Armée Britannique/British Armed Forces

Rappel du premier message :

Citation :

Des bâtiments de défense anti-aérienne ... sans missiles anti-aérien
Publié le 14 mars 2009.

Le National Audit Office (NAO), l’équivalent britannique de la Cour des Comptes, a indiqué que les nouveaux destroyers Type 45 de la Royal Navy auraient 2 ans de retard. Le budget prévu a été dépassé de 1,5 milliard de £ pour 6 exemplaires.
Le NAO a aussi indiqué que les navires prendraient au départ la mer sans leur système de missiles anti-aériens à cause de retard dans la mise au point.
Le ministère a indiqué que, après des retards au début du programme, il respectait désormais le calendrier.
Les destroyers sont les chevaux de trait de la Royal Navy, protégeant contre des attaques aériennes les bâtiments plus gros comme les porte-avions, et fournissant un appui feu pour les troupes au sol.
Ils effectuent aussi un large éventail d’autres missions comme les patrouilles anti-pirates et le secours en cas de catastrophe naturelle.
Une flotte vieillissante
Le ministère britannique de la défense avait d’abord prévu d’acheter 12 destroyers Type 45, mais ce chiffre avait été réduit à 8 en 2004, puis à seulement 6 l’an dernier.
Néanmoins, le NAO indique que le programme, qui devait au départ couter 5 milliards de £, couterait au final près de 6,5 milliards de £ (pour un nombre de bâtiments divisé par 2).
Le premier des destroyers, le HMS Daring, qui a été lancé en 2006, ne dispose toujours pas de la totalité de son système de communications. Il ne recevra pas avant 2011 son principal système de missiles anti-aérien, le PAAMS. Celui-ci peut abattre en même temps plusieurs appareils ou missiles ennemis.
Il devra aussi attendre jusqu’en 2014 pour être équipé de la capacité de combat en coopération, qui relie ensemble les systèmes de combat et les senseurs de plusieurs navires, améliorant leur capacité à combattre ensemble.
Le NAO indique que, en raison de ces retards, la Royal Navy devra conserver plus longtemps ses destroyers Type 42 vieillissants, qui avaient été conçus pour la Guerre Froide et que les Type 45 doivent remplacer.

http://www.corlobe.tk/article13114.html

Citation :

First Royal Air Force Pilot Flies the Lockheed Martin F-35B

18:09 GMT, January 27, 2010 Patuxent River, Md. | A Royal Air Force officer on Tuesday became the first active-duty service pilot from the United Kingdom to take to the skies in a Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

RAF Squadron Leader Steve Long piloted BF-2, the second short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B, over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., logging the aircraft’s 18th mission. Long departed at 9:55 a.m. EST and flew the aircraft to 20,000 feet, before landing 1.3 hours later. Both the RAF and the Royal Navy plan to operate the F-35B.

“Flying the F-35 was exactly like the simulators that I've been flying for over 18 months now, which gives you a lot of confidence in all the modelling and simulation work that has been done in all the other areas of the flight envelope,” Long said, adding that it was a “privilege” to fly the F-35. “What this aircraft really gives the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy is a quantum leap in airborne capability because of the sensor suite it carries. An F-35 pilot will have an unprecedented level of situational awareness about what’s going on in the airspace around him or her, and also on the battlefield or ocean below. Not only that, but the F-35 will plug into coalition battlefield networks and be able to pass that picture on to all other players in the network.”

With the capability to operate from a variety of ships or austere runways, the F-35B can deploy closer to shore or near front lines, shrinking distance and time to the target, increasing sortie rates and greatly reducing the need for support assets. The Lightning II's sensor suite is the most powerful and comprehensive of any fighter in history, and will combine with an unprecedented networking capability to give unparalleled situational awareness.

UK Joint Combat Aircraft Project Team Leader, Air Commodore Graham Farnell, stated that the UK has been closely involved in JSF since its inception. “It is therefore an honour to witness an RAF pilot flying BF-2 during this important phase of the F-35B flight test, and further demonstrates the closeness and mutual trust between our respective nations and their armed forces,” Farnell said.

“Squadron Leader Long has been preparing for this opportunity since his arrival in the U.S. well over a year ago, and this occasion is a testament not only to the work undertaken in the Integrated Test Force, to which the UK provides considerable expertise, but also to the wider JSF community in both government and industry. “

“We look forward to the JSF flight test programme meeting its targets in 2010, with today being one of many such occasions in the next year of JSF. The UK is now preparing pilots and maintainers for initial training at Eglin so that we can begin operating our aircraft in 2011 alongside our colleagues from the United States Marine Corps,” he said.

Squadron Leader Long is the third active-duty service member to fly the F-35. (The jet also has been flown by U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps pilots.) Long has more than 2,200 hours of flight time and currently flies the F-18A-D with the U.S. Marines. He joined the RAF in 1995, and his operational experience has included more than 100 sorties over Kosovo and Bosnia, Sierra Leone and Iraq, including three months of embarked time aboard H.M.S. Illustrious, and seven months on the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard.

The UK has invested $2 billion in the F-35’s development – the largest contribution among the programme’s eight partner nations. The Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) programme announced in December that the United Kingdom received financial approval to purchase its third F-35B operational test aircraft, reinforcing the UK’s continued commitment to the JSF programme’s upcoming Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) phase.

The F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter, combining advanced stealth with fighter speed and agility, fully-fused sensor information, network-enabled operations, advanced sustainment, and lower operational and support costs. Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with its principal industrial partners, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Two separate, interchangeable F-35 engines are under development: the Pratt & Whitney F135 and the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team F136.

http://www.defpro.com/news/details/12747/

En sortant par la bouche du Nord pour suivre des manoeuvres officiels sous instruction, le 27-01-10 au Gibraltar
photos prises par Francis GIBFRAN46

Citation :

Royal Navy flagship HMS Illustrious arrives in Scotland for maintenance work

Royal Navy flagship HMS Illustrious arrives in Scotland. The Royal Navy flagship HMS Illustrious arrived in Scotland this week for a £40m maintenance and upgrade programme which will be carried out at Rosyth Dockyard in Fife. Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy, accompanied by Commodore Charles Stevenson, Naval Regional Commander for Scotland and Northern Ireland, sailed out to welcome the massive aircraft carrier as she passed under the Forth Bridges on her way to the jetty at Crombie, where all ammunition and stores will be unloaded before work starts in March. The Ministry of Defence contract with Babcock will provide employment for about 300 people for eighteen months - until August 2011. More importantly it is part of a continuous work programme at the dockyard before the assembly of the new Navy super carriers starts. Well over 400 staff at Rosyth are already working on the project to build HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, and large parts have been arriving since the end of last year. HMS Illustrious - affectionately known as 'Lusty' in the Royal Navy - underwent a major refit at Rosyth back in 2003/04, enabling her to carry out 21st century carrier strike operations and deploy Joint Force Harriers. This was part of a hat-trick of carrier refits totalling £360m which built a third mast on the ship and overhauled the computer systems, flight deck, living quarters and communication networks. Since then she has been deployed to the Indian Ocean, with both helicopters and fast jets, was involved in the evacuation of Lebanon, and for the past 12 months has been the Royal Navy's flagship and strike carrier, leading the multi-national Joint Warrior exercises off Scotland's west coast. This time she will not be having a refit, but will undergo essential maintenance to ensure the carrier can continue in service until the second new carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, is in service, and to make her more fuel efficient, improving her green credentials. The work includes: • replacing 500 metres of pipework, 650 valves and all eight exhausts; • painting the ship with 540,000 litres of paint which improves fuel efficiency; • a comprehensive structural survey; • renewal of essential safety certification; and • various improvements to make the ship and its crew more environmentally efficient. Jim Murphy also met new apprentices at the dockside during the visit. He said: "UK defence contracts provide vital skilled work to companies in Scotland and have generated a welcome resurgence in our Scottish shipbuilding industry. It's heartening to see businesses - some of them small family-owned firms - with full order books, able to take on young apprentices and give them a real future. "And it's amazing to think that in just a decade, eight Navy ships have been launched on the Clyde, and an incredible 45 ships have undergone maintenance and refit at Rosyth, all work worth billions of pounds for Scotland's economy and employment prospects. "Aircraft carriers have a crucial role within the Armed Forces and on operations worldwide, so these upgrades are part of the Government's strategy to ensure we have the best people, the best equipment and capabilities to meet modern day defence challenges." Mike Pettigrew, Babcock's Managing Director Warships, said: "We warmly welcome back HMS Illustrious under this new contract which has been awarded as part of the developing 'Surface Ship Support Alliance', a partnership between the MOD, Babcock and BAE Systems Surface Ships. The work will be challenging, but as always I have every faith that the team will deliver a highly capable warship back to the fleet." Commodore Charles Stevenson added: "This work will allow HMS Illustrious to continue as a highly flexible strategic defence asset for a number of years, capable of taking part in military operations across the globe, whether it's delivering troops, launching aircraft which can provide close air support to troops on the ground, disaster relief and humanitarian aid." During the upgrade HMS Ark Royal will become flagship of the Royal Navy fleet.

defpro.com

Pas sûr quand tu vois comment l'USN est en train de torpiller le programme au profit de ses fournisseurs habituels, le coût de l'avion risque encore d'exploser, à un moment, il risque de devenir trop cher, même en comptant l'argent déjà investi dans les études.
Dans la situation économique de l'UK, l'engagement en A-stan et les économies sur les prog militaires non-directement concerné par ce conflit et les élections qui approchent, le maintien du prog F-35 risque d'être intenable politiquement.
Va bien falloir qu'ils fassent des choix
De toute façon, ce qu'on peut déduire de l'Article :
1/ le Sun est un journal pas forcément fiable...mais !
2/ Les portes avions anglais ont un design ou l'emport de catapulte est possible (moyennent un surcout de 400 M € pour les 2 catapultes et leurs installations)
3/ Le Rafale (60/80 M €) est LARGEMENT moins chers qu'un F-35B (100/140 M €)
4/ Les anglais disent enfin officiellement qu'il n'ont pas assez d'argent pour se payer tous leurs programmes. Et ils disent que désormais, pour gagner de futurs guerres, faudra travailler avec les alliées (US bien sur, mais de plus en plus avec les européens et surtout français)
5/ Ce dernier point "avec les français" est surtout important sur 2 points:

" Les portes avions
Les anglais n'on plus assez d'argent pour avoir 2 gros PA et 80 F-35, et les mois passants (le 2eme PA anglais est déjà quasi condamné), ils se rendent compte aussi que même pour les 80 (plutot 30/40 ) F-35, c'est quasi mort avec un avion à 120-?200? M $ pièce .Initialement les anglais voulaient acheter 138 à 150 F-35B

" Les SNLE
les anglais n'auront plus d'argent pour en construire 4 (20 MM £), alors ici est peut être l'occasion idéal d'avoir une dissuasion européenne: 2 SNLE français & 2 SNLE anglais)

6/ Sur la possibilité d'embarquer des RAFALE sur le HMS Queen Elizaeth, les anglais ont compris une chose : Le PA 02 français est mort ! (sauf si St nazaire s'effondre, sarko commandera le navire, juste par intérêt politique ). Et comme la marine française a commandée près de 50/60 RAFALE naval (pour 1 Charles de Gaulle ), il est clair qu'il y aura environ 12/28 avions en trop ( car le CdG embarquera au grand max 24/28 Rafale (+ 10/16 avions max en resserves pour l'attrition au fur des années, accidents, ect... ) )qui dormirons 10/20 ans dans les entrepôts.

Alors les anglais ont peut être une carte à jouer ! annuler le 2eme PA anglais, foutre 2 catapultes sur le 1er et RACHETER à la marine francaise 12 à 24 rafale déjà commander. Et si les anglais ne sont pas contents du rafale, ils prendront le F/A 18 E/F américain

HMS MANCHESTER D 95 - Gibraltar 31/01/10

Spoiler:

Citation :

February 1st 2010 - General Dynamics UK successfully tests ASCOD SV armour system



Mine-blast tests demonstrate FRES SV contender stands ready to offer British forces new levels of protection

General Dynamics UK has this week completed a series of demanding trials at the higher test levels required by the FRES SV programme to demonstrate that its ASCOD SV contender is already capable of delivering new levels of protection to British military personnel. The ASCOD SV system design withstood a number of attacks from the latest mine threats in its base configuration. The system also enables enhanced levels of blast protection to be fitted, enabling protection against greater threats and providing the Army with the ability to adapt rapidly to evolving operational scenario.

FRES SV ASCOD mine survivabilityCommenting on the successful mine blast test, Steve Rowbotham, General Dynamics UK Vice President, Advanced Projects and Technologies said, “This mine blast trial is a key milestone in demonstrating that ASCOD SV is the right answer for FRES SV. In addition to offering tonnes of capability and growth potential over the next 30 years, General Dynamics UK has demonstrated this week that ASCOD SV offers tonnes more protection to British military personnel today and in the future.”

Mine threats are regularly encountered by Allied forces on current operations in Afghanistan, sometimes with devastating effect to vehicles and their occupants. This specific testing of the high levels of integrated survivability of ASCOD SV provides exacting evidence of the vehicles ability to afford maximum protection to the vehicle occupants.

These successful mine blast tests come only a month after the successful firing of the mandated CT40 Case Telescopic Weapon System by turret provider Lockheed Martin INSYS. In addition to the MoD benefiting significantly from the commonality between the FRES SV Scout and Warrior programmes provided by Lockheed Martin’s turret, the FRES SV crew will benefit from having the maximum space to do their job while ensuring maximum protection, thanks to an innovative turret ring configuration and other features.

General Dynamics UK President and Managing Director, Sandy Wilson added: “We invested in these trials because protection is the essence of modern warfare. This proven solution, built into ASCOD SV from the start, will ensure that FRES SV delivers exceptional levels of protection to British soldiers from day one.”

http://www.generaldynamics.uk.com/news/general%20dynamics%20uk%20successfully%20tests%20ascod%20sv%20armour%20system

le HMS Illustrious quittant Liverpool la fin de l'année derniére :
mais c'est joli


un Apache à bord du HMS Ocean


le même navire au Maldives pendant Taurus09

HMS ST ALBANS F 83 - Gibraltar 05/02/10







MERLIN HM 1 - ZH848







Photos de Daniel Gibdan

un AH-MK1 produit par AW ?

la variante british,nommée aussi WAH-64

Citation :

Un colonel admet sa responsabilité dans la mort d'un Irakien

Un ex-officier de l'armée britannique a nié lundi avoir eu connaissance de présumées exactions de militaires qu'il commandait en 2003 sur des prisonniers irakiens. Mais il a admis sa responsabilité, en tant que chef, dans la mort d'un civil irakien détenu par ses hommes. Baha Moussa, réceptionniste d'un hôtel, âgé de 26 ans et père de deux enfants, est décédé après avoir été battu à mort par des militaires britanniques durant sa garde à vue le 15 septembre 2003 à Bassorah, ville du sud irakien alors sous contrôle britannique. Interrogé lundi par une commission d'enquête sur sa part de responsabilité dans la mort de Moussa, qui a succombé après 36 heures de garde à vue et souffrait de 93 blessures différentes, le colonel Jorge Mendonca a répondu: "En tant qu'officier commandant l'unité, oui, j'accepte cette responsabilité". Niant en revanche avoir eu connaissances d'exactions de la part de ses hommes, il a expliqué que des officiers pourraient avoir décidé de les lui cacher. "Il existe, bien sûr, une possibilité que, parce que j'avais, je pense, très clairement la réputation de faire les choses correctement, certains officiers puissent avoir pensé que c'était une raison pour me laisser hors du coup sur certaines choses", a-t-il déclaré. Le colonel Mendonca avait été blanchi en février 2007 par un tribunal militaire dans l'affaire Moussa, qui fait l'objet l'objet d'une enquête publique depuis 2008.

http://www.romandie.com/infos/ats/display2.asp?page=20100216033846860172019048000_brf007.xml

Qu'en est-il des millions de civiles tués à cause de cette guerre? Ceux qui sont tués par les soldats de la coalition et ceux qui sont morts parce que la coalition a envahit l'irak et a échoué a y maintenir la paix se comptent par100aines de milliers! voire des millions!

Saddam a été exécuté pour moins que ça! Certes il était un criminel de guerre mais ce n'est pas pour ça qu'il a été executé, Saddam a été executé parce qu'il a perdu la guerre...

Citation :

HM Ships Daring and Dauntless, Type 45 Destroyers on maneouvers together for the first time
The Royal Navy’s two newest warships – formidable air defence destroyers HMS Daring and Dauntless – have performed side-by-side at sea for the first time.
The Type 45 destroyers successfully completed a series of complex manoeuvres south of the Isle of Wight (February 15).

Citation :

Wave-cutting bow section of aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth under construction

Citation :

Lockheed Martin Awarded $49.5 Million TADS/PNVS AND M-TADS/PNVS Support Contract

AgustaWestland has awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a $49.5 million sustainment and support contract for the Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (TADS/PNVS) and Modernized TADS/PNVS (M-TADS/PNVS) systems on the U.K. Apache AH Mk-1 aircraft. The contract provides complete post-production services, including spare parts, in-country repair and technical services, as well as integrated logistics, engineering and depot repair support. The effort is part of the overall Integrated Operational Support (IOS) solution for the U.K. Apache fleet provided by AgustaWestland to the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD). Support under the contract will continue through March 2014. “This support contract will provide the necessary services to maintain the M-TADS/PNVS system in support of U.K. Apache operational needs,” said Tom Eldredge, Apache Fire Control International programs director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “Our team is in position and is providing a cost-effective support solution that meets the needs of the Soldiers.” For AgustaWestland, the support arrangement is a strategy for TADS/PNVS and M-TADS/PNVS product support that helps enable their overall IOS objective of an integrated performance package designed to optimize system readiness. The AgustaWestland IOS contract enables faster and more efficient technical solutions because the contractor assumes responsibility for total performance of a weapon system. “The Apache is proving itself as one of the great success stories of defense procurement,” said Graham Cole, managing director at AgustaWestland. “The M-TADS/PNVS is making a very real operational difference in theater.” The support contract will support both the legacy TADS/PNVS and Modernized TADS/PNVS through the end of the upgrade and integration process. Support activities will be performed in the U.K. and Orlando, FL.

defpro.com

Citation :

Première plongée pour le nouveau sous-marin britannique Astute


Le nouveau sous-marin nucléaire d’attaque britannique, l’Astute, a appareillé mardi de sa base écossaise pour effectuer ses premiers essais de plongée en mer.

La Royal Navy reste discrète sur le programme du sous-marins, mais il effectuera une série d’essais, dont une plongée au large de l’Ecosse.
Le sous-marin avait quitté en novembre dernier le chantier naval de BAE à Barrow, où il a été construit, pour la base navale de Faslane près de Glasgow, qui accueillera tous les SNA de cette classe.
La seule plongée déjà effectuée par l’Astute était une plongée statique, effectuée dans le bassin Devonshire de Barrow.
Lors de son départ de Barrow, seule une partie du gouvernail de l’Astute avait été installée afin d’être certain qu’il ne heurte pas de banc de vase.
Lors du transit de 5 jours vers la base de Faslane, effectué en surface, une série d’essais préliminaires avaient été effectués.
Un porte-parole de la base de Faslane a indiqué : “Je peux confirmer que l’Astute a appareillé pour des essais à la mer. Pendant cette période, il va effectuer une série de différents essais techniques.
“...Ce sera la première qu’il effectuera une plongée libre en mer.”

North West Evening Mail

Citation :

RAF's Tucano Fleet to Get VT Support Service
The UK's Royal Air Force (RAF) has awarded VT Group a contract to provide support service to the air force's fleet of Tucano training aircraft.
Under the £35m (US$55m) four-year contract, VT will deliver between 12,000 and 14,500 hours of flying training every year for the RAF's 50 Tucano aircraft.
VT will perform the work at RAF's Linton-on-Ouse base in North Yorkshire where Tucanos are used to train fast jet pilots in preparation for flying the Hawk fast jet trainer.
VT has been providing engineering support and maintenance, flight line services and logistics to the RAF's Tucano fleet since its inception in the air force.
The RAF uses the Tucano aircraft for general aircraft handling, formation flying and low-level navigation.
Powered by Garrett TPE331-12B turboprop engines, the Tucano aircraft has a maximum speed of 300 knots and a maximum altitude of 30,000ft.
VT will begin service delivery in April 2010.

airforce-technology

Citation :

British Army Python Mine-Clearance System Proved in Afghanistan



Royal Engineers blast through Taliban IED field with new weapon

The Royal Engineers have fired their latest weapon in the battle against the Taliban for the first time, an exploding hose which punches safe passage through suspected IED belts.

The Python rocket is a trailer-mounted, rocket-propelled mine-clearing system pulled behind the Trojan armoured engineer tank. The Python system fires a snake of high explosives.

The first use of the new equipment, across a suspected IED field in a dry river bed or 'wadi' north of Patrol Base Wahid, as part of Operation MOSHTARAK, shook the ground either side of the detonation, and created a huge cloud several hundred metres high.

Staff Sergeant Mark Eastley, from 30 Armoured Engineer Squadron, said:

"It takes your breath away. You feel the vehicle rock, and in awe of what has just happened. You see the flash, hear the bang, and then feel the shock wave.

"This explosion, although loud, was an act to clear safe passage for British and Afghan soldiers through the belts of roadside bombs that kill civilians and soldiers."

Lieutenant Colonel Matt Bazeley, Commanding Officer of 28 Engineer Regiment, who oversaw the use of Python, said:

"We are clearing this belt of death so that civilians and their families can begin to live without fear of being blown to pieces by a cowardly and dishonorable enemy that is happy to kill indiscriminately."

All families in the area were contacted to ensure that no civilians came near the blast.

Lt Col Bazeley's team, known as the Manoeuvre Support Group, is made up of a combination of a squadron of 2nd Royal Tank Regiment in Viking armoured personnel carriers, and Royal Engineers bridging and armoured engineer tanks.

Lieutenant Jim Viney, from 26 Engineer Regiment, Commander of the Trojan Troop, said:

"It's not an aggressive tool. It is a tool to save military and civilian lives. It makes the routes safe."

As the weapon fired, a series of rockets lifted the hose out of its barrel, shooting it over the Trojan tank into the air and laying it over a long strip of ground.

Seconds later the hose exploded, creating a flash, followed by a thump and a cloud.

SSgt Eastley added:

"The kit provides a breaching capability. Its primary employment to date will be clearance of known IED areas to provide a safe route."

Also, as part of Operation MOSHTARAK, the Royal Engineers used the Trojan vehicle, which is fitted with a large plough on the front, to clear safe passage through a suspected IED belt to the north west of Showal, the Taliban's 'seat' of governance, earlier in the week.

It was also the first time that the plough had been used on operations in Afghanistan.

Sapper Gwynfor Hughes, the Trojan's driver, said:

"I was confident the kit worked but it was going through the back of my mind - are we going to hit an IED?"

Although the Taliban chose to flee rather than fight, they had seeded areas in and around Showal with deadly home-made explosives to kill and maim British and Afghan soldiers and Afghan civilians.

Vehicle Commander Corporal Michael Baker received his order to move the Trojan vehicle forward and plough through anything that got in his way. He said:

"I thought, this is it. This is a first. The Royal Engineers at the very front of the action."

Still careful to avoid mines, Cpl Baker snaked a mile-long (1.6km) path through the dry river bed in front of Showal up to the edge of the town, and past its deserted bazaar, one of Afghanistan's main heroin trading points:

"We were all locked down, turrets shut, seat belts on," said Cpl Baker.

Commanders hope that the Trojan's rocket system and plough will force the Taliban onto the backfoot. Lt Col Bazeley said:

"It's going to change the dynamic of the campaign. The Taliban are going to have to react to us, not the other way around. We now have the capacity to crack through IED belts. In the past, it was painstaking."

Once the Trojan finds IEDs, the engineers and bomb disposal teams can return to make them safe:

"We'll be back to clear any IEDs found to ensure the area is safer for the locals and reconstruction and development can get underway," said Lt Col Bazeley.

After moving into Showal and linking up with A Company of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh, the column returned to their temporary desert base:

"There was a sigh of relief as soon as we finished the task, and that that part of the op was completed," said Sapper Hughes.

http://www.deagel.com/news/British-Army-Python-Mine-Clearance-System-Proved-in-Afghanistan_n000007098.aspx

LONGBOW LLC Awarded $86 Million to Support and Sustain U.K. Apache Attack Helicopters

Citation :

The LONGBOW Limited Liability Company, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, was recently awarded an $86 million contract from AgustaWestland to support LONGBOW FCR systems on the United Kingdom Apache AH Mk-1 aircraft. "The LONGBOW FCR is an essential element of U.K. Apache operations in Afghanistan," said Jerry Garman, LONGBOW LLC president and director of LONGBOW programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Through this partnership with AgustaWestland, we will ensure the highest operational availability and system reliability at the lowest sustainment cost." The four-year contract includes engineering services, integrated logistics and an in-country repair capability. Support services will continue through March 2014, and will be performed at Wattisham Airfield in the U.K.; Lockheed Martin facilities in Ocala and Orlando, FL; and Northrop Grumman facilities in Baltimore, MD.
The contract is a component of the integrated operational support provided by AgustaWestland to the Ministry of Defence. A formal signing ceremony at the U.K. Apache main operating base at Wattisham Airfield in October marked the launch of this effort.

Aujourd'hui

Citation :

The special tail Navy Harrier in full glory and even some February sunshine!

Citation :

Royal Navy Introduces New Reconnaissance UUV

Hydroid’s Recce UUV to increase Royal Navy’s mine-countermeasure capabilities

The UK Ministry of Defence announced yesterday that the Royal Navy officially introduced into service its newest submersible asset to improve its mine countermeasure (MCM) capabilities: the ‘Recce’ unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). The UUV, manufactured by US-based Hydroid, Inc and based upon the REMUS 600 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), successfully completed trials at the end of last year and has now been handed over to the Royal Navy's Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Unit.
The 3.9-metre long, torpedo-shaped ‘Recce’ UUV, which operates at depths from 30 metres to 200 metres, can be used for reconnaissance operations, hydrographic surveys and environmental monitoring. The fully autonomous device can scan the sea bed for mines for over 20 hours at a time using an advanced navigation system as well as acoustic and bathymetric sensors to detect and indicate the exact location of possible threats. This collected data, including high-resolution imagery, is transmitted to onboard operators for analysis, considerably reducing the risk to naval divers who – as the Ministry explains – traditionally carried out these operations.
Designed and developed by Hydroid with support from the US Office of Naval Research, Recce offers extended endurance and an increased payload compared to its predecessor, the REMUS 100. According to Warship Technology, Recce is equipped with an Edgetech 2200S (850kHz) sidescan sonar, an Imagenex Delta-T (1.7Mhz) multi-beam imaging sonar, an Edgetech 2200S (4-24kHz) sub-bottom profiler sonar, a Kearfott Inertial Navigation Unit, a Teledyne RDI Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler/Doppler Velocity Log, a Niel Brown conductivity and temperature sensor, a Wetlabs FLNTU water clarity sensor, and GPS, WiFi as well as RF communications.

Extending capabilities, reducing risks

Defence Equipment and Support's Underwater Systems Programme Manager, Phil Jenkin, said: “The system builds on the success of the REMUS technology of smaller, shallow water vehicles, which the Navy has used over the last few years.” Already in 2005 the UK contracted with the US company to supply two of its smaller REMUS 100 UUV’s. Jenkins added: “The new vehicle is not intended to replace the existing systems, but extend the Navy's remote mine hunting capability, boasting improved sonar technology, allowing it to cover larger areas of water and to dive deeper.”
Lauding the close cooperation between Hydroid and the Underwater Systems team, Lieutenant Commander Paul Guiver of the Underwater Warfare Systems Capability Development Group, noted “It is a fine example of using low technological risk, commercial off-the-shelf equipment and it will provide the operational experience to the user that will help to de-risk future MCM capability programmes.” He further explained: “REMUS technology is already used by a dozen navies worldwide. However, the Royal Navy was the first to formally accept unmanned, underwater vehicle systems into service.”
Hydroid was awarded the contract worth GBP5.4 million for development and delivery of two vessels in 2007 after successfully competing against Bluefin Robotics’ Bluefin-12 and Kongsberg Maritime’s HUGIN 1000-MR. The contract has been awarded in conjunction with then-Babcock Design and Technology (today part of Babcock International’s Marine arm) which will provide support in the fields of UK-based training, service and support facilities for a period of five years following the recent acceptance into service.
On the occasion of the introduction into service, Lieutenant Commander Kev Giles, the Royal Navy's Fleet Mine Warfare Capability Manager, summarised: “It is a leap forward from the smaller vehicles [...] which have a shorter range, fewer sensors, and dive to a maximum 30-metre depth. This is why the Royal Navy is very enthusiastic about this. It gives us a look into the future.”

defpro.com

Citation :

U.K. AESA Radar Drive Focuses On Typhoon


Developing active, electronically scanned radar—with electronic attack capabilities—is at the heart of a Royal Air Force drive to accelerate the air-to-surface role for the Typhoon aircraft, as the service mulls pulling the Tornado GR4 earlier than planned.

The Defense Ministry is aiming to fly an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar demonstrator on a Eurofighter Typhoon toward the end of 2013, the culmination of a four-year program which it recently contracted with radar manufacturer Selex Galileo.

The RAF is increasingly focused on fielding only two types of fighter aircraft as soon as it can without undercutting its basic capability. At present, it operates the Harrier, Tornado and Typhoon, with the F-35 due to be introduced in 2017.

Air Marshal Steve Dalton, the chief of the air staff, says he wants to neck down to the Typhoon and the Lockheed Martin F-35 as soon as “practicable.” This includes the provision of a “complex ground attack capability on the Typhoon.” Last week at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, Dalton also raised the issue of the remaining fatigue life in the GR4 fleet, given the higher than expected operational utilization.

Present plans call for the Tornado to remain in service at least until 2025, though Dalton indicates this may be brought forward, pending ongoing studies. Reducing more quickly to a two-type fleet offers the attraction of significant support cost-savings, and this is likely to be closely scrutinized as part of a Strategic Defense Review (SDR), due to begin in mid-2010.

Stepping up the Typhoon’s air-to-surface capability would also provide the air force with a backstop should present problems with the F-35 threaten the U.K. in-service date with the type.

The Typhoon technology demonstrator program (TDP) will build on the Advanced Radar Targeting System (ARTS) TDP, for which an AESA demonstrator was flown on a Tornado aircraft. This radar was to have formed the core of the Reforger upgrade for the GR4A, but the program was canceled due to funding constraints.

While acknowledging the ARTS program, the Defense Ministry has been unwilling to discuss it in detail, particularly with regard to electronic attack.

The AESA TDP is a U.K.-only program, despite London’s attempt, along with its other three Typhoon partner countries—Germany, Italy and Spain— to align an AESA radar program for the aircraft. An industry executive from one of the partner states suggests the electronic-attack element of the U.K. work is a reason why the projects are being run in parallel.

The other three countries’ electronic-attack aspirations center on the use of a dedicated platform, which they say can defeat radars over a far higher frequency range than a Typhoon AESA radar.

The Typhoon TDP will employ the swash-plate approach used on the ARTS program to allow the antenna to be repositioned and to counter performance degradation at high off-bore-sight angles. The industry executive says the bandwidths to be used for the TDP radar will be broader as a result of the electronic-attack requirement. The swash-plate approach has already been selected by Saab, which is using the Selex Galileo ES-05 Raven AESA for the Gripen NG.

The Defense Ministry has taken the first steps in a quicker move toward a two-type fleet. As part of a package of cuts and reallocation in Planning Round 10, it was announced at the end of 2009 that a squadron of Harriers is to be axed, with another one or two squadrons of Harriers and/or Tornados to be cut as part of the SDR.

British Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth told Parliament in December: “In line with our current aspirations to reduce to two fast-jet types—the Typhoon and Joint Strike Fighter—we will pursue without delay the future capability program Phase 2. This is fundamental to the development of its multirole capability and integration with the latest weapons.”

Selex Galileo in Edinburgh is the focus of the U.K.’s industry expertise in AESA technology, on which it has been working since the 1990s with both company funds and Defense Ministry support.

Bob Mason, Selex Galileo’s senior vice president for sales and marketing for radar, says the U.K. contract was signed “a couple of weeks ago.” The TDP work will cover both air-to-air and air-to-ground modes. Work on the latter will explore high-resolution synthetic aperture radar and ground moving target-indicator modes. Mason says he cannot discuss the question of electronic attack.

The Typhoon partner nations are continuing to try to agree on a road map to integrate an AESA radar on the aircraft, and they now have an industry offer in hand. Mason says that while there is “no dependency” between the U.K. TDP and a four-nation program, elements of the U.K. work could be fed into the partners’ project.

Aviation Week