UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

​

Naval Today said:

Royal Navy’s HMS Defender started patrolling the Middle East after assuming her sister ship HMS Duncan’s role.

The Type 45 destroyer officially assumed the role of Kipion operational destroyer and will spend nine months working with allies in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Gulf.

HMS Defender deployed with a Lynx Mark 8 helicopter and a team from the Fleet Air Arm, as well as Royal Navy and Royal Marines boarding party and will conduct maritime security operations throughout the region.

In addition to working with both the U.S. and French Carrier Strike Groups on operations that include counter-piracy and counter-narcotics smuggling, she will operate as part of the Combined Maritime Force’s 30-nation maritime force.

The ship is capable of controlling the airspace across an area of 150,000 square miles whilst being able to defend a task group of ships against attack from the air, either by aircraft or missiles.

HMS Defender has also had the opportunity to sail through the recently expanded Suez Canal. The $8 billion investment has shortened the sail through the Canal from 18 to 11 hours.

Operation Kipion is part of Royal Navy’s continued maritime presence in the Gulf and Indian Ocean regions. The commitment usually consists of an escort (a guided-missile destroyer or frigate), a supporting Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship and several other ships with various roles.

Click to expand...

A Royal Navy frigate, HMS Sutherland, and a hunter killer submarine have also been sent on the search

French patrol planes are scouring the seas off Scotland for a Russian submarine after Britain was forced to call on allies for help because it has scrapped its own sub-hunting aircraft.

A French Atlantique 2 maritime patrol plane has been searching for the submarine for at least 10 days, since the vessel was detected north of Scotland.

A Royal Navy frigate, HMS Sutherland, and a hunter killer submarine have also been sent on the search, amid fears the Russian boat could be trying to spy on a Trident nuclear deterrent sub.

Britain scrapped its own Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft after the cost cutting 2010 defence review,

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Admirals have argued that filling the gap is a priority for the Government's defence review which will be unveiled on Monday.

The search for the Russian vessel intensified over the weekend, as another French Atlantique and a Canadian aircraft were both sent to RAF Lossiemouth to joint the hunt.

The Ministry of defence declined to give details of the operation, but confirmed allied planes were helping the Navy from the airbase on the Moray Firth.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

in the area,

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Russian submarine patrols have risen by half in the past year and are back at levels not seen for a decade, a Senior Nato commander warned last month.

The Nimrod spy planes had been mainstays of the RAF's reconnaissance fleet since the late 1960s and had a central role in anti-submarine warfare, when they were scrapped with an upgrade programme running nine years late and £800 million over budget.

An MoD spokesman said: "We can confirm that allied maritime patrol aircraft based at RAF Lossiemouth for a limited period are conducting activity with the Royal Navy. We do not discuss the detail of maritime operations."

Click to expand...

Jura said:

you sure increased my curiosity, based on "an article speculating on the potential progress of a contract", about the number of the Poseidons to be eventually procured LOL

Click to expand...

asif iqbal said:

No big deal

Both UK and France work together on such issues not the first time certainly not the last

But I agree for the bigger picture, the Nimrod fleet should never have been retired

Click to expand...

​

UK Prime Minister David Cameron will announce today a £178 billion investment in defence equipment and support over the next decade as part of a new Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). The £12 billion uplift in funding will be focused on investments that will help to ensure the UK can respond to diverse threats and includes nine new P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA). UK currently has an MPA capability gap since the last Nimrod MR2 MPA was retired in 2010.

Click to expand...

FORBIN said:

SDSR time ...

Click to expand...