Briefings : Ash damage (or not), Trident, X-37B

Checks on the engines of Finnish air force F-18s which were contaminated by ash from the Icelandic volcano indicate no significant damage was caused to the engines. The RAF has also said no damage was caused to the engine of some of it's Typhoons which ingested some ash. Typhoon training flights have thus resumed.

The issue of replacing Trident came up again in the second of the debates between the leaders of the three main parties in the UK general election (though little else on foreign affairs in what was supposed to be a debate dedicated to it). The Liberals say they will not replace Trident but will seek to maintain Britain's nuclear deterrent through other cheaper means. The other parties attacked their stance. The BBC asks if there is a cheaper alternative.

The USAF's X-37B space plane has successfully been launched into space for the first time. How long the X-37B will stay in orbit is apparently unknown even to the USAF.