General Anthony Cotton, Commander of US Strategic Command, recently paid a visit to the United Kingdom to acquaint himself with Britain’s nuclear deterrent capabilities, say the Royal Navy in a news release.
General Cotton, who is based at the Air Force Base in Nebraska and responsible for one of the 11 Unified Commands under the US Department of Defense, was greeted at Her Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde on Friday, January 26.
This base serves as the Royal Navy Submarine Service’s headquarters and is a cornerstone of the UKās nuclear defence infrastructure.
Prior to his visit to Scotland and HMNB Clyde, General Cotton met with Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, in London. Admiral Radakin highlighted the importance of General Cottonās visit, stating, “I welcome General Cotton to the United Kingdom to see the extraordinary national endeavour that is underway to ready our nuclear enterprise for the challenges of a more contested world. Russiaās renewed aggression has reinforced the fundamental importance of nuclear deterrence to our collective security.”
Admiral Radakin also praised the enduring nuclear partnership between the two nations, emphasising, “We should be proud of the role the UK-US nuclear partnership has played as a stabilising force in global affairs for the past 65 years. No two other nations in the world are prepared to cooperate so comprehensively over such sovereign and supreme strategic capabilities. With production of both the Dreadnought and Columbia classes of submarine now well underway, the UK-US nuclear partnership will prove just as vital in the decades ahead.”
During his time at HMNB Clyde, General Cotton was welcomed by Director Submarines, Rear Admiral Simon Asquith. His itinerary included a guided tour of the facilities integral to supporting the nuclear enterprise, as well as a visit to one of the Vanguard-class submarines, which have been instrumental in maintaining the UK’s Continuous at Sea Deterrent for nearly 55 years.
Hi folks hope all is well.
Good to see.
As a side issue. I read somewhere yesterday that the marines amphibious ships are to be saved? I would have thought UKDJ would be able to qualify this.
Cheers
George
Yes Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell assured MPs in the intelligence security committee when the chair asked that both ships will remain in service until their planned out of service dates in the early 2030s āI am able on behalf of the Government to give him that undertaking that neither of them will be scrapped.ā He also confirmed they would remain commissioned and not be mothballed. This was on the 23rd so it seems they have decided announcing they would go would be bad in an election year..when security is starting to become a bit more of a thing than… Read more Ā»
The irony is Mitchell (foreign aid minister) and threw a tantrum when UK reduced aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP. Perhaps Ukraine/Russia has focussed minds that hard power counts.
Tshirts about frigate building in Scotland took priority that day.
No doubt the General’s itinerary included a trip into the ‘burgh and a few swallies in The Imps – ahhh the joys of the off-duty Submariner ā
Oh shit thatās more information that will be stored in a Trump bathroom for his Russian cleaner to find.
š¤, (one possible outcome). Another, although doubtful issue, could be the General ‘measuring the curtains’ for future joint occupancy w/ USN. Would imagine USN is quite interested in additional allied submarine maintenance facilities, given current backlog. Impossible? Perhaps not, given USAF (and predecessor) has been a tenant for at least 80 years. Would recommend a forceful negotiating strategy by your estate agent. At a minimum, Uncle Sugar should bring an open checkbook for infrastructure development, and, oh yeah, GBAD for all. š¤š³š
Given the issues that have been highlighted for the RN sub fleet, not sure how the USN might be able to get any dock time?
Eventually, after the floating docks are delivered and other areas are renovated, there will be surplus space. Perfect opportunity for RN to generate some serious coin of the realm.
Unfortunately also ours are operated by Private companies, primarily Babcock.
Hmmm .. another perfectly plausible hypothesis, shot in the ass by reality…š¤š³š
The US is already looking at maintaining surface ships in Japan, the UK is the only country that can assist in maintenance for US SSNās and SSBNās. We have our own issues just now regarding dry docks for nuclear boats but it could certainly be the case once the UK facilities are complete and our own back log is sorted that USN boats use the new facilities at Faslane or Devenport. It would probably be one of the major ways the UK could assist the US especially in a conflict with China. The UK still operates a very robust ship… Read more Ā»
And, presumably, eventually Australia as well…
The consolidation/closure of shipyard maintenance facilities w/in the US, another ‘peace dividend’ resulting from the declaration of victory in Cold War I…š
GBAD would be nice š¤
No pun intended George but a change needs to be made !
*Her* Majestyās Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde on Friday, January 26.
Have a good weekendšš
Old habits (and stock text descriptions) die hard. š
Probably here to tell us that our navy is so tiny it’s not fit for purpose, same for our RAF, same for our tiny excuse of an army, which I’ve stated I here many times, only to be told by many that all is fine, well like I said all along obviously it isn’t, glad I’ve been proved right, keep up folks!!
Unfortunately or otherwise, it does not require many SSBNs to almost literally create a Hell on Earth. It is a task that is well w/in RN’s current and projected capabilities. As an aside, surprised the itinerary did not include a tour of Dreadnought (et al.), construction at Barrow. š¤
Because, you are all over Barrow š
Excellent pun, benefits from a significant element of truth. šš
Itās worth noting that our SSBN fleet will be 1/3rd the size of the USN fleet. We donāt operate any capability thatās 1/3rd the size of the USA.
As you say it does not take much when it comes to SSBNās to create hell on earth.
I am sure the General would not be so negative. He is probably aware that our navy is the second most capable in NATO.
As a matter of interest, does anyone know what flag is partly obscured by Admiral Radakin in the headline photo? It doesn’t look like the White Ensign.
That’ll be ‘His Majesty’s Naval Base’ now. Still getting used to that.