UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

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Brigadier
The Force Protection Ocelot is a British armored vehicle that is scheduled to replace the United Kingdom's Snatch Land Rover with British forces.

It received the service name Foxhound, in line with the names given to other wheeled armored vehicles in current British use, such as Mastiff and Ridgeback, which are based on the Cougar.

This is not to be confused with the BAE Systems Australia Foxhound, a modified Short Brothers S600. The goal in replacing the Snatch Land Rover was to improve protection of personnel against improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

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Dizasta1

Senior Member
Britain Sends Nuclear Sub Under Arctic Ice As Tensions With Russia Heat Up

One British and two US nuclear submarines are taking part in a joint naval exercise currently underway in the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean.

Armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Spearfish heavy torpedoes, the HMS Trenchant is the first British nuclear sub to be deployed under the Arctic ice in a decade.

It joined a pair of the US Navy’s fast attack submarines the USS Hartford and USS Connecticut, both of which surfaced in the Arctic Circle on March 10 as part of the multinational maritime Ice Exercise 2018.


The biennial drill, meant to improve the submarines’ combat capabilities in extreme cold-water conditions, comes amid growing tensions with Russia, exacerbated by London’s accusations of Moscow being allegedly behind the recent
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of a Russian ex-intelligence officer in Britain.


Russian officials have strongly denied the accusations, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying that Moscow is ready to cooperate in the probe but needs to look at the samples of the substance in question.

On March 4, Sergei Skripal, who was accused of espionage on behalf of London and later granted asylum in the United Kingdom after a US-Russia spy exchange, and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench at a shopping center in Salisbury.

Both of them remain in critical condition and are being treated for suspected exposure to a nerve agent.

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TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
BAE Systems unveils its design for the Type 31 frigate for export
By:
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  5 hours ago
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The Type 31e frigate contender made its international debut at the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference held earlier this week, coinciding with the release of the pre-qualification questionnaire for the program’s competitive design phase by the U.K. Ministry of Defence. (BAE Systems)

DOHA, Qatar — For the first time ever, British company BAE Systems launched its proposed design for the Type 31e (e for export) frigate competition outside the United Kingdom.

The Type 31e frigate contender made its international debut at the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference held earlier this week, coinciding with the release of the pre-qualification questionnaire for the program’s competitive design phase by the U.K. Ministry of Defence.

BAE is in a joint bid for the Type 31e contract with Liverpool shipbuilder Cammell Laird. The design is in part based on the Khareef class of corvettes delivered to the Omani navy by BAE.

The frigates are currently being designed for export and a key part of the program is “adaptability and flexibility of the warship in order to meet the customer’s requirements,” said Kevin Joyce, international business development for naval ships at BAE Systems.



In addition to the design, BAE Systems is working on the ship’s combat management system to support requirements of potential international customers. The CMS will add enhanced features through its open, secure, and flexible architecture, ensuring it can be upgraded as new technology is developed to counter threats.

On potential export sales, Joyce said that the company “already got interest from two South American customers on the Type 31e,”

Another industry official stressed the growing interest in the Type 31 frigate, stating that “BAE had visits from a lot of potential customers who are looking to know more about this very capable warship program.”

Tony Graham, Cammell Laird’s Type 31e project director told a suppliers conference recently the two companies had already worked up an international market plan for their design, known as the Leander.

“We have a global campaign plan for the Type 31e program and have identified opportunities in more than 20 countries,” said Graham, who was previously a senior executive in charge of the MoD’s combat ships procurement effort. “Our intent is to build a warship export business based on Leander. The MoD has indicated it is willing to sign a business agreement alongside the contract to help industry export the Type 31e. This joint approach between the government and the Royal Navy producing a proper business plan for exports has never been seen before.”

The proposed frigate will navigate at a top speed of more than 25 knots at a range of at least 7,500 miles.

Back in 2015, the British government announced plans to build a fleet of at least five light general purpose frigates under the Strategic Defence and Security Review, or SDSR, and has since been conducting early concept and other work on the Type 31.

“The purpose of this program was to serve our Royal Navy and international customers. The Type 31e will be designed to be operable in international waters, including the Gulf”, Joyce added.

The Royal Navy is currently looking to replace five Type 23 frigates with five brand new Type 31s. However, the UK government has a “long commitment to grow the Royal Navy’s fleet, which could lead to the increase of those units in the years to come,” the official added.

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The Type 31 frigates and eight new Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigates are planned to replace the British Royal Navy’s Type 23 fleet by the mid-2030s.

BAE already has a contract to build the first three Type 26s. A deal for the remaining five warships is expected early in the next decade.

The first Type 31e warship is to be delivered in 2023 with the British MoD capping the total cost of the five units at £1.25 billion, or $1.74 billion.

“The program is in the pre-procurement phase and we intend to run the competition this year and select a single consortium by the end of 2018,” said a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman.

“We will award a single design and build contract in 2019, allowing us to trial and accept the first ship into service by 2023,” she said. “Type 31e is a priority in our current financial plans and we will finalise the budget and schedule when the main gate investment point has been reached.

BAE executives have previously said meeting the MoD’s time schedule will present a huge challenge to industry.

In a concurrence of events, BAE’s launch of the Type 31e design internationally coincided with the pre-qualification questionnaire and invitation to tender (ITT) for the competitive design phase of the program.

Up to four companies will be awarded competitive design-phase contracts a British Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said Mar 16.

The spokesman declined to say who received the tender documents, but a Babcock International/BMT Defence Services team offering a new frigate design will likely be among the front runners for the deal, along with BAE.

The Royal Navy’s Type 31 is to be fitted with the Advanced Radar Target Indication Situational Awareness and Navigation (ARTISAN) radar, Sea Ceptor anti-air missile, and an unidentified gun.

BAE reckons it is best to use the Bofors 57 mm gun. “It is our preferred choice,”said Joyce. “But that depends on how the requirement goes,”

For its part, Rolls Royce will be supplying the MT30 engine and a range of equipment including steering gear, rudders, propellers and mission bay handling systems for the BAE/Cammell Laird bid.

Andrew Chuter in London contributed to this story.
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actually you're right, that arctic ice is being made to manufacture healthy "Arctic ICE Strawberry and Banana smoothies",,, full of protein powder, and radioactive arctic ice to "power you" through your day,, and as an added benefit, you have a very healthy glow!

yep, actually it is about "power projection" and staying sharp operating under the ice, navigation and operation under the ice are very challenging,,, will two opposing teams ever actually engage under the ice??? probably not if we maintain our proficiency, and that is the genesis for all this fun in the sun activities..

Ice is constantly moving, freezing thawing, breaking up, and reforming, it is impossible to map all the changing scenario's, but it is possible to become familiar with major features and learn how to use them to your advantage!
now the RN:
Royal Navy returns to the Arctic – HMS Trenchant surfaces in the ice
March 15, 2018
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Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
now the RN:
Royal Navy returns to the Arctic – HMS Trenchant surfaces in the ice
March 15, 2018
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Yes, if you notice the forward ballast tanks are blown before the aft ballast tanks, in order to surface the bow and sail prior to the stern planes.. allowing the bow and sail to break the ice, as they are tougher and more buoyant. Now this is an ice flow, and not particularly thick ice, the boat would have to look for thin ice when doing a transit in order to surface, very cool picture, and glad to see our subs working in concert with one another.
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
A few years back I thought I posted a Article about the British army looking to ditch the L110A2 in favor of Grenade launchers and the L129A1 DMR rifle.
A couple of articles showed up last week as follow up.
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^ This article claims that the FN Minimi has been dropped from the British army's infantry section but it's not official yet from the MOD.
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^This article goes over the rationalBasically the issue in this case can be summarized as The FN Minimi that is used by the British under the Designations L108A1, L110A2 and US as the M249 lack the ability to engage a target beyond 200m ( FN claims 400m) without spraying down a wide area and are too damn heavy. more the Latter then the Former. The Way the British seem to feel about moving forward is to copy the USMC M27 Infantry automatic rifle concept but using the L85A3.

This is not unheard of for the British army as there SA80 series of weapons was meant to do just about the Same thing.
Where in a Squad of British troops the L85 (upgraded after issues to A2 and going to A3) was to be the Infantry rifle issued standard with low powered magnified optic ( British Parlance, "Individual Weapon"),
There would be some L85A2 fitted with a Under barrel Grenade launcher The L123A2

Then There was the L86 Light Support Weapon which had a long reinforced barrel, Bipod and rear mounted support grip. These similarly were rebuilt from A1 to A2, however there is no evidence of a L86A3

And eventually the L22A2 As there never was a L22A1 these are short barreled (12.5 inch ) carbines that are limited in number.

Presumably L85A3 will be reconfigured with Accessories to match the intended Role much like the USMC M27 vs the M35. where in the British will have a standard configuration with ELCAN SpecterOS 4× Lightweight Day Sights ( Current standard issue for British L85A2) and a Fore grip, A Grenadier configuration with a Mounted HK AG36 or variant there in like the EGLM. And a Support weapon with a bipod and grip. However there would be one more weapon in the Squad the L129A1 DMR which is a American made Lewis Machine and Tool 7.62x51mm AR10 derivative.
 
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