UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

HMS Astute said:

Construction of the Royal Navy's River Class Batch 2 Offshore Patrol Vessels is underway in Glasgow. Find out how the River Class OPVs have evolved into an enhanced design already in service with the Brazilian Navy and Royal Thai Navy with further modifications to meet the requirements of the Royal Navy.

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articel said:

the vessels will carry a single MSI-Defence Systems 30 mm Automated Small Calibre Gun System (fitted forward) and two Mk 44 mini-guns. BAE Systems is providing a variant of its CMS-1 combat management system

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ITV said:

Female soldiers could be allowed to fight on the front line for the first time in 2016, the Ministry of Defence has announced. It has published a review into the British Army's current restrictions on women and said that it recommends opening up ground close combat roles to women, but further research into physiological demands is needed before it lifts the ban. Women currently serve on the front line, but are not allowed to be present in situations where the main aim is to "close with and kill the enemy".

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Defense News said:

LONDON — The future shape and utility of the British armed forces will be decided by the actions a new government takes over the course of 2015, the country's top military officer said.

The next 12 months will be "hugely important in setting ourselves up for success over a much longer period," the chief of the UK defence staff, Gen. Sir Nick Houghton, warned in a Dec. 17 speech to the Royal United Services Institute in London.

Britain's defense sector faces what may be a near-perfect storm in 2015. A general election in May will be followed by a review of government spending, which is expected to see the military face new demands for budget cuts. A strategic defense and security review (SDSR) will complete the year.

"I am not so blunt as to boldly state that defense needs more resources," he said. "I would, though, remind the next government that the force structure, which this government has done so much to preserve, was predicted to need real-terms growth in defense funding, if it was going to be realized."

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Lockheed Martin said:

Exactly one year ago, the first of the UK’s fleet of next-generation, anti-submarine, maritime patrol Merlin helicopters was being delivered to the Royal Navy. The delivery of the five helicopters to the Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, upgraded as part of a £750M ($1.2bn) Lockheed Martin contract, marked a significant milestone. But that was just the beginning. It has been a year of achievements for the Merlin helicopters, which entered service and achieved full operational capability in May. Seventeen aircraft have been delivered to Naval Squadrons 824 and 820 at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, and an additional four are in trials and test at Qinetiq Boscombe Down airfield.

In mid-June, the HMS Illustrious set sail with nine Merlin Mk2 aboard, to participate in a sub-hunting exercise called Deep Blue. Aircrews and engineers worked round the clock alongside pilots and aircrew operating on a non-stop “sleep-eat-fly-sleep” rotation. The relentless pace supported three aircraft aloft at all times with two on ready status. The Merlin Mk2 are fitted with a state-of-the-art glass cockpit and improved aircrew console and avionics with advanced touch-screen displays and an improved ability to detect and track targets and share data with other aircraft and ships while airborne. These improvements enable the helicopters to carry out counter-piracy and casualty evacuation missions.

Lockheed Martin is converting thirty Merlin MK1 helicopters to the Mk2 model. Commodore Andy Lison, RN, responsible for the Merlin, Lynx, and Sea King teams for the MOD’s Defence, Equipment and Support Organisation has called the Merlin Mk2 a “truly exceptional aircraft.” Bob Kramer, vice president and group managing director, Lockheed Martin UK Integrated Systems said the Merlin Capability Sustainment Programme “ represents a magnificent team effort…to provide the Royal Navy with unrivalled capability to carry out its anti-submarine patrol and policing requirement.”

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Male rape prevalent in UK army, Ministry of Defence figures reveal

At least three rapes and 22 sexual assaults have been perpetrated against men in the armed forces in the two years to October 2014, according to new figures released under a freedom of information request.

The statistics reveal that a 20-year-old serviceman was allegedly subjected to "assault by penetration" last February by a group of seven men aged between 21 and 33, according to The Times.

A second servicemen aged 28 was also reportedly attacked in a similar manner in May by another gang of seven colleagues aged between 20 and 26.

Three servicemen, one as young as 18, were allegedly attacked by smaller gangs of men in other penetrative incidents last year. A further two male military personnel were subjected to the same type of degrading attack by one alleged perpetrator.

The figures, released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), were described by Labour MP and anti-sexual violence campaigner Madeleine Moon as "horrific".

"It is over, above and beyond anything I could have ever imagined was happening," she told The Times. "[The figures] reinforce all I have ever said about the total failure of the MoD to protect service personnel."

Former army officer Major Ross McLeod said troops have penetrated fellow male soldiers using broom handles or other objects as a way to bully and intimidate them.

"Sexual assault and male rape are unfortunately pretty routine army bullying tactics," he said.

"The military culture which has been perpetuated and protected since time immemorial… is one in which these attacks are neither surprising or appalling, but rather entirely predictable."

Des James, the father of one of four young soldiers who died in mysterious circumstances at Deepcut barracks in 1995, said no lessons have been learnt about how to protect military personnel despite repeated scandals involving abuse and bullying.

"It really depresses me so much to have these things still happening," he said.

A spokeswoman for the MoD said there is no evidence to suggest that sexual assault and rape occurs more frequently in the army than in wider society.

"We recognise the courage it takes to come forward and report a sexual offence, which is precisely why we have extensive support systems in place and investigate any allegation thoroughly," she said.

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