Current Events in Europe

Will be known as the Dreadnought class. Update your databases now...

Ónly 5xF-35A available at start, apparently equipped with only 4xAIM-120C-5. IOC from 1 March 2018: https://theaviationist.com/2018/03/08/the-italian-f-35a-stealth-jets-declared-operational-in-the-air-to-air-role/

From RIA Novosti Russian carrier-based fighters exercise over Atlantic 15:21 | 16/ 12/ 2008 MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian naval group led by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, en route to the Mediterranean, conducted a series of training flights over the Celtic Sea, a Navy spokesman said on Tuesday. Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo said Su-33 ship-based fighters had flown a total of 10 sorties. The naval group left the Northern Fleet base in Severomorsk on December 5 and set course for the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In addition to the Admiral Kuznetsov, it includes the Admiral Levchenko destroyer and a support ship and will begin a…

Sounds like great scenario fodder for a Kobayashi Maru scenario. Fire aboard Russian nuclear sub kills two September 07 2006 at 09:53AM IOL Moscow - A fire broke out aboard a Russian nuclear submarine belonging to the Northern Fleet late on Wednesday, killing two of its crew, the Defence Ministry said. The submarine was anchored north of the Rybachiy peninsula near the Finnish border when it caught fire, Interfax news agency reported, quoting navy sources. The agency said there was no threat of a radiation leak. The submarine was now being towed to the port of Vidyayevo, a base for Russian submarines in the Barents Sea, Interfax said. "There w…

Russian nuclear-powered cruiser to undergo overhaul (Jane's)

BBJ (h/t Alert 5)

CV32: Ouch! From Jane's RAF offers to cancel Nimrod MRA.4 programme as part of defence cuts By Tim Ripley 16 July 2010 UK Royal Air Force (RAF) chiefs have offered to cancel the GBP3.65 billion (USD5.57 billion) BAE Systems Nimrod MRA.4 programme just weeks before the first production aircraft are due to be delivered to the service. The offer, made in the RAF submission to Phase 2 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) earlier this month, also includes the early retirement within five years of all of the service's Panavia Tornado GR.4 strike aircraft and the closure of three main operating air bases. It is hoped these cuts would allow th…

From RIA Novosti Russia could focus on tactical nuclear weapons for subs 12:43 | 23/ 03/ 2009 MOSCOW, March 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia may prioritize the development of nuclear-powered attack submarines armed with nuclear-capable cruise missiles in the future, while maintaining its fleet of strategic subs, a senior Navy official said. The Russian Navy maintains a fleet of about 60 submarines, including 10 nuclear-powered strategic submarines, over 30 nuclear-powered attack submarines, diesel-electric submarines and special-purpose subs. "Probably, tactical nuclear weapons [on submarines] will play a key role in the future," Vice Admiral Oleg Burtsev, deput…

From Defense Aerospace JSF Scores Best In Candidate Comparison (Source: Dutch Ministry of Defence; issued Dec. 18, 2009) The F-35, better known as the Joint Strike Fighter, best meets the requirements drawn up by the Netherlands for the successor to the F16. This emerges from the findings of the candidate comparison that the State Secretary for Defence, Jack de Vries, today sent to the House of Representatives. “The F-35 is the best multi-role combat aircraft and by around 2015 will certainly be able to carry out all six main missions successfully.” The F-35 also has the greatest operational availability. In addition, the capital costs of the F-35 are the low…

From RIA Novosti [excerpt] CV32: The entry for this class was recently updated in the HCDB. The vertical launch system, in particular, is pretty formidable.

Russia's PAKFAs to be transferred to Aerospace Forces later this year (Jane's)

New SAM for British frigates

From the BBC - Rest in Peace Brian, a man who was intertwined with Britains Miliary, famous for his reporting from the Falklands and even while in his final stay in hospital gutted not to be able to report on the final flight of the Harrier, rest in peace and my regards to his family, he will be sorely missed.

From RIA Novosti Russia's Pyotr Veliky nuclear-powered cruiser plies English Channel 14:01 05/04/2010 The Russian nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Veliky, deployed to participate in the largest Russian Navy drills in the Indian Ocean, has crossed the English Channel for the first time in her history. "The ship has indeed passed through the channel for the first time," the commander of the cruiser, Capt. 2nd Rank Felix Menkov, told a RIA Novosti correspondent on board the vessel. "The English Channel is shallow...and has a great deal of potential risks, including heavy marine traffic both to the south and the north," Menkov said. Six days after leaving…

From RIA Novosti [excerpt]

A PDF document comparing 2008 defense spending between the USA and Europe (courtesy of the EDA): http://www.eda.europa.eu/WebUtils/download...aspx?fileid=828

Why Russia keeps moving the football on European missile defense (Breaking Defense)

Couple of interesting recent YouTube videos:

Excerpt: Full story

From Navy Times WWII mine discovered in port as Navy visits The Associated Press Posted : Friday Aug 10, 2007 6:04:31 EDT KIEV, Ukraine — A World War II mine was discovered Thursday in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Sevastopol as a U.S. Navy ship called for a visit, and efforts were underway to safely dispose of it, officials said. The mine, weighing up to 1,100 pounds and containing up to 110 pounds of TNT, was found drifting in the water Wednesday near a local navy hospital on the shore, said Valery Strelets, spokesman for the local branch of Ukraine’s Emergencies Ministry. The report came as the guided-missile destroyer Forrest Sherman arrived at the por…