UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

now noticed the tweet
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The MoD stated in January that the keel for the 7th Astute class (HMS Ajax?) would be laid in 2017. This has not happened an no explanation has been given.

DSFLJ8ZWkAMfY6H.jpg
 
according to DefenseOne Russia Is Getting More Confident About Infiltrating UK Territories
Over the past few years, Russian sea units have popped up all over the borders of Britain’s territorial waters.

Russia’s Christmas present to Britain? Sending a warship incredibly close to UK territorial waters. On Dec. 23, the Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans was called upon to “keep watch” on and escort a new Russian warship “through the North Sea and areas of UK interest,” the
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It’s not the first time, either. The Royal Navy noted that “the festive season has seen an upsurge in Russian units transiting UK waters.” On Christmas Eve, the HMS Tyne was called to escort a different vessel, a Russian intelligence-gathering ship, through the North Sea and English Channel.

“I will not hesitate in defending our waters or tolerate any form of aggression,” UK defence secretary Gavin Williamson said in a statement this week. “Britain will never be intimidated when it comes to protecting our country, our people, and our national interests.”

Russia’s growing presence near UK waters
Over the past few years, Russian sea units have popped up all over the borders of Britain’s territorial waters.

In January, three RAF Typhoon fighter jets and a British warship escorted a Russian aircraft carrier and other ships
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. In June 2016, the
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a Russian Kilo-class submarine, capable of carrying cruise missiles and torpedoes, after detecting it in the North Sea.

Earlier this month, Britain’s most senior military officer also warned that
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to undersea communications and internet cables. Air chief marshal Stuart Peach said any disruption to such communications would “immediately and potentially catastrophically” hurt the economy.

Russia could do damage even without its most advanced warships and submarines: According to
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by think tank Policy Exchange, fishing trawlers with deep-sea grappling hooks could be used to carry out an attack on undersea cables and communications. “Whether from terrorist activity or an increasingly bellicose Russian naval presence,” the report said, “the threat of these vulnerabilities being exploited is growing.

“A successful attack would deal a crippling blow to Britain’s security and prosperity. The threat is nothing short of existential.”
source:
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what's ahead in 2018?
Jura visits London ... recently I've purchased nonrefundable (but cheap LOL) air tickets ... if somebody wants to talk to me in person, I can be in Hyde Part at any hour of July 4th and 5th as I'll stay in a hotel nearby

I'm going to visit
  1. Imperial War Museum
  2. National Maritime Museum Greenwich
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  3. HMS Belfast
  4. National Army Museum;
can't go outside London (I would be interested in Bletchley Park), to be ready in case my wife with the kid got lost (LOL)

some recommendations other that #1-4 please?
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
4 F-35B Squadrons planned

- It was reformed to Edwards USA in April 2013 as the Operational Evaluation Unit for the F-35 Lightning II.

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No._17_Squadron_RAF

- standing up in January 2018
as the first British frontline squadron with the
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.
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No._617_Squadron_RAF

- It was announced on 5th July 2017 that 207 Squadron will be the new
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for the
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and will be based at
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. The Squadron is expected to stand up on 1st July 2019.
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- It will re-commission in April 2023 as the UK's second operational F-35B squadron after
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809_Naval_Air_Squadron

An English report criticizes the F-35 program

After Denmark last November, it is the turn of the United Kingdom to question the program of the fighter jet Lockheed-Martin F-35 and its acquisition by the country.
The House of Commons Defense Committee (HCDC) has investigated the United Kingdom's acquisition of Lockheed-Martin F-35B "Lightning II" stealth fighter jets. This monitoring body of the British Parliament has published a detailed and critical report. On the one hand he said he was disappointed by the answers obtained during the written and oral testimonies of the aircraft manufacturer Lockheed-Martin and officials of the British Ministry of Defense (MoD). The report was published a few days before the 14th F-35B destined for the United Kingdom was delivered to South Carolina, where the first British squadron was working on the new aircraft.
Repeated failures and additional costs:

The HCDC investigation was motivated by serious program failures and cost increases. Indeed, on the English side, there has been some concern about the revelations reported in the United States by recent reports from the Director of Operational Testing and Evaluation (DOT & E) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
According to this report, the HCDC stated that overall, its concerns "have not been mitigated" by Lockheed-Martin and the Department of Defense. The committee said that "the MoD's inability to provide adequate cost estimates for its F-35 purchases ... is totally unsatisfactory."

Moreover, the report reveals that the F-35B will not be able to communicate with the Navy's future ships or the "Typhoon II" Eurofighter in terms of data link. In fact, the
The Ministry of Defense will have to fund a program that allows the F-35 to transmit information from its secure multi-functional Advanced DataLink (MADL) to Typhoons and surface vessels.
Cyberwar and ALIS:

The report also confirms the fears already mentioned by the Israelis regarding the risks of being able to "hack" the centralized ALIS (Autonomic Logistics Information System) maintenance system in the United States.

However, the committee's report concedes that "assurances regarding the rigorous level of cyber-testing of the F-35 ALIS software are welcome, as is the assurance that the UK will have full and unhindered use. But the report asks Lockheed-Martin to clarify the level of protection in place for technical data collected by ALIS from the UK's F-35 fleet, including, if this data falls under the unlimited rights license from the United States Government.
Fleet limitation:

The UK will receive three more F-35Bs in Beaufort next year, and one more, its 18th overall in early 2019. Some of these planes will fly to the UK next summer.
In addition, the United Kingdom retains three trial and evaluation F-35Bs at Edwards AFB for the next three years.
To date, the United Kingdom has only purchased 18 F-35Bs. However, in January 2017, the Ministry of Defense has planned another 30 aircraft that are expected to be delivered between 2020 and 2025. The provision was 3 billion pounds, including initial support, or nearly $ 134 million per plane at the same rate. current exchange rate. The first 18 planes for the UK seem to have cost more than 150 million pounds ($ 200 million) each.

Initially the United Kingdom planned to acquire 138 F-35s. But, It seems today that this is unlikely. Next month, the Ministry of Defense is expected to reveal a new round of personnel and equipment reductions, just 26 months after a Strategic Defense and Security Review (SRHR) established a five-year budget. years at the start.
In fact, the UK could save on both acquisition and operating costs by purchasing conventional versions of the F-35A. This has long been the desire of the Royal Air Force, due to the greater range and the weapon load of the F-35A compared to the F-35B. Lockheed Martin has promised to reduce the recurring unit cost (URFC) of the F-35A to about $ 80 million. On the other hand, the budget cuts should also reduce the number of F-35s that will ultimately be purchased by the United Kingdom.

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Aug 31, 2016
refurbished for tens of millions of pounds, so it's time to scrap her
HMS Ocean to be decommissioned in 2018, MoD announces
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so that a dozen of F-35Bs can be flaunted on a supercarrier
actually Brazil announce purchase of HMS Ocean for £84 million
January 2, 2018
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Brazil has now confirmed the purchase of British helicopter carrier HMS Ocean.

We were informed by a source in the Brazilian defence community that the vessel has been sold for £84 million.

Roberto Lopes has informed us that the purchase of HMS Ocean by the Brazilian Navy was confirmed within the last week by Brazilian Defence Minister Raul Jungmann.

We understand the first group of four Brazilian officers will head to the UK within the next few weeks.

We also understand that there are doubts over the retention of the Phalanx CIWS by Brazil but are unsure regarding the reasons why. The vessel will remain in the UK until October or November this year.

We broke the
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that Brazil was interested in helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, this has now been confirmed by the Brazilian government.

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, we reported that the Brazilian Navy had reportedly sent a proposal to pay for helicopter carrier HMS Ocean in instalments.

HMS Ocean is the UK’s only helicopter carrier and the fleet flagship of the Royal Navy. She is designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force.

According to Brazilian journalist Roberto Lopes in an e-mail to us, the ship’s cost to the Brazilian Navy is fixed at £84.3 million pounds (312 million Brazilian Reais). Commander of the Brazilian Navy, Admiral Eduardo Leal Ferreira, claimed that the price of Ocean seemed “convenient”.

Then this week, IHS Janes
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that Brazil’s MoD authorised efforts to purchase Ocean once she leaves UK service.

We understand from Roberto Lopes via e-mail, the source who let us know that Brazil has already submitted a payment plan for the vessel, that the officers involved in the ship acquisition process are optimistic and are already discussing details beyond the technical and financial assessments that have been made, such as the name of the ship.

“Minas Gerais is the strongest designation at the time. Rio de Janeiro was ‘saved’ for the future aircraft carrier. However, nothing definite. Only with the execution of the acquisition is that defined.”

According to someone we spoke to earlier in the year currently on-board the vessel, there were rumours that this is one of a number of possibilities:

“People have been talking about what will happen to the ship after 2018, there were rumours that the vessel might be sold to another navy but there’s been no mention of what navy that might be.”

The helicopter carrier was constructed in the mid-1990s and commissioned in September 1998. In November 2015, the MoD confirmed that HMS Ocean is to be decommissioned in 2018 with no like-for-like replacement.

This comes as the Brazilian Navy have decided to abandon the refit of the aircraft carrier Sao Paulo and decommission the vessel after a series of technical issues and accidents. Rectification costs are understood to be a major factor in this decision.

The Sao Paulo is a Clemenceau class aircraft carrier commissioned in 1963 by the French Navy as Foch and was transferred in 2000 to Brazil, where she became the new flagship of the Brazilian Navy. The earlier intention of the navy was that the vessel would continue in active service until 2039, at which time the vessel would be nearly 80 years old. IHS Janes
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that during its career with the Brazilian Navy, São Paulo has suffered from ‘serviceability issues and has never managed to operate for more than three months at a time without the need for repairs and maintenance’. It is no surprise therefore that the navy have now announced, as reported by
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, that the ship will be ‘demobilised and subsequently decommissioned’.
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Obi Wan Russell
As planned 20 years service life retired soon but like are going to do Brazilians i have see " maintenance " possible extended this service life to years i think but expensive ?
this ship was build to commercial standards and cheaper for a big want Type 23 price
Join the former French Foudre :) retired after 18 years :rolleyes:
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
I remember several years ago there was a lot of debate going on whether or not to build the HMS Prince of Wales due to budget reasons by Parliament. NOW her she is in the water all beautiful and shiny!;):)
Yep...hard to believe and we have witnessed a LOT of things here on SD together as a SD family that we talked about for years.

From the Laioning, to the Ford class, the XUmwalts, the Tpe 045s, the Indian carriers, the second Chinese carrier, the Type 052Ds, the Type 055, the J-15s the J-20s, the F-35s...we could go on and on.

So many things we spoke of for years and now they are reality and there's a lot more to come.
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Aug 31, 2016

actually Brazil announce purchase of HMS Ocean for £84 million
January 2, 2018
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Hmmm...so te Ocean will be the Braxilians only large flat deck carrier type vessel for some years...perhaps the only one.

we shall see if they go ahead and build a new carrier.

Sad to see Suth Americas about t not have any ficed wing carrier.

But the Sa Paulo is old and could not last forever...and a new carrier is not cheap.
They will get a good deal on the Ocean...but given her construction methods...I do not think she will last all that long either.
 
Yesterday at 8:17 AM
Aug 31, 2016
refurbished for tens of millions of pounds, so it's time to scrap her
HMS Ocean to be decommissioned in 2018, MoD announces
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so that a dozen of F-35Bs can be flaunted on a supercarrier
actually Brazil announce purchase of HMS Ocean for £84 million
January 2, 2018
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and here's a related blog post good for increasing one's blood pressure:
Sale of the Century? Why selling HMS OCEAN is a sensible decision.
I warned above about the risk to one's heart:
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