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.