Armée Britannique/British Armed Forces

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Citation :

Commercial Sale of Type 22 Frigates


(Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued Dec. 17, 2012)



It is the Disposal Services Authority (DSA) intention to invite expressions of interest in tendering for the Type 22 Frigates (HMS Chatham, HMS Campbeltown, HMS Cumberland and HMS Cornwall) for the following:
•Further Use
•Sinking for an Artificial reef
•Recycling

At this stage the DSA does not require interested parties to specify which Vessel/s they wish to bid for.

It is the DSA intention to award at least one vessel to a UK Ship Recycler; this is in part to secure detailed knowledge of the UK’s capacity to recycle vessels. Any decision to award to a UK Ship Recycling company will be made in accordance with transparent and objective evaluation criteria which will be issued at the Invitation to Tender stage.

All interested parties should note that only Bidders that have completed and passed a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) will be sent an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the vessels and allowed access to view the vessel.

The vessels are moored at Portsmouth and will be sold from there.

The DSA are planning on hosting viewings 25th February - 15th March 2013.

As previously requested all bidders intending to undertake inspection of the vessels will be required to wear the correct PPE clothing i.e. steel toecap boots, high vis jackets (overalls optional). Please be assured that if you do not have steel toecap boots on arrival you will be refused access to the vessels.

Only Bidders that have received a copy of the ITT will be allowed access to inspect the vessels.

Bidders should not book travel until they have received a copy of the ITT and understood the requirements.

A copy of the PQQ can be down loaded from the bottom of this page or you can e-mail the DSA’s Commercial section requesting a copy at deslcsls-dsa-comrcl-3b@mod.uk

The closing date for returning the PQQ to the DSA and expression of interest is 17.00 GMT Wednesday 23rd January 2013.

-- HMS CUMBERLAND
formally a Warship Frigate F85 was built at Yarrow Shipbuilders, Glasgow UK in 1988 and is now lying at HMNB Portsmouth. The vessel ceased service on the 23rd September 2011 and is due to be tendered early 2013.
All interested parties should beware that only companies that have successfully completed a Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) will be sent an invitation to tender for this vessel.

-- HMS CAMPBELTOWN
formally a Warship Frigate F86 was built at Cammell Laird ship yard Birkenhead UK in 1987 and is now lying at HMNB Portsmouth. The vessel ceased service on the 7th July 2011 and is due to be tendered early 2013.
All interested parties should beware that only companies that have successfully completed a Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) will be sent an invitation to tender for this vessel.

-- HMS CHATHAM
formally a Warship Frigate F87 was built at Swan Hunters Shipbuilders in Wallsend UK in 1989, and is now lying at HMNB Portsmouth. The vessel ceased service on the 20th October 2011 and is due to be tendered early 2013.
All interested parties should beware that only companies that have successfully completed a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) will be sent an invitation to tender for this vessel.

-- HMS CORNWALL
formally a Warship, Frigate F99 was built at Yarrow Shipbuilders, Glasgow UK in 1988 and is now lying at HMNB Portsmouth. The vessel ceased service on the 20th October 2011 and is due to be tendered early 2013. All interested parties should beware that only companies that have successfully completed a Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) will be sent an invitation to tender for this vessel.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/141126/uk-to-sell-off-four-type-22-frigates.html

La GB a perdu son savoir faire national en matiere de construction de SM.
Les nombreux déboires qu'ont connu les SM vendu de par le monde par la GB doivent faire reflechir ............
.................et surtout acheter Français les futurs aquereurs !!!!!!!!!

pas qu´elle,les suedois aussi avec les collins australiens

Citation :

Le HMS Astute prêt au combat d’ici un an selon la Royal Navy



Bien que livré en août 2010, le premier des nouveaux sous-marins nucléaires d’attaque britanniques n’est toujours pas totalement opérationnel. Mis sur cale en janvier 2001, lancé en juin 2007 et sorti pour la première fois en mer en novembre 2009, le HMS Astute a vu sa construction et ses essais marqués par des retards, des dépassements de coûts, divers problèmes techniques et incidents, dont un échouement en octobre 2010, qui a nécessité plusieurs mois de réparation.

Très agacés par les vicissitudes de ce programme, qui accuse plus de quatre ans de retard, les marins britanniques semblent néanmoins voir le bout du tunnel. Le numéro 2 de la Royal Navy, le vice-amiral Philip Jones, assure en effet que le HMS Astute sera paré pour être engagé en opérations dans 12 mois. D’ici là, le bâtiment achèvera ses essais en eaux chaudes et l’entrainement de son équipage. Quant à son premier sistership, le HMS Ambush, qui a rejoint la Royal Navy en septembre dernier, il poursuit ses essais en vue de pouvoir être déployé début 2014.

Ayant coûté 2.35 milliards d’euros, les HMS Astute et HMS Ambush sont les deux premiers d’une série de 7 sous-marins d'attaque à propulsion nucléaire destinés à remplacer les SNA du type Trafalgar. Ils présentent une longueur de 97 mètres et un déplacement de 7800 tonnes en plongée. Pouvant atteindre la vitesse de 29 noeuds, ils sont armés par un équipage de 98 sous-mariniers et peuvent mettre en oeuvre des forces spéciales (logements pour 11 passagers). Dotés de 6 tubes de 533mm, ils embarqueront jusqu'à 38 armes (torpilles Spearfish et missiles Tomahawk).

Construits par le chantier BAE Systems de Barrow-in-Furness, les HMS Astute et HMS Ambush seront suivis par les HMS Artful, qui n’a toujours pas été mis à l'eau, le HMS Audacious, le HMS Anson, le HMS Agamemnon et le HMS Ajax, ce dernier devant entrer en service en 2022.



http://www.meretmarine.com/fr/content/le-hms-astute-pret-au-combat-dici-un-selon-la-royal-navy

Citation :

Le troisième F-35B britannique réalise son premier vol

Décollage du troisième F-35B britanniquecrédits : RANDY CRITES - LOCKHEED MARTIN

La production des nouveaux avions de combat britanniques se poursuit. Le 2 avril, le troisième F-35B destiné au Royaume-Uni a réalisé son premier vol à partir de la base aéronavale de Fort Worth. Le « ZM137 » a, ainsi, débuté une série de tests industriels et étatiques préalables à son acceptation par le ministère britannique

M&M

Citation :

New aircraft carrier close to completion


The most powerful aircraft carrier ever built for the Royal Navy has taken a step closer to completion.
HMS Queen Elizabeth is getting bigger by the day at the shipyard where she is being built. She is a gigantic jigsaw puzzle of state-of-the-art military hardware and technology.
Even in her unfinished state she is already the largest ship in British naval history.
HMS Queen Elizabeth will carry the new F35 Lightning II jump jet, due to make their first flights off her deck in 2018 with the carrier becoming operational by 2020
Together with her sister ship to follow - HMS Prince of Wales - she will be in service for up to 50 years.
Forces News has been given exclusive access to the carrier’s giant structure.

http://bfbs.com

Citation :

BAE Systems Delivers BAE 146C Mk 3 Aircraft to the RAF


By BAE Systems on Monday, April 22nd, 2013

BAE Systems Regional Aircraft has delivered on time and on budget two BAe 146-200QC (Quick Change) aircraft that have been converted from commercial to military configuration for use by the Royal Air Force.

After a period of familiarisation and operational trials, both aircraft have now been declared as Released To Service (RTS) by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence.

Known in RAF service as the BAe 146 C Mk.3, the two aircraft have been converted under a £15.5 million contract awarded to BAE Systems Regional Aircraft at Prestwick under an Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) to augment tactical aircraft numbers, particularly the Lockheed C130 Hercules force, during the upcoming extraction phase of Operation Herrick, the current Afghanistan campaign.

BAE Systems has been responsible for the design and integration of the equipment to be fitted to the aircraft, the sourcing of the equipment and management of the supply chain and overall management of the conversion programme. The actual conversion was carried out at the Hawker Beechcraft Services, Chester facility under sub-contract to BAE Systems.

Among the military equipments fitted are a Defensive Aids System to enable these UOR aircraft to be protected to appropriate levels, at least equivalent to other UK aircraft operating in Afghanistan. Also installed is a Successor Identification Friend or Foe (SIFF) system.

A number of other upgrades have also been installed including HF and UHF radio communications systems and a SATCOM satellite communications system. An armoured flight deck has been incorporated along with fuel tank inertion, air conditioning upgrades and a fire protection D-C system in the baggage bay.

The BAe 146 C Mk.3 is equipped with a large 131 inch wide and 76 inch high (3.33m x1.93m) rear upward-opening freight door giving a large aperture for the easy loading of pallets, containers and awkwardly-shaped cargo. The large cabin volume of the aircraft will allow up to 23,500 lbs (10.6 tonnes) of freight to be carried.

The cabin floor of the aircraft has a freight loading system which allows either palletised freight or passenger seating fixed to pallets to be rapidly installed. The passenger layout of 94 seats is to full commercial aircraft standards with interior trim, carpeting, toilet and galleys available front and rear and overhead passenger service units for each seat row and overhead luggage bins. There are also two large underfloor baggage holds.

In order to further broaden the versatility of this aircraft BAE Systems has engineered two further interior options for the RAF. It has sourced and received Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approval for new cabin baggage platforms and containers and cargo pallets from VRR of The Netherlands.

When installed on the aircraft this gives an alternative layout of 54 seats and a significant amount of carry-on baggage allowance in storage containers that can carry Bergens and other bags. The containers and their associated pallet are fork-liftable, even when loaded to their maximum weight, thus aiding rapid turnaround.

BAE Systems has also cleared a palletised freight layout for use on these aircraft, rather than the usual BAe 146QC freight igloos, to allow easier transhipment of loads between differing aircraft types in the RAF transport fleet.

Both aircraft are assigned to the RAF’s 32 (The Royal) Squadron which already operates two BAe 146 CC Mk 2 aircraft, primarily in the VIP transport role from RAF Northolt in north-west London.



Read more: http://www.defencetalk.com/bae-systems-delivers-bae-146c-mk-3-aircraft-to-the-raf-47538/#ixzz2RBIFLemE

Citation :

UK requests Hellfire missiles sale from US
22 April 2013
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of a potential foreign military sale (FMS) of AGM-114-N4/P4 Hellfire missiles to the UK.

With an estimated value of $95m, the sale seeks the delivery of a total of 500 AGM-114-N4/P4 Hellfire missiles to enhance the UK's ability to address existing and future threats, as well as provide close air support to counter enemy attacks on coalition ground forces in Afghanistan.

The potential sale directly contributes to the US foreign and national security policies by improving the close air support capability of the UK in support of Nato, International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF), and other coalition operations.

Provision of common close air support capabilities greatly increases interoperability between the US and UK military and peacekeeping forces, in addition to enabling greater burden sharing.

Lockheed Martin will serve as prime contractor for the FMS programme.

Designed for launch from multiple air, sea, and ground platforms, the AGM-114 Hellfire is a precision-strike, multi-purpose air-to-ground missile system (AGMS) designed primarily to provide anti-armour capability for attack helicopters against a wide range of targets in the battlefield.

Serving in combat since the mid-1980s, the missile features semi-active laser seekers, and can be used by lock-on before launch or lock-on after launch for increased platform survivability.

The AGM-114N is a metal augmented charge (MAC) variant of the missile, and is capable of destroying caves, bunkers and other hardened structures using a sustained pressure wave, with minimum collateral damage.

The Hellfire missile have widely been used during Operation Just Cause in Panama, Operation Desert Storm in Persian Gulf, Operation Allied Force in Yugoslavia, as well as the most recent operarions in Iraq and Afghanis

http://www.army-technology.com/news/newsuk-requests-hellfire-missiles-sale-us

Citation :

U.K. Airbus A400M Airlifter Costs Exceed Plan by $1.2 Billion

The Airbus Military A400M airlifter for the U.K. is now running over budget by 770 million pounds ($1.2 billion), according to the British Ministry of Defence.
There is also a cost overrun on a Thales SA (HO) Watchkeeper drone program and a Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) electronic system for aircraft, Philip Dunne, a minister for defense, told Parliament in written answers to questions.
The U.K. is acquiring 22 A400M transports to replace Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) C-130s, a program running 73 months behind plan, the National Audit Office said. The airlifter is scheduled to enter service with the Royal Air Force in 2015. Lead customer France should get its first plane by the middle of this year.
“Project performance can be affected by a number of reasons, not all of which are in the contractor’s control,” Dunne said. The increases are against the ministry’s total cost baseline, and not contracts with the companies, he said.
Airbus SAS and countries funding the development of the A400M restructured the program in 2010 to address cost increases and schedule delays. The U.K. trimmed its purchase to 22 units instead of 25 as part of the review.
The Watchkeeper unmanned aircraft program for the army is 57 million pounds above estimate and Northrop Grumman’s aircraft identification beacon is 6 million pounds above projections, Dunne said.[

http://www.bloomberg.com

Citation :

RAF Waddington takes command of MQ-9 Reaper UAV operations in Afghanistan
26 April 2013

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has started command and control operations of its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in Afghanistan from a newly constructed facility at Royal Air Force (RAF) Waddington in Lincolnshire, UK.

Flown by the No. 13 Squadron personnel using ground control stations (GCS) earlier this week, the move marks the first time the UAVs have been operated from the UK, more than five years after their acquisition for conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in Afghanistan.

To date, the UK has been controlling the RAF's five Reaper drones from the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, US, following launch from an airfield within Afghanistan, as it did not have the capability to control them from home bases.

Undisclosed military officials were cited by Guardian as saying that the 13 Squadron pilots in collaboration with the personnel in the US will now take charge of Reapers from an advanced and sophisticated UAV centre at RAF Waddington.

The centre, with three operating terminals, was built in 2012 under the supervision of the UK MoD, as part of the 2010 strategic defence and security review.

The 39 Squadron will not be disbanded and will continue operations until the end of 2014, when all Nato-led coalition forces will pull out from Afghanistan, the officials added.

Initially deployed unarmed in Afghanistan, the RAF Reapers have since been equipped with 500lb laser-guided bombs and Hellfire missiles by the MoD, which also ordered additional five units to tackle Taliban insurgents in October 2012.

Manufactured by General Atomics, the MQ-9 Reaper is a medium-to-high altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAV designed to conduct close air support, air interdiction and intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions.

Announced two days before a protest organised by Drone Campaign Network outside RAF Waddington, the move has also attracted sharp criticism from the Stop the War Coalition, which says the switching of control to the UK represents "an unwelcome expansion in the country's UAV programme".

http://www.airforce-technology.com/news/newsraf-waddington-takes-command-of-mq-9-reaper-uav-operations-in-afghanistan

Citation :

RAF crew conducts first Reaper strike in Afghanistan from UK soil

A Royal Air Force crew has performed the first weapons release over Afghanistan from a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Reaper being controlled from UK soil, one week after conducting the first such operation from its Waddington base in Lincolnshire.

In a statement, the UK Ministry of Defence says it "can confirm that a Reaper remotely piloted aircraft system, operated by pilots from 13 Sqn located at RAF Waddington, has fired a weapon during a mission supporting UK forces on the ground in Afghanistan."

The action is believed to have been taken during a sortie flown on 30 April, but the MoD says it "does not discuss details of specific missions for operational security reasons".

Also operated by the RAF's 39 Sqn from the US Air Force's Creech AFB in Nevada since late 2007, the UK's Reapers each carry two Raytheon 226kg (500lb) GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided bombs and four Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles.



Crown Copyright

RAF Reapers have accumulated 45,000 flight hours over Afghanistan, and used more than 380 weapons



Five Reapers are currently in the RAF inventory, flying from Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan, with the type primarily used for persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks, using its electro-optical/infrared sensor and synthetic aperture radar payload. A follow-on batch of aircraft being acquired via an urgent operational requirement deal will increase this number to 10, with the additional examples expected to enter use soon.

The MoD says its Reapers have used more than 380 weapons during a combined total of 45,000 flight hours accumulated in Afghanistan since 2007.

www.flightglobal.com

Résultat d'une enquête de 4 ans : les sonars de la Royal Navy auraient causé des morts de dauphins !

Citation :

Navy sonar 'did cause mass dolphin deaths' say scientists who blame war games exercise off Cornish coast for strandings

Scientists say sonar used in war games drove dolphins into creek

At least 26 found dead after becoming stranded

By Padraic Flanagan


The Royal Navy has been blamed for driving dozens of dolphins to an agonising death during anti-submarine war games.

A four-year investigation by scientists has ruled out every other cause for the UK’s largest stranding of common dolphins in shallows off the coast of Cornwall in 2008.

At the time, the area was hosting a week of ‘live fire’ war games involving 20 Royal Navy ships, helicopters and submarines – including the nuclear-powered sub HMS Torbay – as well as 11 foreign vessels.

And scientists now believe trials of anti-submarine warfare techniques, using a range of mid-frequency sonar devices in the water to detect hidden vessels, were the most likely cause of the dolphins’ deaths.


But despite calls from conservationists for military exercises now to be adapted to safeguard wildlife, the Navy has rejected the investigation’s findings.

Mid-frequency sonar, which transmits pulses of sound just beyond the range of human hearing, has been associated with past strandings of marine mammals.

The noise can cause hearing damage and scramble the dolphins’ sophisticated echo-location navigation system, driving them to shallow waters where they can suffer a slow and horrific death.

The scientists’ findings, published in the journal PLOS One, follow post-mortems on 26 short-beaked common dolphins found beached in Falmouth Bay on June 9, 2008.

Dr Paul Jepson of the Institute of Zoology, who led the research funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said that a group of up to 60 dolphins swam into the bay three or four days before the stranding, probably to escape the disturbance caused by the anti-submarine sonar.

The expert said a second traumatic event, possibly from sonar or aircraft activity, on June 9 caused further agitation among the dolphin school, leading to the deaths of at least 26 that became stranded, mostly in an area called Porth Creek.


The Royal Navy has been blamed by scientists for causing dolphin deaths, but it denies the claims

[img]https://i.servimg.com/u/f79/16/67/34/85/articl11.jpg[/img
Scientists carried out post mortem examinations on dolphin carcasses which were found in a Cornish creek

‘Eyewitnesses described their behaviour as swimming continuously in tight circles, being vocal, fluke-slapping, leaning sideways, and often with one or more individuals attempting to strand,’ reported Dr Jepson.


A similar number of dolphins were saved by rescuers and herded back out to sea.
Dr Jepson said the dead dolphins – all but five were infants – had been in good health and ruled out other potential causes of death.

The mass stranding may have been a two-stage process where a large group of dolphins entered the bay, possibly to avoid a perceived acoustic threat,’ reported Dr Jepson.

‘After three or four days, a second disturbance occurred, causing them to strand en masse.

‘The international naval activities are the only established cause which cannot be eliminated and is ultimately considered the most probable, but not definitive, cause.’

But a Royal Navy spokesman said: ‘We do not agree with the conclusion of this report. Even its own extensive investigation has found no evidence to show naval activity was responsible.

‘Naval training has taken place in the area for over 60 years and active sonar has been in use throughout that time without any similar reported mass strandings. The Royal Navy is committed to taking all reasonable and practical measures to mitigate effects on marine animals.’

But conservation groups called for the Ministry of Defence to redesign exercises to safeguard wildlife.

‘This stranding is a game-changer and leads us to call for a re-evaluation of military activities,’ said Sarah Dolman, head of policy at Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

And Dr Jepson added: ‘Continual improvements in mitigation strategies by the military is probably the best way to limit future environmental impacts of naval activities.’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2319611/Navy-sonar-did-cause-mass-dolphin-deaths-say-scientists-blame-war-games-exercise-Cornish-coast-strandings.html#ixzz2SWvG1DUf
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je me rappel quelques anneés que les memes accusations ont ete faites autour des baleines au detroit de gibraltar,c´est un fait que ca "jamme" leur senseurs

Citation :

Royal Navy air ace is first Brit in US Top Guns



ROYAL Navy fighter pilot Stephen Collins is to become the first Briton to train as a Tom Cruise-style Top Gun.

Lieutenant Collins, 27, was picked after impressing while he served on aircraft carrier USS Stennis.

His piloting skills flying sorties over Afghanistan caught the eye of American Navy top brass, who offered him a place on the world’s most exclusive fighter pilot course.

Stephen, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, said: “I am delighted to have been picked for this great professional opportunity — it’s every fighter pilot’s dream.

“I’m looking forward to working alongside some of the best aviators in the world.”

The course, officially called the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program, was made famous in Cruise’s 1986 movie Top Gun.

Stephen, whose dad Peter flew missions in the Falklands and later with the Red Arrows, has spent the last five years with the US Navy on an exchange programme.

He has flown bombing raids and ground-support missions in a US F-18 Super Hornet.

The exchange programme helps train Royal Navy pilots who will fly from Britain’s next generation of aircraft carriers.


Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/4915492/Royal-Navy-air-ace-is-first-Brit-in-US-Top-Guns.html#ixzz2ScRGSJK0

/www.thescottishsun.co.uk

Citation :

HMS Ark Royal to sail for scrapyard

HUNDREDS of people are expected to gather to say a final farewell to the Royal Navy’s former flagship when she is towed for scrap this month.


HMS Ark Royal is expected to be towed to Turkey in the coming weeks.

The Ministry of Defence says a date has not yet been confirmed, but it is thought the ship could leave Portsmouth for the last time on May 20.

As reported in The News, the former aircraft carrier will be towed more than 2,000 miles on a two-month journey 
to the breaker’s yard near Izmir, in Turkey.

Hundreds of her former crew members, and people who remember her long history of service, are expected to gather at the Round Tower in Old Portsmouth.

Many onlookers are expected to 
wear black arm bands to mark the occasion.

HMS Ark Royal’s sister ship, HMS Invincible, has already been taken apart at the same yard in Turkey.

There had been hopes HMS Ark Royal would be spared the same fate.

The decision to axe the famous warship in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review provoked national outrage.

It also saw the sale of the Royal 
Navy’s 72 Harrier jump jets, which were sold to the United States for around £110m.

Former Royal Navy officer Mike Critchley is the publisher of Warship World magazine.

He said: ‘The early demise of Ark Royal and her aircraft is a national disgrace, leaving the Royal Naval fleet without protective air cover wherever it may be needed to operate at any serious distance away from the UK coast.

‘The time span from the end of fixed-wing flying from the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers to the arrival of 
the two new carriers as operational vessels is heading towards being a massive 10 years,with all the resulting loss of skills.

‘This timespan is simply unacceptable in these uncertain times.

‘We remain an island nation importing well over 90 per cent of our vital imports by sea.

‘Our national life line must be kept open whatever the costs.’

Some suggested Ark Royal could be preserved as a museum ship, but the Ministry of Defence said she was in too poor a condition.

Instead, HMS Illustrious will be preserved when she finishes active service.

Other proposals to reuse HMS Ark Royal included turning her into a commercial heliport, a nightclub and school, or a casino.

But ultimately the government decided to sell the 22,000-tonne carrier to ship-recycling firm Leyal for £2.9m.

During her service, HMS Ark Royal was deployed to the Adriatic during the Bosnian war and was stationed in the Persian Gulf during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

www.portsmouth.co.uk

Citation :

Veteran destroyer HMS Edinburgh and giant helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious brought the capital to a halt as they glided down the River Thames.

HMS Edinburgh is the last of the Type 42 destroyers and is on her first stop on a round-Britain farewell tour which ends nearly 30 years of service.

Watched by hundreds of people on both banks of the Thames, the Portsmouth-based warship glided under Tower Bridge - where she faced a barrage of camera flashes from eager tourists - and berthed alongside museum ship HMS Belfast, sister of her forebear which was sunk in the Arctic 71 years ago.

Citation :

British submarine docks in Gibraltar after five-year break

HMS Talent in Gibraltar yesterday, the first visit by a Royal navy submarine in five years.


The British military were out in force in Gibraltar yesterday, including the first visit by a Royal

Navy nuclear submarine in five years.



The Trafalgar-class ‘hunter killer’ submarine HMS Talent slipped into Gibraltar early yesterday morning, escorted by vessels from the Gibraltar Squadron and the Gibraltar Defence Police.

As is routine in such cases, the Ministry of Defence disclosed no information about the submarine’s visit.

An one-line statement contained the standard line that HMS Talent was visiting Gibraltar “…for a short stay as part of her scheduled operational tasking.”

As the submarine slipped alongside the Z-berth on the South Mole, there was ample activity at the other end of Gibraltar.

Two Royal Air Force C-17 cargo planes were parked on the runway on undisclosed business.

Unusually, the planes were parked on the tarmac close the civilian side of the airfield and away from the military section.

The MoD said little about the presence of the planes in Gibraltar other than that they were on a routine operational deployment. A spokesman would not comment on whether the presence of the planes and the submarine were linked.


‘WELCOME PRESENCE’

The Gibraltar Government welcomed the arrival in Gibraltar of HMS Talent.

“The movement of Royal Navy vessels is not a matter within the Constitutional competence of Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar,” said Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

“All vessels of the Royal Navy and of allied powers invited into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters by Her Majesty’s Government are very welcome on the Rock.”

The last visit by a British nuclear submarine was in 2008, when the Swiftsure-class HMS Superb called at the Rock.

HMS Talent is described by the Royal navy as a technically advanced, nuclear powered ‘hunter-killer’ submarine, the penultimate in a series of seven Trafalgar Class submarines. Launched by Princess Anne in Barrow in Furness in 1988, the submarine has conducted operations all around the world.

The principal role of the ‘hunter-killer’ is to attack ships and other submarines. In this capacity, vessels of this type could support and protect a convoy or taskforce.

HMS Talent can also be used in a surveillance role as it is fitted with cameras and thermal imaging periscopes.

HMS Talent is also fitted with Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, which gives it a land attack role.

/www.chronicle.gi

Citation :

Aircraft carrier 'omnishambles' wastes £100 million

Britain will be left without a fully operational aircraft carrier for another two years because a delay to a key early-warning system, an official audit has found.

The National Audit Office said that the decision to delay spending on a new radar system named Crowsnest will mean that any new aircraft carrier will not be fully operational until 2022, two years later than promised.The delay will extend the time that Britain lacks a fully capable aircraft carrier, a “capability gap” created by the Coalition’s controversial defence cuts, the NAO said.The Royal Navy is currently without an aircraft carrier after the scrapping of HMS Ark Royal in 2010.

Two replacements are being built, but the first, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is not due to sail until the end of 2017, and aircraft will not fly from the vessel until the end of 2020.

Britain’s decade-long carrier gap has left ministers facing criticism about defence cuts, and the NAO has now revealed that the gap will be longer than thought.

“Full Carrier Strike capability will be delayed until 2022 by Crowsnest,” the NAO said in a report published today.

Crowsnest is a helicopter-based early warning radar system which can detect threats over the horizon. The MoD told the auditors that “the operational use of Crowsnest is, along with the carriers and aircraft, a key element of Carrier Strike capability.”

However, to balance the defence budget, ministers decided last year to delay investment in Crowsnest.

Crowsnest will now begin trials in 2020 but will only be fully operationally effective from late 2022.

Lacking the early warning system, the NAO said, means that when HMS Queen Elizabeth enters full service in 2020, the vessel will face “additional risks” when deployed.

“Unless the department is able to bring forward funding or finds a credible alternative which does not compromise capability,12 when the Carrier Strike first becomes operationally available in late 2020, some operational tasks could only be undertaken with additional risks.”

Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, said that the MoD does not agree that delayed introduction of Crowsnest will undermine the delivery of Carrier-Strike capability.

He said: “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 NAO also studied Mr Hammond’s decision last year to change the model of aircraft that will be ordered for the new carriers, from a catapult-launched fighter to a vertical-landing jump jet.

The decision to switch aircraft cost £74 million in immediate costs. However, over the next ten years, it will save the MoD £1.2 billion.

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: “It is good that the MOD acted promptly, once it became clear that pursuing the option to buy the carrier variant aircraft would cost a lot more money and add another three years to the whole programme.

“But to achieve value for money in this project, the department will have to manage significant technical and affordability risks and be consistent in sticking to the present plan.”


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10047657/Aircraft-carrier-omnishambles-wastes-100-million.html

Le NAO révèle que le choix britannique de l'avion F-35B s'est fait sur des données financières erronées ?

Citation :

UK Watchdog: Faulty Data Drove F-35 Choices for New Carriers

LONDON — Flawed assumptions and immature data were behind a 150 percent rise in the estimated cost of Britain switching its planned carrier strike aircraft force from the STOVL F-35B to the conventional takeoff F-35C, says a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) here.

Britain flip-flopped back to the STOVL version of the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter May 2012 after it emerged that the cost of converting one of the Royal Navy’s partly built aircraft carriers to include catapults and arrestor gear rose from an estimated £800 million (US $1.24 billion) in 2010 when the initial switch in aircraft type was ordered to about £2 billion.

The report, published May 10 by the government spending watchdog, cataloged a series of faulty assumptions about the change to the F-35C made at the time of the 2010 strategic defense and security review. Information on overall affordability, the cost of conversion, timescales and the degree to which French and US jets could cross-deck with the British were all inaccurate, says the report.

“Every element of the conversion cost increased significantly” between 2010 and 2012, according to the report.

Under the plan to operate the C variant, the government intended to equip one of the two carriers now under construction with a US-supplied electromagnetic aircraft launch systems (EMALS) and mothball or sell off the second warship.

The NAO said part of the blame for the failure to understand the issues properly was a decision by the administration “not to involve commercial and industrial partners in the process.”

One analyst here said the assumptions were in part the result of a rushed government strategic defense and security review that mandated the change in JSF type without testing the quality of the data.

The report did praise the MoD for acting quickly once it realized the assumptions and data were questionable.

“It was a big strategic decision taken with poor information. Once it became clear how bad a decision it was the government deserves credit for acting swiftly even if it was politically embarrassing. Having [Philip] Hammond as defense secretary made it easier as his predecessor [Liam Fox] had been more wedded to the carrier variant,” said one executive who asked not to be named.

The rapid decision to abort the F-35C plan once the government realized the problem enabled the British to save hundreds of millions of pounds in long-lead items and other costs that were about to fall due.

The Ministry of Defence estimates the STOVL option without the proposed EMALS fitted to the carrier will be £1.2 billion cheaper over 10 years than the F-35C variant.

That figure halves to £600 million over 30 years due to higher procurement and support costs associated with the STOVL aircraft.

The British estimate support of the STOVL aircraft will cost 20 percent more than the carrier variant.

Initially, the UK is buying 48 F-35Bs to equip a joint Royal Navy/Royal Air Force fleet.

An order for the first squadron of F-35s is expected later this year to add to operational test and evaluation aircraft already being flown by the UK .

The cost of the two 65,000-ton carriers had risen 55 percent to £5.24 billion between 2005 and 2012. That figure is set to rise further when the final costings on the program are agreed by the MoD and the BAE Systems–led alliance building Britain’s biggest ever warships.

Margaret Hodge, the chair of the influential Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, said, “This latest U-turn came about because the decisions taken in the SDSR were based on the same wildly over-optimistic assumptions and poor understanding of costs and risks that have characterized this program from the start. What the MoD needs to do now is stop backtracking on decisions and hemorrhaging money, and finally get a grip on this ongoing fiasco.”

The report, “Carrier Strike: the 2012 reversion decision,” said an important factor in the U-turn was the realization that the F-35C carrier variant could not be delivered until 2023, three years later than thought due to conversion issues with the carrier.

To save money, Britain is already taking an aircraft carrier capability holiday until the first of the two Queen Elizabeth-class warships are scheduled to be operational in 2020, but Gen. Sir David Richards, the chief of the Defence Staff, deemed the additional delay unacceptable.

But reverting to the STOVL version of JSF means Britain is also now going to take another holiday, this time on deep and persistent offensive capability (DPOC) .

The carrier variant of F-35, with its longer range and greater payload, would have filled the role now taken by Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s in a way the STOVL aircraft can’t.

The MoD accepts it will have a capability gap, leaving its allies to provide the required assets.

“Accepting a gap in DPOC is a key factor in the potential long-term cost advantage of the STOVL option,” said the NAO.

The report said the MoD had changed its mind three times in two years on DPOC and needed to “introduce a degree of consistency in its decision-making not previously apparent.”

The reduced cost of building and operating STOVL carriers compared with a cats and traps-equipped warship led Defence Secretary Philip Hammond last year to raise the possibility of having both carriers available to give the Royal Navy a continuous deployable capability.

The first carrier is scheduled to start operational training in 2017, have the first JSF flying from its deck the following year and be operational in 2020. The second carrier is due for completion in 2019.

The report questioned whether a 2020 operational date for the carrier was feasible following an MoD decision to delay the Crowsnest Merlin helicopter-based early warning radar system operational until 2022.

Crowsnest is a vital airborne detection system set to be based on the RN carriers. Its predecessor, the Sea King Mk7, is going out of service in 2026, leaving the British with another capability gap.

Lockheed Martin UK secured an assessment phase contract for the program recently. The aim is to deliver the first Crowsnest in 2020 but the NAO says unless the MoD brings forward funding or finds a credible alternative that does not compromise capability, some carrier operational tasks could only be undertaken with additional risks until the helicopter obtains full capability.

The NAO warned that although carrier build work is progressing well the project had the highest risk phases of construction and integration still to come.

Analysts and executives here said delivering the carrier, the F-35 and Crowsnest on schedule and within the limits an austerity-struck British budget can afford will pose a major challenge to the industry and government alike.

In a statement, Hammond defended the MoD’s decision to slow down introduction of Crowsnest.

“The Department does not consider that the phased introduction of Crowsnest undermines the delivery of carrier-strike capability. Crowsnest will enter service at the same time as HMS Queen Elizabeth and will be fully operational by 2022. Until then, its maritime surveillance capabilities will be augmented by other platforms and systems,” he said.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130509/DEFREG01/305090014/UK-Watchdog-Faulty-Data-Drove-F-35-Choices-New-Carriers

ils vont tout de meme continuer comme les autres,ca proteste ca recalcule mais in fine ca se la boucle et reste sur la ligne tracée par les US

Citation :

La RAF et AirTanker cherchent de nouvelles sources de revenus



Dans le cadre du programme Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) d'une durée de 27 ans, AirTanker a acheté 14 A330 MRTT Voyager dont 7 équipés de trois points de ravitaillement (deux sous les ailes, un sous le fuselage). Ces appareils remplacent les VC-10 et TriStar vieillissants de la RAF. En période normale, 9 Voyager seront en ligne, les 5 autres restant en parc.

Actuellement, 4 Voyager ont été livrés (le 4e en avril dernier) et sont basés à Brize Norton, au nord-ouest de Londres.

Pour réduire les coûts et optimiser la disponibilité de ces appareils, la RAF cherche à les affecter à d'autres missions (ravitaillement et transport) pour le compte de la RAF, de l'Otan ou d'armées européennes. Une location qui ne sera possible que lorsque toutes les autorisations auront été données par la UK Military Aviation Authority (MAA), ce qui permettra aux Tornado de la RAF d'être les premiers à se ravitailler aux Voyager.


http://lignesdedefense.blogs.ouest-france.fr/archive/2013/05/11/airtanker.html

Citation :

Exercise Hairspring took place in the frozen mountains of Porsangmoen in the northern Finnmark region of Norway, where the wind chill factor can take temperatures as low as -50 C


A Marine plunges into the ice cold water during the ice breaking drill


Marines take part in the Skijoring drill which involves them being towed behind the BV-206 vehicle


Royal Marines Commando Reservists in the mountain range near to Porsanger Garrison near Lakselv, Norway.


A Marine takes a drink of whisky after he completed the ice breaking drill


Marine Greg Spencer from London boils water from snow in his snow hole he helped build and camped in


Royal Marine Captain Chris McGinley takes a picture of the Northern Lights at Porsanger Garrison


Captain Larry Foden peers through the window of a BV-206 vehicle


Marines take part in the Skijoring drill
Picture: PA

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/9920558/Royal-Marines-Arctic-training.html#?frame=2505375

Citation :

U.K. Rivet Joint - First "Official" Picture



USAF Photographers have snapped the first RC-135 Rivet Joint destined for the U.K. Royal Air Force.

Aircraft ZZ664 is seen here outside the hangar at L-3's facilities in Greenville, Texas following its roll-out in April. Aviation Week showed the first image of the RC-135, which will be named Airseeker in RAF service, on Christmas Eve as the aircraft was being worked on in the hangars at Greenville.

The RAF has three RC-135s on order, making the U.K. the first export customer for the RC-135V/W Sigint jets. The aircraft are being converted from a trio of 1964-vintage Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers.

According to officials from RAF Waddington, the future home of the aircraft in the U.K., the first Airseeker will enter service with 51 Squadron by the end of 2013.

Personnel from the squadron are undertaking Conversion Training at Offutt Air Force Base Nebraska. Qualified UK personnel already fly alongside their US counterparts on Rivet Joint operational missions.

www.aviationweek.com

Citation :

British army vehicles will be painted with new colour camouflage of tan brown.

British Military is braced for hue and cry over replacement of the yellow camouflage of its desert vehicles with new 'army brown'. It took scientists a year to get the right shade – and if truth be told, it might take several more for soldiers to get used to it – but after more than sixty years bearing the same dark yellow colour, the British military is to adopt a new "army brown".

In what is likely to be one of the biggest make-over the forces have undertaken, the army's fleet of desert vehicles is being repainted, replacing the previous 'Light Stone' camouflage that has adorned tanks and troops carriers since before the second world war.

Some of the new Foxhound patrol vehicles being used in Afghanistan have already been re-sprayed with up to 30 litres of the new colour per vehicle, hinting at the scale of the paint job required over the coming years.

The army has around 5,000 combat vehicles – and all conflicts over the last 20 years have taken place in sandy environments.

The scientists who developed it insist 'Army Brown' is the colour of the future, and the paint is clever too. They are working on a formula which will turn it a different shade when chemicals have been detected to warn troops of the dangers around them.

"The new colour is a tan brown whereas the old was a dark yellow," said Andrew Richardson from AkzoNobel, the firm which developed it. "It is a dirt colour as opposed to a sand colour. When you are close up there is a significant difference."

The Ministry of Defence decided it wanted a change of hue last year, with officers saying they needed something that could work in places such as Afghanistan, but blend in easily in other hot and dusty environments.

The Ministry of Defence decided it wanted a change of hue last year, with officers saying they needed something that could work in places such as Afghanistan, but blend in easily in other hot and dusty environments.

www.armyrecognition.com

Citation :

HMS Daring bound for the Far East




THE first of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers is heading to sea again for a nine-month deployment.
HMS Daring is gearing up for another deployment this month which will take her ship’s company to the Far East and beyond.

The warship will stretch her sea legs on the deployment with port visits, exercises and celebrations.

She will contribute to maritime security in the Asia Pacific, and conduct science and technology trials in the Pacific.

The ship will also represent the UK in Exercise Bersama Lima, part of an annual programme of exercises in the region involving Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Commander Angus Essenhigh is the commanding officer of HMS Daring and said: ‘This exciting deployment will do much to build on existing alliances, establish and strengthen new relationships and contribute to maritime security in the Asia Pacific, a region in which Britain has historic trade and security links.

‘We will also remain ready to react to contingent operations should they arise.’

HMS Daring and her 190-strong crew will also take part in celebrations marking the 100th 
anniversary of the Royal Australian Navy.

In between all of these events will be a series of port visits.

HMS Daring left for her maiden deployment in January last year.

As reported in The News, she played a major role co-ordinating dozens of strike sorties in Afghanistan alongside the US Navy during her first operational time at sea.

The 7,500-tonne warship, which is the first of six new Type 45s built for the navy by BAE Systems, boasts the latest in maritime technology and is billed as the Royal Navy’s largest and most powerful destroyer ever.

Her prime role is air defence and her state-of-the-art radar systems can track all flights in a 200-mile radius.

She also packs the new Sea Viper missiles which can hit multiple targets at the same time and knock them out of the sky from up to 70 miles away.

The ship is due to leave Portsmouth on May 27.

The six Type 45s, all of which are based in Portsmouth, are due to serve until 2040.

Elsewhere, HMS Dragon is in the middle of her maiden deployment to the Middle East.

Six ships and more than 600 sailors of the Royal Navy have been taking part in a fortnight-long test of their minehunting capabilities in the Gulf region.

Portsmouth-based minehunters HMS Quorn and HMS Atherstone have been taking part in the exercise along with HMS Dragon.

Its aim is to show that mines pose a real and present danger to the safe passage of shipping in the region.

A recent demonstration was in 2011 off the coast of Libya, where pro-Gaddafi forces tried to block the port of Misrata with mines, which Portsmouth-based minehunter HMS Brocklesby found and dealt with.

Commodore Simon Ancona leads the International Maritime Exercise Force. He said: ‘Mine countermeasures are about the freedom of the seas, the arteries along which the life blood of global commerce and energy flows.’

www.portsmouth.co.uk

http://www.corlobe.tk/article32620.html
....Bon ben il y a pas que la France qui galére