Restraint Urged For Robotic Weapons
The Future of Life Institute has published an open letter decrying the development of autonomous weapon systems, signed by over 1700 experts from the field.
Britain delivers equipment to Ukrainian forces
A Royal Air Force C-130J has delivered equipment in support of Ukrainian troops. The equipment includes: 1,000 individual First Aid Kits 54 helmet-mounted monocular night vision goggles (MNVGs) 2,000 Mk6 helmets The equipment is part of the package of support pledged to the Ukrainian Armed Forces by the Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon in March of this year. The specific equipment delivered is designed to...
HMS Queen Elizabeth comes to life as first engine started
HMS Queen Elizabeth’s diesel generators have been powered-up, bringing the supercarrier to life for the first time. Minister of State for Defence Procurement, Philip Dunne, has officially started the first of the ship’s four diesel generators in Rosyth today bringing the ship to life. "It is a real pleasure to be back in Scotland, home of the UK’s shipbuilding industry, to...
UK increases contribution to new NATO task force
Michael Fallon has announced that the UK will contribute 3,000 personnel to the 'Very High Readiness Joint Task Force' (VJTF) from 2016. The origins of this new task force is an agreement reached at the Wales Summit in 2014, NATO Allies agreed to enhance the capabilities of the NATO Response Force in order to respond to emerging security challenges posed by...
Fallon announces Defence Review for late 2015
The defence secretary has given a date for delivery of a new strategic defence and security review (SDSR) that will dictate the armed forces capabilities and posture for the next five years. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told Parliament on June the 8th that the SDSR will report "towards the end of this year." Media speculation has suggested the Treasury was originally...
Fourth Edition of the UK Defence Journal
The fourth edition of the UK Defence Journal has now been released. It features articles ranging from a view on women in combat, a look at the Type 23 Frigate, the Successor submarine programme, an in-depth look at transforming the MoD, NATO nuclear sharing, modern terrorism and much more. It contains amazing insight and is well worth a read no...
Maritime Patrol Aircraft capability to be regenerated
Mark Francois has confirmed that an initiative which maintains the training of staff formerly based at RAF Kinloss has been extended. Mark Francois is Minister of State at the UK Ministry of Defence, with responsibility for the armed forces, cyber activity, and force generation. "A number of short-term post extensions, varying from three to fifteen months, were agreed in 2013 and 2014." The...
Russian bombers near UK airspace – again
Russian Tu-95 "Bears" have again been probing the UK's air defences to find weaknesses. Over the last few days Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from both RAF Leuchars and RAF Coningsby have been scrambled to intercept the aircraft which have been flying near British airspace. It was reported yesterday that on at least on occasion they had cause civilian air traffic to...
Scotland to benefit greatly in updated defence equipment plan
The UK Ministry of Defence has released the third annual update to the defence equipment plan, setting out spending plans for the next decade. The ten-year plan includes spending nearly £163bn on new equipment and support services for the armed forces. It also shows an independently run audit found the cost of the department’s 11 biggest equipment programmes fell by...
