Briefings : Talent, Marines, Hawk

• RN submarine HMS Talent is taking part in war games with the Indian Navy. The Telegraph is reporting that the RN are furious at this leak of details as the whereabouts of Royal Navy ships is usually not disclosed... apart from on the many news stories published on the MOD's own website of course.
• The Royal Marines of the Fleet Protection Group has also been in training in a variety of vessels including jet-skis in rather less warm waters, the Clyde to be exact.
• Part of the RAF's Hawk trainer fleet has been grounded following problems found with the elector seat on one aircraft during an inspection. All aircraft with a Mark 10 ejector seat will not be cleared to fly until they have been inspected.
• Part of the latest Astute submarine Audacious has been moved between different parts of BAE Systems facilities in Barrow. The 800 ton section had to be moved along the road, as you can imagine it had right-of-way.
• Flight tests for the STOVL JSF fighter, which the UK will buy, are behind schedule because of a higher than expected failure rate of components.

Briefings : Trident costs, Anglo-French Co-op, Gripen-NG

• The UK Treasury is asking the MOD to see if the costs of replacing the UK's strategic nuclear deterrent can come out of the MOD budget and not a separate ring-fenced budget outside of the core MOD budget. Meanwhile the mirage of only buying 3 submarines not 4 has come up again but i thought they found the cost savings were fairly small overall and the loss of flexibility and cover fairly big?
• The UK and France are to launch a study into military co-operation. The two countries will see which competencies can be shared and which cannot. One area of co-operation could be in buying inflight refuelling tankers as both the UK and France plan to buy the A330 based MRTT.
• Sweden will buy the Gripen-NG Saab say though a formal announcement has not yet been made. Saab are confident Gripen will be in Swedish service beyond 2040 and Gripen-NG could be bought before the end of the decade.
• Royal Navy Sea King pilots have been training for their forthcoming deployment to Helmand province in California.
  
  
  

Briefings : Atlantic, T-X, KC-10

• The German Navy has retired it's last Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft. Second hand P-3C Orions are now operated instead.
• One of the next big aircraft procurement programmes is a new advanced trainer for the USAF to replace the T-38 Talon. The winner of the T-X programme would also likely perform well with other trainer procurement programmes worldwide so the stakes are high. Contenders include the T-50 Golden Eagle and the Hawk 128.
• Boeing have won a $216 million contract to upgrade the cockpits of the USAF's fleet of KC-10 tankers. The upgrade includes a new communication, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) system to allow the planes to operate and comply with forthcoming civil aerospace organisation standards.
• Sweden will buy 2 new submarines.

Ash cloud halts military training

As well as civilian flights the ash cloud from the erupting Icelandic volcano has bought a stop to RAF military training flights and the majority of all military flights. Forces taking part in the Joint Warrior exercise taking place off Scotland have also been affected. SAR helicopters are still expected to operate as normal because they fly at a lower altitude.

Briefings : Submarines, UK Training, QF-16s

The Royal Navy may lift the ban on women serving on it's submarines. They will make a decision later in the year and female officers could serve initially aboard the 4 Vanguard ballistic missile submarines. The UK MOD is looking to acquire the remaining major elements of it's Military Flying Training System. The RAF's Shorts Tucano and Hawker Siddeley Dominies will be replaced in the deal.

After many years of destruction the USAF is running out of QF-4 drones and will now convert the 126 oldest F-16s in storage of QF-16.

Briefings : Engineers, Russia, Training

Construction has begun of 60 new armoured earth moving machines for the Royal Engineers. The BAE Systems Terrier is said to have been honed by experience by other machines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Well lets hope so.

Two RAF Typhoons were scrambled after a disturbance on a Dallas-London flight but returned to base when it was confirmed the 767 was not involved in a terrorism incident.

Russia will give Lebanon Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunships under a military aid programme instead of the MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters previously considered. Russia meanwhile are negotiating with France for the sale of 4 Mistral amphibious warfare ships, the first will be built in France but the building location of the next 3 has yet to be decided. The ex-Soviet Baltic states are meanwhile concerned about the deal. Gas supplies to France are part of the deal, this is how the 21st century is going.

The Advanced European Jet Pilot Training (AEJPT) programme is a 9 nation scheme to combine jet training although the governments involved are yet to allocate any funds.

Exercise South West Sword

Royal Navy ships and Royal Marines have begun an amphibious exercise off the South West coast of Britain. South West Sword involves HMS Albion, RFA Mounts Bay and 42 Commando Royal Marines and includes a series of landings and raids along the Cornish and Devon coasts.

RN King Airs arrive in UK

The 4 King Air 350ERs which will replace the Royal Navy's Jetstream trainers have arrived in the UK and will now receive their mission equipment. This equipment will include a Telephonics 1700 search radar and a tactical mission training suite. The King Airs will enter service in 2011.

Government to U-turn on TA cuts?

Following the ridiculous decision to cut training for the Territorial Army to save £20 million many of the reservists said they would leave the TA and warned that they would not be adequately prepared to serve in Afghanistan where they make up up to 10% of the British troops serving there at any one time. Now the MOD has found a few million to retain drill nights. Much training has already been cut back though, for the sake of a rather small saving in the whole scheme of things. It honestly does begger belief.

Update (27/10/09) : And indeed the government has made a total U-turn on these cuts. Of course the question is now who is going to lose out instead.

Jetstreams perform flypast as replacement arrives

After 30 years of service the Royal Navy's Jetstreams are due for replacement by King Air 350s by 2011. But to celebrate 30 years of service the RN's observer training aircraft performed a flypast at RNAS Culdrose.

The first of the replacements has already been delivered. The first of 4 King Air 350s (which will replace 9 Jetstreams) was unveiled at Culdrose. The King Airs will have enhanced training facilities thanks to Tactical Mission Training software which can overlay "virtual" targets on the real targets displayed on student's screens.

Defence Technical College to go ahead

The DTC at St Athan in Glamorgan is to go ahead, and will be the biggest PFI deal ever. The DTC or Defence technical College will consolidate 9 different sites to provide technical training to soldiers from all 3 services. The cost of delivering these services is £12-14 billion (depending on source) over the next 25 years. The first intake of students is planned for 2012 with full operational status by 2017. One should add that this training to be carried out in a partnership with private firms is for technical skills like engineering not combat training.

Bulldog aircraft of South Wales UAS based at St Athan.

The project is not without some controversy of course, PFI deals themselves have been criticised a fair amount over the years. The Liberal Democrats might cancel the contract, not that they are likely to ever be in a position to carry that out.

90 years of RAF military pilot training

Some nice photos celebrating the 90th anniversary of RAF military pilot training. A number of events were held to celebrate this at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.

Jetstreams to be replaced

The Royal Navy's Jetstream T2 trainer aircraft are to be replaced from 2011 by Beechcraft King Air 350ER. Though 9 Jetstreams will be replaced by 4 King Airs so they must be very good. The aircraft provide training for observers destined for the Navy's Lynx, Merlin and Sea King helicopters.

Fleet Air Arm bomb Sweden

HMS Illustrious has taken part in the Loyal Arrow war games in the Baltic. Harriers from the Naval Strike Wing bombed targets in Sweden including using Paveway IVs.

Loyal Arrow ran from June 8th to the 18th and involved 10 NATO and non-NATO countries.

Taurus 09 ends in Brunei

We have been following the RN's big Taurus 09 deployment as it travelled across the world. The deployment has now ended following a final exercise, Exercise Commando Rajah at Brunei. The exercise was a major amphibious operation involving Australian and US warships as well as the RN contingent led by HMS Bulwark and HMS Ocean. Land forces deployed included 40 Commando Royal Marines, Gurkhas and ground forces from Brunei, the US and New Zealand operating in the tough jungle and river areas of Brunei.

Michael Yon recently wrote of training with the Gurkhas in the jungles of Brunei and is well worth a read.

Exercise Flying Rhino 09

2000 UK personnel took part in Exercise Flying Rhino in the Czech Republic alongside troops from Canada, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania and the Czech Army of course. The exercise involved army and air force units including artillery from the 3rd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery and 101st Regiment Royal Artillery and Tornado GR4s from RAF 34 squadron. Flying Rhino was originally intended for Forward Air Controllers (FACs) who guide aircraft to their targets on the ground but now includes other personnel and other kinds of training.

Exercise Shomodro Torongo (Taurus 09)

Shomodro Torongo is the latest exercise involving UK forces in the big Taurus 09 deployment. While the ASW boys played hide and seek with an SSN in the Gulf HMS Bulwark and RFA Wave Ruler headed to Bangladesh where Marines from 40 Commando and 4 and 539 Assault Squadrons took part in exercises alongside their Bangladeshi counterparts in the Ganges delta.

Helicopters from 820 NAS also took part in CASEVAC support and the gathering of intelligence. RN personnel also helped to build a community house in an example of soft power.

Exercise Red Alligator (Taurus 09)

Exercise Red Alligator was a joint training exercise between UK and Saudi Arabian troops and naval forces. Royal Marines from HMS Bulwark and RFA Lyme Bay made amphibious landings alongside Saudi units north of Gizan. Saudi and RN warships also worked side by side including the refuelling of T23 HMS Somerset by a Saudi oiler.


Royal Marines prepare to fire a Javelin medium range anti-tank weapon

A full gallery is here.

Lusty completes sea training

HMS Illustrious has completed her Operational Sea Training (OST) whch saw crews conducting training in aviation, warfare, damage control, seamanship and other operational duties. Illustrious will now take part in the NATO Joint Warrior exercise in the North Sea. In November she will go to London to take part in Remembrance Sunday.