Briefings : UK defence policy, Nimrod, Choenan

The UK coalition government has published it's joint policy for the next parliamentary term. Defence policy holds no surprises from what has already been stated. The Tories are committed to Trident, the Lib Dems will agree to disagree, but both agree on better pay and conditions for troops on active service whilst cutting the running costs of the MOD. As for Trident the RUSI has said that cutting the number of patrols could extend the life of the existing Vanguard submarines and save billions of pounds. A risky idea to my mind considering how fast events can unfold these days.

The last Nimrod R1s are preparing for their final deployment ahead of it's retirement next year. The last 2 aircraft are to deploy to Afghanistan following a number of upgrades and are likely to remain there until retirement next March.

North Korea has been officially blamed for the destruction of the South's corvette. The Choenan was sunk by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine according to an international team who have investigated the incident. Staying in that area RAND have been looking at the Chinese Air Force and have some interesting things to say.

 

• Chinese Aircraft: China's Aviation Industry Since 1951 (Recommended, Amazon link)