replacing The DPMs Pattern with a Multicam Derivative pattern Called “Multi-Terrain Pattern"

Update It's confirmed,

New camouflage for British Army said:

By Daniel Emery
Technology Reporter, BBC News

The uniform of the British Army is to be changed for the first time in almost 40 years.

The new Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP) will replace the traditional four colour woodland uniform known as No.8: Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM).

Forces in Afghanistan will start to get the new uniforms in March next year, with the whole army upgraded by 2011.

MTP is designed for a wide range of environments, including the volatile "green zone" of Helmand province.

British troops in Afghanistan currently use a mix of desert camouflage and temperate DPM, depending on which area they are operating in.

There are three main types of terrain in Helmand - desert, the agricultural "green zone" either side of the Helmand river, and residential areas with dusty buildings and mud huts.

One soldier said that the mix-and-match was far from ideal and made units stand out, especially in the "green zone".

Not perfect

Lt Col Toby Evans - a military advisor with the Government's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory - told the BBC the new uniform was a compromise between having a uniform that was perfectly suited to a specific environments and one that would work well across a wide range of conditions.

"We've realised that Afghanistan is more complex - especially Helmand - than, say Iraq, which was predominantly a desert background or north-west Europe, which was predominantly green," he said.

"The new camouflage is optimised for all the Afghan background colour sets and in doing so we never reach a point - which we did with the old colours - where it is actually wrong.

"It may not be quite perfect, but its good enough for everything," he added.

The Army's Infantry Trials and Development Unit and the government's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory tested a number of different designs in the UK, Cyprus, Kenya, and Afghanistan before selecting the MTP design.

Developed by Crye Precision, MTP is developed from the firm's MultiCam pattern, currently used by some special forces units.

'Looks good'

Corporal Adrian Gibbs, from The Grenadier Guards, told BBC News his first impressions of seeing the new MTP uniform.

"I think it's good - when you see it compared to the green and desert DPM I think it will work well both on tour and within the UK itself.

"This new uniform will make it harder for us to be seen and so much easier for us to do our job."

The MoD say the dark green DPM uniforms will slowly be phased out and replaced by MTP. However the current No.5: Desert combat dress will remain in service and be used along side the Multi-Terrain Pattern.
Story from BBC NEWS:

Click to expand...

UK selects 7.62 mm Sharpshooter weapon for Afghan ops

By Andrew White - 29 December 2009

UK forces are to receive a semi-automatic 7.62 mm x 51 mm 'sharpshooter' weapon to combat Taliban forces engaging beyond the maximum effective range of the 5.56 mm L85A2 assault rifle.

In a USD2.5 million deal the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has contracted Law Enforcement International (LEI) to supply 440 LM7 semi-automatic rifles.

The urgent operational requirement follows calls from troops on the ground for a weapon that can be comfortably patrolled with, can be rapidly initiated and provide an increased range for contacts out to 800 m.

To be redesignated the L129A1, the gas-operated weapon carries a 20-round magazine, is 945 mm long and weighs 5 kg. It will be manufactured by Lewis Machine & Tool Company in the United States, with deliveries expected to begin in early 2010.

Features of the weapon include a single-piece upper receiver and free-floating, quick-change barrels available in 305 mm, 406 mm and 508 mm. It has four Picatinny rails with a 540 mm top rail for night vision, thermal and image intensifying optics. Stock options include fixed or retractable versions.

Industry sources told Jane's that LEI beat competition including Heckler & Koch's HK417 (already supplied to specialist units within the MoD), FN Herstal's SCAR (Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle) and an offering from Sabre Defence Industries.

[...]

__________________________________________________________

Another order for a designated Marksmanrifle to overcome the lacking power of the 5,56x45.
I guess we'll see those squad embeddded sharpshooters to become more commen in the future. Right now I don't believe NATO wide change to the 6,8mm SPC is a viable option.

perhaps for one or two of the nations but not the whole just yet. the weapon in this case is a real sweetheart of a AR10 derivative although I am surprised it was not HK 417 who won. and the barrel length is short at 16"

Quentin Davies MP has replied personally to the wild speculation in the Guardian Newspaper recently (which many posters on various forums seem to take as gospel):



Carriers not under threat
A letter from the Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies, has appeared in The Guardian newspaper in response to an article which appeared in the paper entitled 'Stealth fighter jets to be slashed'. The Minister's letter said:

Dear Sir,

Your correspondent's article in Wednesday's Guardian on defence procurement, 'Stealth fighter jets to be slashed', is nonsense personified.

Our new carriers are not 'under real threat'. There will not 'certainly be a big reduction in Joint Strike Fighter numbers'. The article goes on to state 'among other options being considered are: downsizing the second carrier … building both carriers but selling one perhaps to India'. No such fantastic 'options' are being considered at all.

As for the phrase 'at a time when troops in Afghanistan are being deprived of helicopters and surveillance systems', it is about as far from the truth as it is possible to be. We are currently in the midst of a dramatic increase in helicopter numbers in Afghanistan, up by 50 per cent from June 2009 - June 2010, we are adding new Reaper Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and will be introducing the Watchkeeper in the coming months.

If your correspondent would like a briefing on the real position I should be happy to arrange one for him, or to give him one personally, at any time.

Yours,

Quentin Davies MP, Ministry of Defence, Whitehall, London. :nono:

Contract awarded to design new RN frigate and go ahead given for additional SSN's.




BAE signs £127m contract to design Navy warship

The Ministry of Defence has announced plans to spend £127m to design a new warship for the Royal Navy.

The four-year contract to develop a design for a new frigate, the Type 26, has been awarded to BAE Systems.

BAE was also given the go-ahead to start building the latest Astute Class nuclear submarine in Barrow-in-Furness.

The Unite union welcomed the latest defence deals. It says they will secure around 10,000 skilled manufacturing jobs in the UK.

Babcock International has also signed a new agreement with the MOD. The 15-year partnering deal, worth around £1.2bn, is for the provision of submarine support and maintenance services at Royal Navy bases at Devonport in the south-west of England and on Clydeside, Scotland.

'Thousands of jobs secured'

Unite's national officer, Bernie Hamilton, said the three deals would safeguard thousands of jobs across the country. "Workers at Barrow, Devenport, Rosyth, Scotstoun, Govan and Faslane have work for years to come thanks to the government," he said.

The government says the new vessels will help to give the navy "cutting edge capabilities" while safeguarding the UK defence industry.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has confirmed the contract in spite of the £700m worth of efficiency savings it has promised to make as part of the government's overall spending cuts.

The Type 26 will be a frigate, like the Types 22 and 23 it will replace. But the Ministry of Defence refers to it as a "combat ship" because it will be expected to be more flexible than its predecessors.

'The backbone of the navy'

The First Sea Lord Sir Mark Stanhope said it would form "the future backbone" of the navy.

In addition to being used in anti-submarine warfare, the Type 26 will be expected to provide support for land operations, carry out surveillance, intelligence, counter-terrorism and piracy operations and help with disaster relief and humanitarian aid projects.

An 80-strong joint BAE and MOD team is already working on the project in Bristol. Its numbers are expected to be boosted to 300 over the next four years.

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said he had also agreed for BAE to start building the fifth of a planned seven Astute Class submarines in Barrow-in-Furness in the north-west of England, and begin procurement for the sixth.

The contract is worth £300m to BAE. Mr Ainsworth said programmes like the Type 26 and Astute "not only ensure the Royal Navy continues to have cutting edge capability but also sustain the industry that supports them".

The Astute Class are "next generation" nuclear-powered submarines, described by the MOD as "the biggest and most advanced attack submarines ever ordered for the Royal Navy".

'Hunter-killer'

BAE's website, which describes the Astute as an "underwater hunter-killer", says it will undertake a range of tasks including intelligence gathering, Special Forces and anti-submarine warfare.

The company says Astute has greater weapons and operations capabilities and improved communications facilities compared to existing submarines. Armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, BAE says it has a strike range of up to 2,000km.

John Hudson, Managing Director of BAE Systems, Submarine Solutions, said the deal would allow BAE Systems to continue to recruit highly-skilled engineers to meet the workload. "Just as importantly, it will help sustain key skills and capabilities throughout our workforce, our suppliers and partners," he said.

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