Earlier this week the MoD published the Defence Equipment Plan for 2020-30. Details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-defence-equipment-plan-2020 Unlike with previous plans this is just data without any text. This plan represents the situation as it was at the end of Mar...

I completely agree with Lord Jim's comments on the need for a mobile force of Land-Aster launch vehicles, mobile radar and command. I am suggesting three Flights - each of four launch vehicles, one radar and one command vehicle to make up one new BMD Squadron. Each Flight would be protected by a new...

1,400 personnel to ensure that the three mentioned Squadrons have the full numbers that they need but other 'spare' personnel could be allocated where most needed, such as a tenth frontline Squadron!

The 2020 Spending Review Prior to the Spending Review the government was committed to increasing defence spending by inflation + 0.5%. In real terms this amounts to an extra £2 billion over the four years from 2021/22 to 2024/25. In the 2020 Spending Review the government announced it would provide...

Leuchars and Kinloss are both useable for dispersal.

The US Navy has also been operating P-8s from Prestwick.

Surely at least one, if not two, of the Typhoon Squadrons should be moved to either Kinloss, Leuchars or Leeming to spread the risk around?

An alternative would be to not have the Type 32 at all.

Instead by 2035 aim for eleven Type 26, five Type 31, six Type 45 plus two new Type 4X.

Or, if that's too expensive then eight Type 26, eight Type 31, six Type 45 plus two Type 4X.

If you go back a couple of posts you will see that I'm suggesting that the first five Type 26 and Type 31 frigates are added to the total number of escorts without any ships being retired to increase the total number of escorts from 19 to 24. Under the funding in the Spending Review the Royal Navy s...

Here's how a revised schedule for the retirement and replacement of the Type 23 frigates might look.

Prior to 2030 three Type 31 and two Type 26 are due to be commissioned then ...

RFA Argus is 38 years old at the moment and will serve at least another four years.

HMS Hermes served for 58 years in the Royal Navy and then the Indian Navy.

The 2020 Spending Review Prior to the Spending Review the government was committed to increasing defence spending by inflation + 0.5%. In real terms this amounts to an extra £2 billion over the four years from 2021/22 to 2024/25. In the 2020 Spending Review the government announced it would provide...

The 2020 Spending Review Prior to the Spending Review the government was committed to increasing defence spending by inflation + 0.5%. In real terms this amounts to an extra £2 billion over the four years from 2021/22 to 2024/25. In the 2020 Spending Review the government announced it would provide...

CliveF AndyC I think you are being over optimistic. Most of any extra cash will go on black hole / overspend. We are unlikely to see any expansion. Of course this is just a person view. Hope I'm wrong. The NAO report estimates the black hole for the ten years from 2019/20 as being somewhere between...

AndyC In the 2020 Spending Review the government announced it would provide an additional £16.5 billion for defence, making a total extra of £18.5 billion in real terms covering the four years from 2021/22 to 2024/25. The gap between the total of £24.1 billion increased spending and the real increa...

The 2020 Spending Review Prior to the Spending Review the government was committed to increasing defence spending by inflation + 0.5%. In real terms this amounts to an extra £2 billion over the four years from 2021/22 to 2024/25. In the 2020 Spending Review the government announced it would provide...

The trouble is that they said the same thing about the T45s getting extra VLS launchers but they never came!

A reference to trials held off the coast of California this summer.

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/20 ... customers/

If we can't afford extra P-8 could have eight Sea Protector UCAV carrying sonobuoys and torpedoes.

Yes, absolutely! For example. if you look at my main article above I'm proposing the replacement of the two Albions, three Bays and RFA Argus with four LHD similar in style to a Mistral. This would reduce crew numbers by 300 while maintaining the total number of landing craft and Royal Marines but a...

In comparison three River Batch 2 OPV cost £348 million and that's a simpler vessel than a minehunter. A well informed article here https://wavellroom.com/2020/04/04/hunt-the-replacement/ concludes that a new Hunt class MCMV would cost £120 million in today's money, so £360 million for three. Person...

Yes, automation will be reducing the need for personnel and saving costs. The replacement of our twelve remaining minehunters with the MMCM programme could reduce staffing levels by 300 to 400. See https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/uncrewed-minehunters-to-replace-conventional-vessels/ for the latest.

AndyC wrote: On top of this the MoD changed its approach to agreeing its spending plans which cut its budget totals by £7.6 billion from 2020/21 to 2024/25. Really? How was the approach changed then? To get the full background you need to read the NAO report here https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/u...

AndyC wrote: Army Command Top Level Budget 2019-29 - £14.75 billion in Uncommitted Equipment Procurement Is this actually real or a suggestion of what could be done with the money? Yes, it's real money! Go to https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data...

So, why if there's a surplus is procurement so difficult for Army Command? Partially it's because the Army keeps changing its structure and can't settle on its goals. Should it be prioritising the upgrading of Challenger/Warrior to be credible against Russia or Ajax/Boxer to be a bit more nimble and...

The assessment below is based on the MoD’s defence equipment plan 2019 which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-defence-equipment-plan-2019 Army Command Top Level Budget 2019-29 - £14.75 billion in Uncommitted Equipment Procurement Consolidating the budgets for Land Equip...