Defence News

Image of the Day: 27 February 2012

HMS Illustrious recently made a four-day visit to Copenhagen where she worked with colleagues in the Danish Armed Forces. Click here to read more. [Picture: LA(Phot) Dean Nixon, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]

Defence Diary: 27 February 2012

Today, Monday 27 February
Public Accounts Committee evidence session: 'Reforming the MOD'.
TV programme of interest - Royal Marines: Mission Afghanistan, Channel 5, 2100hrs. Episode 5 of 6.

Tomorrow, Tuesday 28 February
House of Commons Defence Committee: Military Covenant in Action - Accommodation Inquiry evidence session.
King's College London War Studies at 50 seminar: Terrorism, Radicalisation & War Studies.

Wednesday 29 February
HMS Liverpool's final visit to Liverpool (until 5 March).
HMS Tireless visits Southampton (until 5 March).
Completion of Gaza Barracks at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.
Royal United Services Institute event: Sir Kevin Tebbit and Professor Michael Clarke on 'The Afghan Papers: Committing Britain to War in Helmand, 2005-06'.

Thursday 1 March
St David's Day celebrations by Welsh Guards at Hounslow Barracks.
Defence Equipment & Support Joint Support Chain: Joint MOD & Industry Conference.

Monday 5 March
TV programme of interest - Royal Marines: Mission Afghanistan, Channel 5, 2100hrs. Episode 6 of 6.

Defence News: 24 February 2012

Airborne medics test skills for worldwide operations
Admiral visits Arctic helicopter training base
SPAG trains for submarine rescue in Gibraltar
Defence Inquests Unit: helping to find the answers
Royal Navy diver to advise on Costa Concordia

Defence in the Media: 24 February 2012

Summary
Various media report that Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed there would be 'no impunity' for Somali pirates as international leaders agreed to tighten the net on those menacing international shipping. | Various papers report that Western and Arab League leaders are meeting in Tunisia today to call for a ceasefire in Syria. | The BBC reports that an air strike in southern Somalia has killed at least six people, including foreigners. | Various papers report that two US soldiers were shot dead by an Afghan soldier yesterday. | The Daily Telegraph reports that a convoy of children has been rescued from being smuggled over the Afghan border to Pakistan to be trained as suicide bombers. | The Daily Telegraph also reports that Pakistan was allegedly prepared to allow a surge in US soldiers on the ground and promised to find Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders in exchange for help in ousting two of its generals. | The Times reports that Kofi Annan is tipped to become a special international envoy to Syria, but the paper says his job would be extremely difficult given that there is no clear way forward on how to end the violence. | The Sun reports that Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry has sold a replica of his Victoria Cross for £12,000 to raise money for charity. | Various papers report that the Royal Navy has unveiled a £3.25m training centre, based in Portsmouth, which will teach sailors and marines how to abandon ship. | The Times reports that the Chief of the General Staff says that reservists have always played a key role in the Army but in the future they will be even more vital. | Various papers report that an Army chef has won a £15,500 payout after being subjected to racist abuse. | The Guardian reports that MOD staff have spent thousands of pounds on the speaking clock and directory enquiries. | The Guardian also reports that British troops handed a Pakistani man to US forces in 'questionable circumstances' after the invasion of Iraq, a senior judge said yesterday. | The Financial Times reports that the Government is showing restraint on foreign policy, despite Africa and the Middle East 'looming ever larger' on the UK's radar.

Building of new Navy tankers
The Daily Mail has reported that the MOD is accused of snubbing a defence company's pledge to build one of the Royal Navy's new refuelling tankers in Britain. This comes from a letter from one of the bidders, Fincantieri, which says that the company would consider working with BAE Systems if they were successful. The newspaper says that the MOD was wrong not to choose this option and instead select a South Korean company to build the four new vessels.

Defence Equipment Minister Peter Luff said: "The fact is that no British company entered a final bid. The Fincantieri bid did not contain any mention of BAE Systems involvement and BAE Systems have themselves said they don't know the costs of building one of the ships in the UK.

"BAE Systems also made it clear that building a tanker in the UK would impact on the build programme for the new aircraft carriers and the new Type 26 frigate. The Fincantieri bid did not meet some fundamental requirements and, even if it had, it was hundreds of millions more expensive and therefore would have been the wrong choice for UK taxpayers."

Image of the Day: 24 February 2012

Troops from Colchester-based 16 Medical Regiment have been testing their techniques and the high-tech, lightweight equipment they will use to provide medical care to the Airborne Task Force - the British Army's rapid reaction force - in an exercise held at the Army Medical Services Training Centre in York. A field hospital, including a resuscitation suite, operating theatre and intensive care ward, was set up to treat simulated casualties using equipment such as a portable digital X-ray machine and hand-held diagnostic scanners. Click here to read more. [Picture: Sergeant Rupert Frere, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]

Defence Diary: 24 February 2012

Today, Friday 24 February
Government response to the House of Commons Defence Committee report on the Armed Forces Covenant in Action - Part 1: Military Casualties.
International Institute for Strategic Studies event: First Sea Lord on 'Influence without embroilment: delivering effect from the sea'.

Monday 27 February
Public Accounts Committee evidence session: 'Reforming the MOD'.
TV programme of interest - Royal Marines: Mission Afghanistan, Channel 5, 2100hrs. Episode 5 of 6.

Tuesday 28 February
House of Commons Defence Committee: Military Covenant in Action - Accommodation Inquiry evidence session.
King's College London War Studies at 50 seminar: Terrorism, Radicalisation & War Studies.

Wednesday 29 February
HMS Liverpool's final visit to Liverpool (until 5 March).
HMS Tireless visits Southampton (until 5 March).
Completion of Gaza Barracks at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.
Royal United Services Institute event: Sir Kevin Tebbit and Professor Michael Clarke on 'The Afghan Papers: Committing Britain to War in Helmand, 2005-06'.

Thursday 1 March
St David's Day celebrations by Welsh Guards at Hounslow Barracks.
Defence Equipment & Support Joint Support Chain: Joint MOD & Industry Conference.

Defence News: 23 February 2012

Dambusters prepare for Afghanistan deployment
New Royal Navy Sea Survival Training Centre opens in Portsmouth
MOD to order four new RFA tankers
Royal Navy submarines to inform climate change research
Tongan PM visits the MOD as part of three-day visit

Defence in the Media: 23 February 2012

Summary
On BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning the Foreign Secretary William Hague said that he hopes to agree a wider set of measures and tighter sanctions against the Assad regime at the forthcoming Friends of Syria meeting. | Various media report that representatives of more than 40 countries and international organisations are meeting in London today to discuss how to restore stability to Somalia. | BBC Wales reports that the last RAF aircraft to be repaired by the Ministry of Defence at St Athan is set to fly out, ending 75 years of maintenance at the site. | Various media report that the body of Senior Aircraftman Ryan Tomlin will be repatriated today. Senior Aircraftman Tomlin, from 2 Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment, was shot during an insurgent attack in Afghanistan on 13 February 2012. | Various papers report that seven people died in clashes between Afghan security forces and protesters demonstrating against the burning of Korans at a NATO base near Kabul. | Various media report that an inquest has heard that Royal Marine James Wright was killed by a grenade moments after taking off his helmet following a four-hour patrol in Afghanistan. Marine James Robert Wright was killed in Helmand province on 5 August 2011. | The Express reports that disabled war veterans have been told they must pay for hospital parking while those on benefits can park for free. | The Telegraph reports that Defence chiefs are giving £452m of taxpayers' money to a South Korean company to build Royal Fleet Auxiliary refuelling tankers. | The Express has published an interview with Captain Heloise Goodley, Army Air Corps, on her experiences in the Army and her book 'An Officer And A Gentlewoman'. | The Daily Mail reports that the crew of an Apache helicopter were forced to make an emergency landing after flying the aircraft into power cables. | The Telegraph reports that the opposition Syrian National Council said yesterday it was coming to the conclusion that outside military intervention was the 'only solution' to the crisis in the country. | Amongst wider reporting on Somalia ahead of today's conference, various papers report claims that the MOD has been planning to conduct ground operations in Somalia using HMS Ocean.

Image of the Day: 23 February 2012

The duty Search and Rescue (SAR) crew from 771 Naval Air Squadron can be seen conducting winching drills onto a cliff face on the Cornish coast. Training exercises test the abilities of the pilot to keep the aircraft in a hover, and the winchmen, who have to be lowered in all weather conditions. The Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose SAR Sea King helicopters are tasked weekly by the Coastguard (at least 200-times-a-year and rising) to assist various emergency agencies to help in the search and rescue of mariners in distress, or holidaymakers, walkers, climbers, divers and surfers injured, stranded or in difficulty around the Cornish coast. [Picture: POA(Phot) Paul A'Barrow, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]

Defence Diary: 23 February 2012

Today, Thursday 23 February
Repatriation to RAF Brize Norton of Senior Aircraftman Ryan Tomlin, from 2 Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment, who was killed in Afghanistan on 13 February 2012.
Inquest in Chelmsford into the death of Colour Serjeant Kevin Fortuna, from 1st Battalion The Rifles, who was killed in Afghanistan on 23 May 2011.
Somalia Conference in London.
First Sea Lord giving Mountbatten Lecture at Edinburgh University.

Tomorrow, Friday 24 February
International Institute for Strategic Studies event: First Sea Lord on 'Influence without embroilment: delivering effect from the sea'.

Monday 27 February
Public Accounts Committee evidence session: 'Reforming the MOD'.
TV programme of interest - Royal Marines: Mission Afghanistan, Channel 5, 2100hrs. Episode 5 of 6.

Tuesday 28 February
House of Commons Defence Committee: Military Covenant in Action - Accommodation Inquiry evidence session.
King's College London War Studies at 50 seminar: Terrorism, Radicalisation & War Studies.

Wednesday 29 February
HMS Liverpool's final visit to Liverpool (until 5 March).
HMS Tireless visits Southampton (until 5 March).
Completion of Gaza Barracks at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.
Royal United Services Institute event: Sir Kevin Tebbit and Professor Michael Clarke on 'The Afghan Papers: Committing Britain to War in Helmand, 2005-06'.

Thursday 1 March
St David's Day celebrations by Welsh Guards at Hounslow Barracks.
Defence Equipment & Support Joint Support Chain: Joint MOD & Industry Conference.