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.

A400M could be (further) delayed by engine troubles

Two engine problems during ground trials could further delay the Airbus A400M military transport which is due to make it's maiden flight in October, a deadline now described as "tight". Water ingestion and gearbox problems have occurred during the trials of the Europrop International TP400-D6 turboprop. Analysis of the problems needs to be carried before before it is known if the first flight need be delayed. Flight testing of the engine aboard a C-130 is also due to begin before the end of July... well they still have a few days yet.