General UK Defence Discussion

[Aethulwulf]

The remainder was allocated to what the source called "offensive cyber capabilities and three high-priority shipbuilding projects: the Type 26 frigate, Type 31e frigate, and Fleet Solid Support ships".

It will be interesting to see if this amounts to additional hulls or simply better equipped vessels.

Hopefully both.

Or just lost in absorbing overspending.

[Caribbean]

As the point2 comes from a segregated contingency ( a cool £10 bn), there is the unspecified bn btwn cyber and (accelerating) ship building.

So that's £200m of the £400m that couldn't be described as a genuine increase as it's actually been drawn from an existing contingency fund. I wonder where the other £200m has been pulled from?

[Frenchie]

Excuse me, I do not know where to put these items, so I put them there, it's not necessarily happy articles. Sorry if they have already been posted on the forum.

UK Army sticks to armor-upgrade plan despite new pivot toward hybrid warfare

LONDON — Britain’s newly declared focus on combating hybrid threats will have no bearing on the Army’s priority to invest in armored vehicle programs, according to officials.

The creation of a new formation, known as the 6th Division, to counter Russia, among others, in cyberspace, information operations and other non-kinetic tactics is a sign of the changing nature of warfare.

“The priorities at the moment are absolutely about delivering the modernization of our armored fighting vehicle fleet: Warrior, Challenger 2 and Mechanised Infantry Vehicle,” according to a senior service official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “These remain our priorities for the foreseeable future until those vehicles are delivered.”

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-sho ... d-warfare/

As Britain lurches toward Brexit, how will European security fare?

WASHINGTON — At the beginning of 2016, everything seemed so simple for the West.

NATO saw renewed interest from member states; the European Union was discussing new levels of defense cooperation; and the United States was moving toward increasing its European commitments — all in response to what the alliance perceived as a resurgent Russian threat along the eastern flank.

But by the close of that year, Europe’s slow return to great power competition was thrown into chaos.

In the U.K., a referendum called by then-Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a shocking upset when the country voted to leave the European Union; the country is now on its third prime minister since the June 23 vote. And in November, Donald Trump, a confirmed Euroskeptic whose foreign policy trademark was brow-beating European allies for decades of declining defense spending, was elected president.

Now, on the eve of Brexit and with Trump’s reelection a real possibility, the future of European collective security is anyone’s guess. Will NATO maintain its relevance, or will hard feelings drive a wedge in the alliance? If a new framework for European security is forged, will it exist under an EU without Britain, and will the the former member have any say in the framework’s direction?

https://www.defensenews.com/global/euro ... rity-fare/

Is It Too Late to Take Back Control of Our National Defence? (excerpt)

(Source: The Sunday Times; published Sept 08 2019)

Billboards at Westminster Tube station are a good indicator of when big defence contracts are up for grabs. In recent years, Boeing has plastered the station with posters hailing the American aerospace giant’s role in “building a stronger UK”.

Its PR blitz reflects an eagerness to persuade the politicians who pour through the station of its contribution to the British economy. Last year, as if to underline the point, Boeing opened up in Sheffield — “our first manufacturing site in Europe”. Rivals were sceptical: the South Yorkshire plant employs just over 50.

The UK has provided rich pickings for US defence giants such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Civil servants and MPs, under pressure to cut defence costs and stung by procurement blow-ups, have prioritised “value for money”.

https://www.defense-aerospace.com/artic ... ustry.html

‘Buy British’ Call to MoD to Save Defence Industry Jobs (excerpt)

(Source: The Sunday Times; published September 08, 2019)

Ministers are preparing to launch a new defence industrial strategy after warnings that the UK risks losing decades of skills in making jets and warships.

https://www.defense-aerospace.com/artic ... ustry.html

[SW1]

https://defaeroreport.com/2019/09/09/de ... al-reform/

Francis Tusa, the editor of Defence Analysis, discusses Brexit, UK defense spending, the costs associated with buying billions of dollars in American hardware with a weakened pound, structural reforms and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian

[inch]

Good news on frigate anoucement today ,shame not 10 frigates tho ,and a mix of extra 2 t26 but ok I guess but definitely not a growing navy just a barely keeping numbers steady after huge cuts ,also good news on Italy joining UK and Sweden on tempest project ,both very worthy partners , could have only been made better if Japan had anoucement saying Also coming onboard ,just need 3 SSS to be added to the anoucements and might start to see a modicum of progress for the royal navy fleet

[ArmChairCivvy]

could have only been made better if Japan had anoucement saying Also coming onboard

By the time of the next DSEI that is likely to be the case... first they will have to get F-35s to sea as that will be seen as an extension of prgrms already running.
- F-35 "assembly" brought stealth manufacturing skills "onshore"
- their PM nixed an all-Nippon stealth fighter as too expensive
- the other, non-US project is driven to be a Rafale XL; does not fit with the rqrmnts that were released (more akin to F-22, and the Japanese will not forget about being denied access "to the best" when one of the neighbours is driving a tech strategy named "catch-up, and surpass")

[inch]

Well arm chair civvy I hope you are correct in that hypothesis ,I really do

[SW1]

https://www.janes.com/article/91234/dse ... p-for-sale

Wonder what there hoping to replace them with

[RetroSicotte]

I wouldn't expect anything.

Yet another barely mentioned cut of crucial kit.

[downsizer]

Not decided anything. Don’t even have an OSD and I expect there will be precisely ZERO interest in buying them.

[SW1]

Industry were approached at the beginning of this year around conversion of an identified replacement a/c type. But current budgets and a/c osd still tbd

[Timmymagic]

Not decided anything. Don’t even have an OSD and I expect there will be precisely ZERO interest in buying them.

Wouldn't be too sure on the CC.2's, they're making a serious name for themselves as Water Bombers at the moment.

Wonder what there hoping to replace them with

If the per hour flight costs are correct probably a business jet of some type. The obvious choice would be a couple of Bombardier Global Express as we're already users of the type, with the Sentinel. That means the DASS would be a known quantity and easy to fit.
But getting it through for purchase will be hard, the public are never impressed with 'toys' like jets for Royals and Politicians, regardless of the other jobs they do.

[Caribbean]

getting it through for purchase will be hard, the public are never impressed with 'toys' like jets for Royals and Politicians, regardless of the other jobs they do.

They'll get labelled as "special forces" assets, that no-one is allowed to talk about

[SW1]

Looks like UK flagged vessels doing a spot of sanctions busting

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news ... -jn0fnsprh

[Poiuytrewq]

Some sobering analysis contained within.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/1 ... -priority/

"However, as is so often the case when Tory defence secretaries claim victory over the regiments of Whitehall bean-counters, the extra funding, though welcome, amounts to little more than a short-term fix.

For starters, around £700 million will immediately be gobbled up funding military pensions, leaving a balance of £1.5 billion, which is only allocated until next year and is divided between the three Services. By contrast the Armed Forces require a minimum of £7 billion over the next three years just to meet their current spending commitments, meaning that, even if Mr Wallace’s extra cash was sustained until 2022, there would still be a shortfall of some £2.5 billion."

[topman]

All the numbers were crunched a month ago, not too sure why it's taken him a month to notice.

[SKB]

The first German bomb to hit the UK in WW2, was dropped 80 years ago yesterday (16th October 1939). It hit an area of the Firth of Forth east of Inchcolm Island. The island itself was hit by a German bomb a year later on 7th October 1940.

A new interactive map shows ALL the bombs to hit the UK in WW2:
http://www.warstateandsociety.com/Bombing-Britain

[Lord Jim]

Interesting discussion, filmed last month, on the state of UK Defence spending and possible trouble ahead.

[ArmChairCivvy]

Good to see more in-depth analysis of what Brexit means for defence: take away the price hikes from the £ crashing (another one mentioning parity...) and the crowding out effect of the nuclear prgrm, and all the growth in spending is wiped out
- MoD is not the only branch of Gvmnt where the pension hit is quite major. But monetising future deficits is a must, at some point. Which reminds me that the £10 bn contingency for the current boats prgrm happens to be the same as the decommissioning estimate for all the old ones... so assuming (!) the Dreadnoughts go to plan, there will be inter-generational money left over. Osborne couldn't possibly break his own, new law that all major proc decisions needed to have whole-life costs somewhere (at least in the desk drawer, if not for public consumption)

[Lord Jim]

I wonder if we are going to have to see the Armed Forces shrink again if they are to be effectively modernised over the next decade? We may have to have all three services in one shot mode for future conflict and reduce to zero our ability to mount any enduring operations. We could end up with;

3 Army Brigades, 1x AI, 2x Mech
1 Deployable RAF wing of 3 Typhoon Squadrons.
1 Carrier Group with 1 QE, 2x T-45 , 2x T-26

This would be augmented by individual units such as individual Commandos/Battalions of light infantry, support units and platforms to move units around by land, air and sea.

[ArmChairCivvy]

Total size and deployable? Everything is deployable, if we allow a "different" time frame for it. Hence "Reaction Force" may not be official nomenclature anymore, but such layering will (and should) always exist
- of course the fact is that we have barely enough CS/CSS to field one division, whatever composite (the default is the 3rd) it may turn out to be

Hence I would call for revised/ enhanced whole force thinking where the composition of reserves is more heavily weighted towards CS/CSS/heavy fires
- how's recruitment & training (it is only the trained strength that counts) going, relative to the regulars?

[bobp]

Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials and ministers had indicated that projects to buy Type 31e General Purpose Frigates and Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicles would move to contract award by mid-December but this has now been put on hold.

https://www.janes.com/article/92340/uk- ... l-election

No major programs to be signed during election time is the reason. Fingers crossed the new government will approve.

[ArmChairCivvy]

Fingers crossed the new government will approve.

Corbyn (if installed): just kidding!

[bobp]

Ben Wallace written statement dated oct 31 to House of Commons

https://www.defense-aerospace.com/artic ... mmons.html

He states 50 Apache on order.

[Lord Jim]

Nothing really encouraging there. The extra money hasn't purchased any new equipment, instead has only covered hole in the budget due to issues such as currency fluctuations. Stating proudly that we have funded the "Demonstration phase", of the Warrior upgrade is really scraping the barrel to find something positive to spin!