Briefings : Typhoon problems, Reaper, Brazil

• The RAF suspended all flights by its fleet of Typhoon fighters because of problems with their ejector seats. This is following the death of a Saudi pilot during the crash of a Typhoon in Spain last month when a fault was discovered with the harness in the investigation. All Typhoon operators restricted operations and now modifications have been made to the ejector seats to allow flights to resume.
• The RAF's latest Reaper has arrived in Afghanistan to support operations there. With this extra UCAV the RAF can now have multiple Reaper operations at any one time over the country.
• The Royal Marines have been conducting joint-exercises with their Brazilian counterparts off the coast of Brazil. The bounty of this co-operation could be a big order for British warships by the Brazilians who may buy the Type 26 according to some reports. France and Italy are also trying to get a piece of Brazil's plan to modernise its surface fleet.

Briefings : SDR, Ocean, Arms Sales

• The SDR mayhem continues with the RAF now apparently under threat, according to the mainstream media anyway. Seems like the sort of arguments i read in Warship World last year. According to some sources the UK is preparing to give up having a continuous nuclear deterrent and go for a "cheaper alternative". How many times must we have these arguments?
• HMS Ocean has arrived off Rio de Janeiro to take part in an amphibious operation with the Brazilian Navy and Marines. Ocean will also be taking part in a UK-Brazil trade & industry exhibition. I wonder if they'll try and flog the helicopter carrier off to the Brazilians while they are at it.
• A $60 billion arms deal between the US and Saudi Arabia has been proposed which would include F-15s, Apaches, Blackhawks and all sorts of other gear.
• Portugal could buy 6 of the new KC-390 tactical transport from Embraer. Brazil, Chile and Columbia are also likely to buy the type.
• A recent computer virus is said to have been created by a Jihadist group. A new front in the "War On Terror"?

Briefings : Army cuts, Arms sales, Co-op

• The UK could cut it's troop numbers by 30,000 and place the Royal Marines under Army control under one option being drawn up in the strategic defence review. However an army source said that would be unlikely to happen while fighting was continuing in Afghanistan.
• India is to sign a £500 million deal with BAE Systems for Hawk trainer jets it is reported during the Prime Ministers' trip to India this week.
• Kuwait has shown an interest in the F-15SE Silent Eagle to augment its current fleet of Hornets. Saudi Arabia plans to buy 84 F-15s along with 72 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
• France and Germany have set up a co-operation working group to look at ways to save costs by pooling resources. 
• Myanmar is said to be working on nuclear weapons.

Briefings : Agamemnon, KC-X, K-8

Work has begun on the 5th Astute class submarine for the Royal Navy (to be named Agamemnon) though it will be part of the coalition's strategic defence review. But then again most things will be these days.

The KC-X next generation tanker deal for the USAF is expected to be announced in November. EADS and Boeing are both bidding in the long-running and troubled competition. The US Army is experimenting with fuel cell technology on an M1 Abrams tank. The tank's auxiliary power unit will convert diesel into hydrogen and then generate electricity using a fuel cell.

China's K-8 jet trainer / light attack plane is a popular buy at the moment. Myanmar have ordered 50 of the planes which will be supplied in part-form and then assembled in the country.

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 : Iraqi Hawks, Taiwan kickbacks, USN cuts

Iraq is considering buying the BAE Systems Hawk as it's advanced trainer as it gradually rebuilds it's air force in a deal that could be worth over a billion pounds. Iraqi Air Force officials will visit Britain later this year to test fly the trainer.

French defence giant Thales has been ordered to pay damages to the Taiwanese government after being found guilty of using bribes to secure a contract for 6 frigates back in 1991. The total Thales might have to pay out could be as high as a billion dollars.

Is the US Navy in line for some big cuts? Secretary of Defence Gates is reported to have questioned the need for so many carrier battle groups and whether the US could afford so many multi-billion dollar programmes. One future weapon system said to be under review is the Ohio SSBN replacement. This has implications for the Royal Navy's Successor ballistic missile submarine programme of course.

Briefings : Castle, F136, Club-K

Two ex-Royal Navy Castle class patrol ships are to be refitted, overhauled and upgraded for the Bangladeshi Navy. The deal will secure 100 jobs at the A&P Tyne shipyard.

Ex-HMS Leeds Castle, one of the ships bound for Bangladesh

GE & Rolls Royce have improved their price offer for the troubled alternative engine for the JSF which has often been threatened with termination. The price of the F136 engines delivered in FY2014 and 2015 will now be cut. The new price deal could cut the cost to the Pentagon by a billion dollars over the next couple of years.

A new Russian "super weapon" could put the world's navies under serious threat apparently. The Club-K system is an advanced cruise missile and is said to be able to destroy an enemy aircraft carrier 300 miles away. The Russians themselves say the threat of the missile has been exaggerated especially claims the missile could be hidden in shipping containers and end up in the hands of terrorists, which is all a bit James Bond to be honest.

Briefings : Northumberland, Argentina, X-37B

Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland has deployed to the Middle East on a 7 month mission.

Argentina is to buy 2 Mi-171E helicopters from Russia, the first time Argentina has bought weapons from the Russians.

The US' new space plane, the X-37B, could be launched into space for the first time today. The X-37B can spend up to 9 months in orbit and will conduct some classified experiments while up there.

Oman to buy Typhoon

Oman is to buy an unspecified number of Eurofighter Typhoon fighters it has been announced by the UK. They were in talks about buying 24 a couple of years ago so it is presumed the order will be for around this number.

Briefings : UK/France, A400M, K-8

Britain and France may be moving closer together on matters of defence. Financial and geopolitical pressures may be forcing the two countries to think about a more shared defence future. When Royal Navy Rafales land on Charles de Gaulle i'll believe it! In other UK defence news, some more on Skynet 5D.

Now the A400M's future seems secured EADS are being bullish about the air freighters' future saying it could replace the C-130 as the world military transport of choice. We'll see. Venezuela have received 8 K-8s from China.

Briefings : Engineers, Russia, Training

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

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

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

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

Briefings : JCA, USN yesterday and tomorrow, Arms sales

Sq Leader Steve Long has become the first RAF pilot to fly the JCA. He flew a US based F-35 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, USA.

Information Dissemination talks about a 1915 documentary film on the US Navy, thought to be the oldest film footage of the USN in existance. CDR Salamander meanwhile wonders if the Royal Navy's troubles today will be the USN's troubles tomorrow.

Bangladesh is in an arms buying mood and wants fighters, helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft. Greece still wants to buy French FREMM frigates despite their financial meltdown. Vietnam have bought 12 SU-27MK2 fighters, and are one of Russia's top export customers these days i believe.

Briefings : Taiwan arms sale, Singapore air show

The US is to sell Taiwan $6.4 billion worth of arms including Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and 2 minesweepers. The mainland is angry about the deal of course. They say they will stop military exchanges with the US.

If France sell a Mistral amphibious warfare ship to Russia could the removal of a Georgian TV channel from Eutelsat be a condition of the sale? 

Asia's largest airshow the Singapore Air Show has begun. Australian F-111s made what could be their last appearance outside of Australia prior to their withdrawal.

More photography has come out from the PAK-FA maiden flight, including this excellent underneath view which shows the wing and LERX very well.

MASS partnership agreement signed by MOD to supply UK ammo

The MOD has agreed a $2 billion deal (which could rise to £3 billion depending on the amount ordered) with BAE Systems called the Munitions Acquisition – the Supply Solution (MASS) programme which is, initially, a 15 year programme to supply 80% of the general munitions used by the UK armed forces ranging from naval shells, artillery shells to small arms ammunition. So what does MASS actually mean, well it consists of a "capability charge" to cover fixed costs, pricing is insulated from commodity price increases (steel especially), and supply will be flexible to allow for "surge manufacture" (for when we get dragged into another pointless war).


Would you like some of the bullets back?

Performance will be monitored and there will be a system of rewards and penalties. BAE Systems will invest in the Royal Ordnance factories it bought in the late 1980s, some of the equipment dating back from the Second World War. BAE's Radway Green facility will be expanded to double capacity. Happily it is also "green", 18,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year will be reduced. Well the Army has always been green.

Saudis to order more Typhoons

Saudi Arabia could order a second batch of up to 70 Eurofighter Typhoons in a deal worth up to 20 billion pounds. However the order is more likely to be for 48 to add to the 72 already on order.