UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

[Jeff Head]

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Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth’s mighty diesel generators have been powered-up marking a major milestone on the way to becoming an operational warship.

The 65,000 tonne future flagship of the Royal Navy has undergone months of preparation work by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) to start the first of her four diesel engines, which are directly coupled to the generators.

Together, each power unit weighs approximately 200 tonnes – the weight of two medium size passenger jets.

Minister of State for Defence Procurement, Philip Dunne, officially started the first of the ship’s four diesel generators at the home of the UK’s aircraft carrier programme in Rosyth, Scotland yesterday bringing the ship to life for the first time.

He also announced that

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to install a new Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) to assist in the controlling and monitoring of all ship movements within Portsmouth Harbour and the Eastern Solent to prepare for the arrival of the carrier, around the end of 2016, beginning of 2017.

The diesel generator sets will provide sufficient electrical power to drive the ship at cruise speeds, but when higher speed is required, two Gas Turbine Alternators will also be used. Together they will produce 109MW of power, enough to power a medium-sized town.

To the end of May 2015, the Ministry of Defence had paid around £3.12 billion to BAE Systems on the Clyde (c. £1.925 billion) and to Babcock at Rosyth (c £1.194 billion) on the QEC programme. QEC work is estimated to support directly some 4,000 jobs and hundreds of apprentices at the Rosyth and Clyde-based shipyards.

Following sea trials (from 2017) and First of Class Flying Trials for helicopters and the F-35B Lightning II (starting in 2018), HMS Queen Elizabeth will undertake a coherent build up towards achieving an Initial Carrier Strike Capability in 2020.

Second of class HMS Prince Of Wales is now almost half complete at 30,000 tonnes, the forward island was installed in May 2015 forming the iconic carrier shape of the vessel. Initial Operating Capability of HMS Prince Of Wales is expected in 2023.

The aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince Of Wales are being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a unique partnering relationship between BAE Systems, Thales UK, Babcock and the Ministry of Defence.

 

[Equation]

Geeze that could light up an entire subdivision of Houston (Pearland).

 

[FORBIN]

 

[Jura The idiot]

"The purchase of the French Mistral Helicopter Landing ships built for Russia to replace HMS Ocean" ... I found this claim in
The Royal Navy prepares its case for surviving the coming defence review
(dated July 1)
source:

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[FORBIN]

A400M deliveries continue, as UK receives third airlifter

The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) has received into service the third of 22 Airbus Defence and Space (DS) A400M Atlas transport aircraft, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 6 July.

The airlifter arrived at its homebase at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, having completed pre-delivery trials at the Seville final assembly line in Spain, where it had been held up for some weeks following the fatal crash on 9 May of an aircraft destined for Turkey. There are currently three further aircraft at Seville, which are due to be flown to the United Kingdom in the coming days and weeks.

It is anticipated that the RAF will have received its first seven aircraft by the end of September, at which point the service will declare initial operating capability (IOC) for the type. All 22 aircraft are scheduled to be in service by 2022, to coincide with the retirement of the planned Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules.

The RAF's 206 Squadron is currently testing the first A400Ms to arrive at RAF Brize Norton, with crews to be trained by 24 Squadron. Once trained, these personnel will be assigned to the first operational A400M unit: 70 Squadron. A second operational unit (expected to be 30 Squadron, but not yet confirmed) is due to be stood up in 2018.

The arrival of the third A400M for the RAF comes just days after Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Dunne, announced that testing national capabilities will commence at the end of July. The RAF is to roll out its A400M capabilities in a series of tranches: Tranche 1 comprising basic strategic airlift (2015); Tranche 2 involving non-permissive operations and inter-theatre operations (from 2016), as well as deployable intra-theatre capability (from 2017); Tranche 3 will involve tactical transport, including airdrops (from late 2017); and Tranche 4 involving advanced capabilities and full support to the Airborne Assault Task Force (from 2018 to 2022).

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A second operational unit (expected to be 30 Squadron, but not yet confirmed)

Now on C-130J

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

"The purchase of the French Mistral Helicopter Landing ships built for Russia to replace HMS Ocean" ... I found this claim in

The Royal Navy prepares its case for surviving the coming defence review
(dated July 1)

source:

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The much-loved Royal Marines with an established public brand will probably survive but their main transport, in the form of HMS Albion or Bulwark and the Bay class landing ships look especially vulnerable. It is quite possible these vessels could be sold or ‘mothballed’ permanently with the RN’s entire amphibious capability resting with the available aircraft carrier. (HMS Ocean will go in 2018 anyway and there are no plans to replace her).

On this excerpt from the blog, note the date of retirement of 2018.

Now tick back to the operations date of the Queen Elizabeth II: 2018.

The QE is partially the replacement for the Ocean. In that it can be used as the air platform for operations of the Royal Marines.

Being perfectly honest it only can partially fill the gap as there is the limitation of needing to operate its primary mission IE Carrier operations.

It seems to me that since the end of the Falklands war, the Royal Marines who proved the main thrust of that operation have been trapped in a loosing war against White hall and the British government.

I mean the Royal Marines have great training and personal but there capabilities have been sapped. Even in the Falklands the Royal Marines were a budget force when compared to the US Marine Corps. Where the USMC is mechanized to a strong degree the Royal Marines are almost entirely Light Infantry.

But since the end of the Falklands the Royal Marines have been retiring more equipment then they adopt.

The blog also mentions other issues, shrinking destroyer forces, no new conventional subs, lack of a patrol plane.

I would farther add a issue shared across Nato these days lack of large multi mission Ice Breakers.

Buying even one of the Mistrals would be a major action for the UK, the ship(s) would still have to undertake a major refit for Royal Navy spec weapons, and hopefully the RN would pick up a few new landcraft in the deal as the Royal Marines could use them.

 

[Jeff Head]

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​

Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan is working around the clock to support day and night strikes against key ISIL targets in the Middle East launched from the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

She’s the latest Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer to take her place with a US carrier battle group on operations in the Gulf region, and is part of a coalition of more than 60 countries.

The vessel has the ability to provide air traffic and fighter control.

As well as supporting the international effort against the ISIL fundamentalists – the 8,500-tonne warship has also joined the wider security mission in the region: patrolling the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman and accompanying shipping through the key choke points in the region such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al Mandeb.

Working with the US carrier also sets the pace for the arrival of the Royal Navy’s two new Queen Elizabeth class carriers – allowing the Service the opportunity to develop effective techniques.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

Land Platforms
UK orders CTAS 40 mm cannons for new armoured vehicles
Nicholas de Larrinaga, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
01 July 2015

The UK MoD has ordered 515 CTAS 40 mm cannons for its new fleet of armoured fighting vehicles. Picture is the cannon fitted to Lockheed Martin UK's Warrior CSP turret. Source: IHS/Patrick Allen
The UK Ministry of Defence has placed a GBP150 million (USD236 million) order for CTA International 40 mm Case Telescoped Armament System (CTAS) cannons for its future fleet of tracked armoured fighting vehicles.

The contract, awarded to CTA International (CTAI), includes 515 cannons for the British Army's new Scout SV reconnaissance vehicle and its upgraded Warrior infantry fighting vehicles.

Speaking on 1 July, UK defence secretary Michael Fallon said: "Today I can announce we have signed a GBP150 million contract to fit the Scout with a new Cased Telescope cannon providing it with unrivalled firepower and a new 'airburst ammunition' capability."

The CTAS features a novel telescoped ammunition that means the cannon and its ammunition takes up a significantly reduced internal volume within a vehicle's turret. This in turn allows a larger calibre cannon to be fitted to smaller vehicles, and for more ammunition to be carried.

The order for the cannons is evenly divided between the two vehicles, with 245 cannons destined for the turreted versions of the Scout SV and the Warrior CSP vehicles. Speaking to IHS Jane's , an Ministry of Defence spokesperson stated that the remaining 25 cannons would be used for "ammunition qualification, trials, and training".

CTAI is a joint venture between BAE Systems and Nexter Systems, with the CTAS also set to be installed on the French Army's new suit of armoured vehicles, such as the EBRC Jaguar.

The UK has a total of 589 Scout SVs on order from prime contractor General Dynamics UK, with the vehicle based on the ASCOD 2 design. Of these 245 are of the turreted version, in three different variants; with the remaining vehicles being of the Protected Mobility Reconnaissance Support (PMRS) version, divided between six variants. Under the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (CSP), the British Army is also upgrading 380 vehicles from the Warrior family. Of these, 245 will be of the infantry fighting vehicle variant - fitted with the CT 40 mm cannon in a new Lockheed Martin UK turret - with the remainder being engineering support and artillery support vehicles that will not be armed with the new cannon.

According to BAE Systems, production of the cannons for the British Army will last for "seven years, with the first cannons scheduled for delivery in mid-2016".

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[Jura The idiot]

a promise made:
Fallon: UK Will Meet NATO Spending Target This Financial Year

source:

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... continued:
UK Pledges To Meet NATO Spending Target

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has pledged Britain will meet NATO's target of spending 2 percent of national income on defense for the remainder of the decade.

"We are committing today to meet the NATO pledge to spend 2 percent of our national income on defense. Not just this year, but every year of this decade," Osborne said in his budget speech to Parliament on Wednesday. "We will ensure that this commitment is properly measured, because we know that while those commitments don't come cheap, the alternatives are far more costly."

Britain's continuing commitment to the 2 percent figure beyond this year has been in doubt since the new Conservative government refused to give any indication it would maintain the key spending target.

Osborne's comments came in a budget which spelled out government plans to cut £37 billion (US $57.4 billion) from overall spending during the five-year life of the new administration. Some £19 billion of that will be achieved by welfare spending reductions.

The government recently announced it was cutting £500 million from this year's £37.4 billion budget, in part by pushing programs to the right and taking any departmental underspend.

No details have been released on exactly how that 2 percent figure might be achieved, but Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has recently indicated post-conflict aid money might be included in the defense budget.

The devil might be in the details, but the spending commitment will likely be welcomed by the US administration and Conservative parliamentarians who have been warning for months that falling below the 2 percent target would have damaging effects on Britain's defense capabilities and its standing in NATO.

"Today I commit additional resources to the defense and security of the realm," Osborne said. "We recognize that in the modern world, the threats we face do not distinguish between different Whitehall budgets — and nor should we."

Osborne also said he would "guarantee a real increase in the defense budget every year, and on top of that, create a joint security fund of £1.5 billion a year by the end of the Parliament.

"The services will have to demonstrate they are delivering real efficiency and the strategic defense and security review will allocate the money in the most effective way," he said.

The government has a defense review underway at the moment that is expected to report in the fourth quarter on the way ahead over the next five years on capabilities, programs and other issues.

Publication of the strategic defense and security review will likely follow an announcement of detailed departmental spending plans for the next three years expected in September.

The Conservatives have already made several pledges on military spending, including boosting defense equipment spending by 1 percent in real terms per year until 2020, building four Successor nuclear missile submarines and making no further cuts to regular forces.

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[Jura The idiot]

... continued:
UK Pledges To Meet NATO Spending Target

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... related:
Pentagon Praises U.K. Commitment to NATO Defense Spending Target

The U.S. Department of Defense is lauding the British government’s decision to maintain its defense spending to meet NATO suggested targets.

“We welcome the U.K. announcement today, that the U.K. government will be spending two percent of its [gross domestic product] now on defense,” Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters on Wednesday.
“We strongly value our relationship with the [U.K. military] and we appreciate the signal that U.K. will remain a leader within NATO.”

George Osbrone, the U.K.’s finance minister, made the announcement the country would commit to the NATO suggested target earlier on Wednesday.

“Today I commit additional resources to the defense and security of the realm,” Osborne told parliament on Wednesday

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.

“Committing today to meet the NATO pledge to spend 2 percent of our national income on defense. Not just this year, but every year of this decade.”

The pledged increase should result in an extra $4.61 billion in defense spending

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, according to BBC analysis of the new plan.
For years, NATO has asked members to commit two percent of GDP to defense spending with mixed results.

Spending has largely been on the decline for member nations.

“The rate of decline slowed from a 3.9 percent fall in 2014 to an estimated 1.5 percent reduction this year, taking overall spending by the 28-nation alliance down to about US $893 billion, according to alliance figures,”

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.

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, the U.S., U.K., Estonia, Poland and Greece are the only countries that meet the threshold. Longtime NATO stalwarts — like Canada and Germany — clock in at about one percent of GDP.

NATO presence operations have seen an uptick in the last year since Russia seized the Crimean region in March of 2014.

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