Defence News

Defence News: 22 May 2013

Defence Secretary visits UK forces training Mali troops
Royal Navy takes the lead in international exercise
Royal Marines train on Salisbury Plain

Defence in the Media: 22 May 2013

Summary
Various media report that up to 600 Afghan interpreters who worked alongside British troops are to be given the right to live in the UK. | There is widespread coverage of the family of Lance Corporal James Ashworth collecting his Victoria Cross from Her Majesty The Queen in a private ceremony yesterday. | The Daily Mail reports that an Army sniper has been paid £100,000 compensation after his identity was mistakenly revealed. | The Telegraph reports that 7 soldiers under the age of 18 were mistakenly deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan between 2007 and 2010. | The Times and The Sun report on the Defence Secretary saying during a visit to Mali that British troops will be deployed pre-emptively and in far smaller numbers to protect countries on the verge of collapse. | The Daily Express reports that Dame Judi Dench has launched a campaign to help raise £1 million to maintain the Bomber Command Memorial. | The Guardian has published an open letter to the Prime Minister from a group of actors, writers and campaigners criticising his plans to spend more than £50 million marking the centenary of the First World War. | The Sun reports that an RAF search and rescue helicopter and a naval warship tried to find a man who had fallen off a cross-channel passenger ferry. After 5 hours the search was called off. | The Telegraph reports that it has been revealed that the Ministry of Defence spent over £18,500 over five years on hiring evening dress wear for civil servants.

Image of the Day: 22 May 2013

A US Navy guided-missile destroyer follows Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon through the Strait of Hormuz as part of International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2013. Click here to read more. [Picture: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Carla Ocampo, US Navy]

Defence Diary: 22 May 2013

Today, Wednesday 22 May
Funeral in Penicuik of Corporal William Savage, from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, who was killed in Afghanistan on 30 April 2013.
1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment homecoming parade, Tameside.
Kohima memorial service and wreath-laying, York Minster.
Chatham House breakfast briefing: Prioritising Cyber Security in Critical Infrastructure.
International Institute of Strategic Studies discussion meeting - Pakistan's Election Results: What do they mean for the country, the region and the world?

Tomorrow, Thursday 23 May
Royal Navy warships arrive in Liverpool for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic commemorations.
Chatham House members' event - North Korea and its Neighbours: A Region on the Brink?

Friday 24 May
Funeral in Blackpool of Fusilier Samuel Flint, from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, who was killed in Afghanistan on 30 April 2013.
2 Signal Regiment freedom parade, York.
12 Logistic Support Regiment medal and freedom parade, Abingdon.

Sunday 26 May
Battle of the Atlantic commemorative service, Liverpool Cathedral.

Monday 27 May
Spring Bank Holiday.
HMS Enterprise returns to Devonport Naval Base following a nine-month deployment east of Suez.
TV programme of interest: 'Dive WWII: Our Secret History', BBC Northern Ireland, 2220hrs. A deepwater dive team search the seabed off the coast of Northern Ireland for the forgotten shipwrecks of the Second World War's Battle of the Atlantic (episode 1 of 2).
Radio programme of interest: 'Signing Up at 16', BBC Radio 4, 1100hrs. A revealing series following a group of 16-year-old boys and girls through a year of training at the Army Foundation College Harrogate (episode 3 of 3).

Tuesday 28 May
1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles medal parade, Folkestone.

Wednesday 29 May
2013 Trafalgar Cup rugby league match - the Parachute Regiment versus the Royal Marines, Colchester United Football Stadium.

Defence News: 21 May 2013

North West troops welcomed home from Afghanistan
Defence civilians awarded for Afghanistan efforts
Joint Strike Fighter

Defence in the Media: 21 May 2013

Summary
Various media report that a powerful roadside bomb has killed six policemen in western Afghanistan. The officers' vehicle hit the explosives planted in the road they were driving on this morning in Herat province. | The Guardian carries a feature about British soldier Major Tim Peake who will become 'Britain's first official astronaut'. The piece considers what Major Peake will be doing on the International Space Station as well as looking at Britain's history in space. | The Times reports that Arctic Convoy veterans will be able to receive their Arctic Star medals at formal ceremonies in London and Liverpool organised by the Royal Naval Association after an outcry at a decision to send them in the post. | Various media cover Princes William and Harry's visit to Tedworth House yesterday to officially open the Help for Heroes facility which helps to rehabilitate injured Service personnel.

Carrier strike capability
The Times reports that Britain's new Queen Elizabeth Class carriers could be vulnerable to attack because of the slow deployment of the new radar early-warning system 'Crowsnest'.

The Defence Secretary Philip Hammond responded to this point on publication of the National Audit Office report on 10 May. He said: "The Department does not consider that the phased introduction of Crowsnest undermines the delivery of carrier strike capability.

Crowsnest will enter service in 2020, at the same time as HMS Queen Elizabeth, and the helicopter-based radar system will be fully operational by 2022. Until then, its maritime surveillance capabilities will be augmented by other platforms and systems, including the state-of-the-art radar on the Type 45 destroyers, working together in a layered defence."

The UK's first two Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft are currently participating in a US test programme and we expect to receive front line aircraft from 2015 onwards, with an initial operating capability from land in 2018, followed by first of class flights from HMS Queen Elizabeth later that year.

HMS Ark Royal
There has been widespread coverage of HMS Ark Royal leaving Portsmouth Naval Base yesterday bound for a Turkish scrapyard.

Ark Royal, like her sister ships, has served this country with great distinction. Retiring her five years earlier than planned was a difficult decision but it was the right one that, combined with her sale, has saved over a hundred million pounds. A decommissioning ceremony was held in March 2011 to pay tribute to her 31 years' service with the Royal Navy.

Image of the Day: 21 May 2013

Thousands of people in Whitehaven, Cumbria, turned out to watch more than 120 soldiers from 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment parade through the town yesterday, 20 May, to mark their return from operations in Afghanistan. Click here to read more. [Picture: Mark Owens, Crown copyright]

Defence Diary: 21 May 2013

Today, Tuesday 21 May
Posthumous Victoria Cross investiture at Buckingham Place for Lance Corporal James Ashworth who was killed in Afghanistan on 13 June 2012.
1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment homecoming parade, Burnley.
Military and Civilian Health Partnership Awards ceremony, Cardiff City Hall.

Tomorrow, Wednesday 22 May
Funeral in Penicuik of Corporal William Savage, from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, who was killed in Afghanistan on 30 April 2013.
1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment homecoming parade, Tameside.
Kohima memorial service and wreath-laying, York Minster.
Chatham House breakfast briefing: Prioritising Cyber Security in Critical Infrastructure.
International Institute of Strategic Studies discussion meeting - Pakistan's Election Results: What do they mean for the country, the region and the world?

Thursday 23 May
Royal Navy warships arrive in Liverpool for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic commemorations.
Chatham House members' event - North Korea and its Neighbours: A Region on the Brink?

Friday 24 May
Funeral in Blackpool of Fusilier Samuel Flint, from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, who was killed in Afghanistan on 30 April 2013.
2 Signal Regiment freedom parade, York.
12 Logistic Support Regiment medal and freedom parade, Abingdon.

Sunday 26 May
Battle of the Atlantic commemorative service, Liverpool Cathedral.

Monday 27 May
Spring Bank Holiday.
HMS Enterprise returns to Devonport Naval Base following a nine-month deployment east of Suez.
Radio programme of interest: 'Signing Up at 16', BBC Radio 4, 1100hrs. A revealing series following a group of 16-year-old boys and girls through a year of training at the Army Foundation College Harrogate (episode 3 of 3).

Tuesday 28 May
1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles medal parade, Folkestone.

Defence News: 20 May 2013

Army wants 10,000 soldiers to 'Step Up'
Apache Hellfire missiles restocked in £15 million deal
Ambush tests military police close protection skills

Defence in the Media: 20 May 2013

Summary
On Saturday various media reported on Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson, who lost both his legs in a bomb blast in Afghanistan in 2006, collecting his MBE from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace on Friday. | The Times published an article about the Royal Navy currently taking part in the largest mine clearance exercise in the world in Bahrain. | Various media reported that a Manchester man has been jailed for 8 years for the manslaughter of Fusilier David Lee Collins, from 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, after a fight broke out at a nightclub in Ayia Napa last November. | The Times reported that the Red Arrows have been granted their public display authority for this year by the Chief of the Air Staff, which means they are able to perform at air shows. | The Telegraph reported that Bomber Command veterans have signalled their disgust at being offered a clasp rather than a campaign medal by boycotting the award, with barely half of those eligible having so far applied for it. | The Independent reported that the Royal Regiment of Scotland has the highest number of drug abusers in the Army. The piece carries a line from the MOD saying that any soldier found to have taken drugs could 'expect to be discharged'. | On Sunday, The Sun reported that defence bosses have ordered a £15 million restock of the Hellfire missiles used by the Army's Apache helicopters. | The Sun also reported that an ex-Para who lost his legs to a Taliban bomb has got back in the saddle - thanks to a stunt horse. Keen rider Scott Meenagh stunned an equestrian show by coaxing his horse Todo to lie down then pick him up so he could ride. | The Sunday Express reported that British Special Forces have captured a Taliban leader thought to be responsible for the roadside bomb that killed three British soldiers last month. | The Sunday Express also reported that TV presenter Dan Snow has been made an honorary colonel and given the mission of drumming up recruits for the Territorial Army. | The Sunday Times reported that Britain risks angering the Pentagon by pressing ahead with plans to privatise the agency responsible for buying jets, warships and tanks. Bernard Gray, Chief of Defence Materiel at the MOD, has told staff he will issue a contract notice for a private partner to run Defence Equipment and Support. | The Sunday Times also reported that the MOD is attempting to boost Territorial Army (TA) numbers by offering recruits a £5,000 'golden hello' and promising them that they will not have to go to war. It says Army chiefs are offering the incentive to soldiers who are leaving the Regular Army to try to persuade them to sign up as part-timers in the TA. | The Daily Star Sunday reported that office staff were rewarded with cupcakes for carrying out a huge savings drive at a MOD department. | Today, various media report that BAE Systems' two most influential stakeholders are expected within weeks to sign off on Sir Roger Carr becoming the UK defence company's new chairman. | The Daily Mirror reports that a soldier whose legs were amputated after the vehicle he was driving was blown up in Afghanistan is now riding superbikes competitively.

Under-18s recruitment to the Army
This weekend there have been reports calling for an end to recruiting under-18s for the British Army.

Our Armed Forces provide challenging and constructive education, training and employment opportunities for young people, equipping them with valuable and transferable skills. We continue to actively recruit across all age groups and as part of our duty of care to our recruits no young person under the age of 18 years may volunteer to join our Armed Forces without the formal written consent of their parent or guardian.

There are currently no plans to revisit the government's recruitment policy for under-18s, which is fully compliant with United Nations' conventions.