Briefings : SDR, Karrar, North Korea

• The Strategic Defence Review trash talk continues, both Queen Elizabeth carriers could now be "scrapped" (well only QE itself could be scrapped of course as work hasn't begun on the 2nd carrier yet). The Red Arrows could also be under threat, doubt it though.
• Upgraded Desert Hawk UAVs have arrived with British forces in Afghanistan. The latest version has improved cameras and a better wing for operation in the country.
• Iran have unveiled their Karrar "attack drone", the latest of a seemingly endless array of indigenous weapons. However do any of these toys actually make it to serial production? The Karrar anyway can carry 4 missiles or bombs and has a range of 1000km.
• A North Korean MiG-21 is said to have crashed in China when it ran out of fuel. US analysts believe it was due to a navigational error however not an attempted defection. Another suggestion is that it was heading to a Chinese air base for maintenance though there are no confirmed maintenance agreements between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
• Perhaps cyber warfare is a better bet for the DPRK, North Korea have apparently created official Facebook and Twitter accounts as part of their info-war against the decadent West.
• One of the A400M prototypes visited RAF Brize Norton and allowed for a photo-op alongside a Hercules and a C-17.

Taranis revealed

The BAE Systems Taranis stealth UCAV demonstrator has been rolled out ahead of a planned first flight in 2011. Part of Taranis' purpose is to prove the UK can develop a stealth UCAV and if the UK decides to go ahead with Taranis a production version could be in service before the end of the decade. That will depend on a number of factors however such as money.

Briefings : Bomb disposal, M51, Sky Warrior

• Dragon Runner counter-IED robots have been criticised as useless by unnamed members of the Army bomb disposal team. The main problem appears to be it can't move over uneven ground. Which would seem to be a bit of a drawback in Afghanistan.
• France has test fired a M51 SLBM from the submarine Le Terrible. The unarmed missile test is intended to validate the missile under operational conditions.
  
  
• The Block 1 MQ-1C Sky Warrior UCAV for the US Army has entered production. 34 Sky Warriors will be built in total. The Sky Warrior will fulfill the armed MALE role and replace the RQ-5 Hunter and RQ-7 Shadow.
• Norway has launched (or rather an Indian rocket has) the AISSat-1 ship-tracking satellite. The nano-sat (a 20cm cube) will track ships in Norwegian territorial waters by picking up the signals from their AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponders.

Briefings : Drug haul, Mantis, B-1B

• T42 destroyer HMS Manchester has helped capture drugs in the Caribbean worth £1.5 million in the UK. A Lynx helicopter from the destroyer detected a drug runner's speed boat off the island of Montserrat and directed a police boat to intercept. Twelve 25KG bales of cannabis were later found.

• BAE Systems has completed a successful flight test programme with it's Mantis MALE UAV demonstrator in Australia and has now been returned to the UK. It will be rebuilt ready for some further ground based testing. Its not known if it will fly again. BAE will roll out it's Taranis UCAV demonstrator later this month.

• Britain and Spain are meanwhile engaged in a spat over the use of airspace by British military airspace for exercises off Gibraltar. 
• South Korea wants a big increase in it's defence spending to boost it's armed forces in the face of a greater threat from the North. 
• The B-1B fleet is being considered as the sacrificial lamb as the USAF looks at cuts but the bomber has received some support from the new commander of forces in Afghanistan General Petraeus.

Briefings : Pakistani F-16s, Illustrious, French MALE

• Pakistan has received the first of a latest batch of new F-16C/D fighters. Eventually 12 F-16Cs and 6 F-16Ds will be delivered.
• The Royal Navy flagship HMS Illustrious is currently in refit, this article takes a look at what is being done to the aircraft carrier.
• The French are seriously considering buying a US drone off-the-shelf for it's MALE UAV programme. Predator Bs would be in the frame for that procurement.
• The Chinese military have banned all of it's personnel from blogging or creating a website. PLA members are also banned from making friends on-line.

Briefings : MALE, Afghanistan, Serbian Typhoons?

The UK and France are to work together on technology studies for a European MALE (Medium-Altitude Long Endurance) UAV. The French are keen on a European solution as the alternative would likely be an American solution like the Reaper which the RAF already operate and which the French are considering as a stop-gap. Italy meanwhile have received their first Reapers.

The number of bomb disposal teams the British Army has deployed in Afghanistan is to be doubled to 20. The Prime Minister wants the allied action in Afganistan to be speeded up and extended to stabilise the country faster so UK forces can be withdrawn. A progress report on Afghanistan will also be published once a quarter (a good move in my view).

Serbia have expressed an interest in buying the Eurofighter Typhoon to replace their remaining Fishbeds and Fulcrums. A plan has also been drawn up for the production of 124 Tranche 3B Typhoons for the 4 partner nations. Syria is to buy Fulcrums, armoured vehicles and other weapons from Russia.

Briefings : AURIGA, Patrol vehicles, Reaper

A number of Royal Navy and RFA vessels are taking part in the AURIGA multinational naval task force. A four month series of exercises involving the RN, USN and French Navy are currently taking place off the US Eastern seaboard. HMS Ark Royal, HMS Liverpool, HMS Sutherland and RFA Fort George are among the vessels taking part.

Force Protection and Supacat are being invited to tender for new patrol vehicles for the British Army which will replace the controversial Snatch Land Rover in Afghanistan. The two vehicles being considered are the Ocelot (below) and the SPV400.

The Reaper UAV has reached the 10,000 flying hours mark in RAF service over Afghanistan.

Briefings : Sea Avenger, US nukes, Rafale

General Atomics has unveiled the Sea Avenger UAS and offered it to the USN to fill their requirement for a carrier launched attack and surveilance drone. This is a navalised version of the Predator C drone.

The US has revealed the exact size of it's nuclear stockpile for the first time at the UN talks on the non-proliferation of nuclear warheads, though the figure of 5113 warheads did not surprise experts that much which was pretty much in line with their estimates. Thousands more warheads are awaiting dismantlement.

Dassault is still waiting for it's first Rafale order though UAE looks like it may buy the fighter. However talks are ongoing as the UAE want a better version of the fighter than the F3 which currently equips the French Air Force. The UAE want more engine thrust, an AESA radar and better electronics in an F4 model, however this could also equip the French Air Force too.

Meanwhile the Indian MMRCA fighter contract (which will be for 126 aircraft) has dragged on so long that the competing companies will now have to re-bid.

Video : Watchkeeper first flight

The first flight of the British Army's new UAV Watchkeeper.

Watchkeeper makes first flight

The UK's future ISTAR UAV the Watchkeeper 450 has made it's first flight in UK airspace (luckily before the Icelandic ash cloud closed the airspace).

Briefings : Election defence plans, Watchkeeper, J-10

The Tories say they will cut the MOD's costs by a quarter in their election manifesto. One area of savings could be to cut co-operational on EU defence initiatives. The Tories also plan to retain Trident, set up a National Security Council and a homeland defence command. Hang on i thought they wanted to reduce bureaucracy? Labour meanwhile will conduct a strategic review and are committed to the aircraft carriers, they will also give a free ID card to veterans and also cut MOD waste. The Liberals will not renew Trident and improve pay and conditions for troops. Sadly finding defence in the parties' manifestos takes some time, its well down the list of priorities.

The UK could extend it's stop-gap Hermes UAV operation in Afghanistan for another 6 months while it continues to get the Watchkeeper 450 ready for service. Hermes 450 have now logged over 30,000 hours in theatre providing the bulk of British ISTAR.

China has been showing off it's J-10B with some nice aerobatics (video in link well worth seeing).

Briefings : Combat ISTAR, Endurance, F-X

The RAF now had "combat ISTAR" over Afghanistan thanks to platforms like the Reaper and views the combination of intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities at the heart of it's new concept of operations. The RAF say it's emphasis has now moved from precision attack to exploting the information space. You can read more jargon in the article. A long-endurance UAV is next on the RAF's list, a competition to procure a medium altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle will be launched. BAE's Mantis and the Predator C Avenger are considered contenders.

A lack of training has been blamed for the engine room flooding which nearly lost HMS Endurance in 2008. Incorrectly connected air control lines to a hull valve allowed water into the ship which ended in the ship nearly capsizing off the Straits of Magellan. Thales UK have won a contract to support the Daring destroyer classes' communications systems.

Frustrated by a fruitless wait for the F-22 Japan is moving ahead with it's F-X competition and will buy 40-50 fighters to replace it's F-4EJ Phantoms. Contenders include the Typhoon and the Super Hornet. The Rafale will not be a contender, Dassault say Japan will never buy a European fighter. Which is probably true to be honest.

Briefings : Astute, Hummingbird, MiG-29

Work is set to start on the 5th Astute submarine for the Royal Navy though with long lead items already being purchased for it it was no surprise. Eventually the navy will have 7 of these SSNs, could do with more though.

Boeing has begun building its A160T Hummingbird unmanned helicopter anticipating orders for it from the US military for the "cargo resupply and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions".

India has ordered 29 more MiG-29Ks for it's navy after the naval version of it's Tejas fighter slipped behind schedule.

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 : Exercise, Russian bomber, MAV

The MOD have a photo gallery from Operation Cold Response currently being held in Norway. The Royal Navy, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Royal Marines took part in an amphibious assault.

Russia, having got it's next generation fighter the T-50 into the air, will switch it's attention to a new strategic bomber to replace the Bear and the Blackjack in the next decade PM Putin has said. Meanwhile 3 more T-50s will be built before the end of the year.

The USAF is working on a "killer micro-drone" called Anubis with AeroVironment, a killer MAV that can engage high-value manovering targets, like insurgent leaders in pick-up trucks? The Royal New Zealand Air Force's display team, the Red Checkers, have been grounded following a minor mid-air collision.

Briefings : CVF, Russia, UCAV

Work has begun on the new Royal Navy carriers at Portsmouth. There is still a cloud over the CVF though with speculation the Tories could cancel them if they win power in this year's election. Mind you the way things are going in the polls a Tory election win is looking less likely by the day.

The head of the British Army has said British troops could be out of Afghanistan within 5 years. Numbers could start to fall from as early as next year.

Russians have found dozens of T-80s seemingly abandoned in forests in the Urals but the Russian Army says there was nothing unusual about it, saying placing a guard next to each one would be impossible.

Two new versions of the Predator UCAV are in the works following live fire tests of Hellfire missiles and over water test flights. The MQ-1C is being fast tracked into service with the US Army as a long endurance multi-purpose aerial vehicle. A prototype marine Predator is also being developed for the Customs and Border Protection Service.

Briefings : Falklands, UAV, Helicopters

The MOD says it is maintaining it's forces in the Falklands area amid reports that the Royal Navy is sending more ships but i thought ships like the Type 42 HMS York were already there. Anyone else feeling nostalgic for the 1980s?

The US Marines are looking into using unmanned air vehicles for resupplying troops in Afghanistan in order to take traffic off the IED and insurgent-infested roads. The French are looking into working with the UK on a MALE (medium-altitude long-endurance) UAV.

After the VH-71 disaster the US are starting a new competition to procure  a helicopter for the POTUS.

Briefings (19/01/10) : New rifle, A400M, Chinese hacking

British troops in Afghanistan are to get L129A1 Sharpshooter rifles. 440 have been bought as part of a UOR. The rifle, which fires 7.62 rounds, will be more useful in long-range firefights.

Flight International look at the A400M project problems and concludes that it is too big to fail.The First Sea Lord warns against spending cuts to the Royal Navy.

In the light of the knowledge security flaws in Internet Explorer allowed Chinese hackers to attack Google the French and German governments have advised it's citizens to not use IE, however the British government and armed forces are to continue using it (IE6 too, blimey!) Meanwhile foreign reporters in China say their Gmail accounts have also been hacked. McAfee say the cyber attack was "ultra sophistocated", the most sophisticated cyber attack outside of the defence industry.

Italy is investigating what caused one of it's Predator A Plus UAVs to ditch in the Adriatic while on a training flight. India are set to buy 29 MiG-29Ks for it's Navy, no doubt for use on an ex-Soviet aircraft carrier India is still yet to receive despite paying billions.

Briefings (14/01/10) : Rescue, UAV data, Google-China

The RUSI is warning that the UK armed forces could lose 20% of it's trained personnel because of pressures on the defence budget and rising military costs. The RAF Search & Rescue teams have been busy because of the wintry weather in the UK.

The US are heavy users of drones and that use is going to get heavier but one of the problems they are having is the amount of data being gathered, in 2008 24 years worth of footage was gathered alone! The US is now turning to the television industry for technology and techniques to help them manage and analyse the vast amount of data.

Google's decision to not censor results in China and potentially closing down it's operations in China may have been because of the Chinese government's hacking of the Gmail accounts of human rights activists and other cyber attacks which may be part of a wider spying effort by China on US IT companies. Wikileaks is claiming China was accessing Google's source code and also the US Government's Gmail-intercept system. The always excellent Information Dissemination also looks at this.

Al Qaeda may be linked to a "rogue" aviation network of aircraft which regularly criss-cross the Atlantic laden with drugs and weapons.

Sunday Fail : Pheonix

Part 2 in our weekly series of military projects that never really made it.

The Pheonix UAV was developed by GEC & BAE Systems for the British Army's artillery to work with the Battlefield Artillery Target Engagement System (BATES).  It is perhaps a typical example of a modern British defence project. Late, expensive, flawed. No maybe that is unfair as usually the end result works well after much toil and sweat and billions of pounds. Pheonix seldom did.

Despite a first flight in 1986 by 1995 there were no signs Pheonix could be got to work. After a review of the project a final chance was given to the manufacturers to try and get into service and they achieved this in 1999 and Pheonix saw active service in Kosovo and Iraq war. 198 were built, though because so many were lost they probably needed more. 23 were lost alone between March and April 2003 over Southern Iraq, there must be a market for UAV bits in Basra. Officially the Army say it worked well and that some attrition was due to it being kept on station for longer to keep an eye on the target and thus it could not be recovered.

Pheonix was launched by catapult from the back of a specially designed truck and landed by parachute. From the very basic design concepts alone you can see that something was wrong. Pheonix was a twin-boom design but instead of that then allowing for a pusher propeller to be fitted a tractor propeller was fitted instead on the front. Thus this meant the sensors had to be carried in a large pod underneath to avoid being obstructed by the prop. Most odd.

Pheonix was finally taken out of it's misery and retired in 2008.