Current Events in Europe

Lots of BBC coverage. Big one for us here is the carrier agreement; this could result in a situation where (if France agreed) F-35s flew off Charles de Gaulle to defend the Falklands. Tabloids screaming from the rooftops, as to be expected; the entente cordiale has never quite reached the red-tops.

A new? design os submarine, optimized for fast surface moving to crisis areas (in French): http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=114389 In past times it not was a idea with good outcomes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_K_class_submarine Neither in France: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_submar...Surcouf_(N_N_3) At least now in HCE we can fire at surfaced submmarines

Link to cockpit chatter (20 minutes worth) of two Dutch F-16s out of Leeuwarden intercepting a pair of Russkie Tu-95 Bears early last week: Cockpit chatter

From DefenseNews French Carrier Heads Home a Day into Anti-Piracy, Afghan Mission

Sea-testing of the Spanish LHD Juan Carlos I (the second largest warship of Europe, says the press release, waiting for the CVFs), one knot more about the expected maximum speed, and a new cut-away, none notice of the test in the Spanish media (in French): http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=113516

The fourth SSBN of his class commissioned 20 September 2010, and the first with the new M51 SLBM, to be retrofitted in the previous boats (incidentally, in the DB is only modelled the ill-fated M-5 SLBM, it's not modelled the interim M45 neither the new M51, but it's not a problem with this type of weapon ): http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=114120 http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=114121 About Le Terrible (in French): http://www.netmarine.net/bat/smarins/terribl2/index.htm

Paints a grim picture ... From Defense Aerospace British Defense Cuts Could Fracture Alliance (Source: Lexington Institute; issued September 9, 2010) The British Government is about to complete its Defense Review 2010. Scheduled under the former Labor government, the review is taking place under the guiding hand of the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government and in the midst of the most severe economic crisis in Britain’s post-war history. The government has made it clear that it intends to close a yawning budget deficit primarily through deep budget cuts and that defense will not be immune from significant reductions. Estimates of the seve…

From Navy Times DoD details Russian buzzing of U.S. frigate By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Friday Sep 17, 2010 16:49:28 EDT Russian navy aircraft made a series of very close passes over the frigate Taylor last week after its visit to the northern port city of Murmansk, defense officials confirmed Friday, in a chain of incidents so unusual they were discussed in person by the top U.S. and Russian naval officers at the Pentagon. <snip> Staff writer Andrew Tilghman contributed to this report.

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CV32: Take a look at a map or Google Earth. This step essentially grounds the Georgian Air Force (as small as it may be) and locks down the regional airspace. From DefenseNews Russia Deploys S-300 Missiles in Abkhazia: Gen. By STUART WILLIAMS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 11 Aug 2010 12:19 MOSCOW - Russia announced Aug. 11 it had deployed a missile battery in Georgia's pro-Moscow rebel region of Abkhazia, infuriating its arch foes in Tbilisi some two years since they fought a brief war. "We have deployed the S-300 system on the territory of Abkhazia," air force commander-in-chief Gen. Alexander Zelin said in a statement carried by Russian news agencie…

From RIA Novosti Russia to recall from reserve three nuclear-powered missile cruisers by 2020 - Navy 23:16 24/07/2010 Russia will recall from reserve after an upgrade three nuclear-powered missile cruisers by 2020, a high-ranking Navy staff officer told RIA Novosti on Saturday. "Cruisers Admiral Nakhimov, Admiral Lazarev and Admiral Ushakov will be modernized and returned to the Russian Navy's combat force in 10 years," the official said, adding the cruiser's equipment and weapons will be fully modernized. From RIA Novosti Russia plans to upgrade 3 nuclear-powered cruisers by 2020 (Update 1) 02:17 25/07/2010 Russia will upgrade and put on active …

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 Flight Global DATE: 14/07/10 SOURCE: Flight International PICTURES: Royal Navy offered AEW-configured AW101 By Craig Hoyle AgustaWestland and Thales have stepped up their efforts to promote a development of the AW101 to replace the UK Royal Navy's venerable Sea King 7 airborne surveillance and control (ASaC) aircraft. As the incumbent suppliers of the RN's organic airborne early warning capability, the companies have joined forces to offer the AW101 Merlin equipped with Thales's Searchwater 2000 radar and Cerberus mission system. The RN's current 11 Sea King ASaC helicopters are due to be retired from use in 2016, and a new type is needed to ope…

CV32: useful info here for all the scenario designers From Jane's Euro Hawk UAV makes first flight By Gareth Jennings 08 July 2010 The Northrop Grumman/EADS RQ-4E Euro Hawk high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) signals intelligence (SIGINT) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) made its maiden flight from Palmdale, California, on 29 June. The flight, which lasted approximately two hours, began at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale manufacturing facility and concluded at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), California, some 36 km away. The aircraft flew to an altitude of 32,000 ft. James Kohn, Euro Hawk programme manager, told Jane's that, with the ground trials having alrea…

From Defense Aerospace Successful Test Firings for Three PAAMS Program Partners (Source: French Ministry of Defence; issued June 28, 2010) (Issued in French only; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com) On Thursday June 17, 2010, Direction Generale de l’Armement (DGA), the French defence procurement agency, successfully carried out the test firing of two Aster 30 missiles from the Royal Navy barge Longbow. The barge was operated from the DGA Missile Test Range at Ile du Levant (Var district) on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence. Carried out as part of the French-Italian-British Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) program, these firings were…

From ARES Adieu Atlantic Posted by Nicholas Fiorenza at 6/23/2010 1:33 PM CDT The German navy has parted with its last Breguet Atlantic maritime patrol aircraft. Marinefliegergeschwader (MFG) 3 "Graf Zeppelin" based in Nordholz, northern Germany, held an "air day", an open house, on 20 June which ended with the last flight and touchdown of its last Atlantic, BR 1150 Atlantic (61-03), accompanied by three Sea Lynx helicopters. The commander of MFG 3, Capt. Christoph Beer, gave the last crew certificates marking the event, Andrea Bocelli's schmaltzy song, "Time to say goodbye", played on the loudspeakers and the public applauded. Photo credit: © 2010 Bundeswe…

From Jane's Gabler, WTD 71 lift lid on SDV demonstrator By Richard Scott 16 June 2010 Sea Devil's telescopic casing extends from 3.4 m (stowed) to 5 m (operational) in length. The torpedo tube of a Type 212A submarine will accommodate two vehicles. (IHS Jane's/Charles Hollos) Germany's Gabler Maschinenbau has unveiled a compact submarine-compatible swimmer delivery vehicle (SDV) prototype developed in conjunction with the Bundeswehr Technical Centre for Ships and Naval Weapons (WTD 71). Designed for stowage in a standard 533 mm torpedo tube, Gabler's two-person SDV concept – dubbed Sea Devil – has emerged from a technology demonstrator project begun…

From RIA Novosti Russia delays launch of new nuclear submarine 15:3813/04/2010 Russia will not float out a new nuclear-powered multipurpose attack submarine as planned on May 7 due to technical reasons, a source in the shipbuilding industry said on Tuesday. Construction of the Severodvinsk, the first Project 885 Yasen (Graney) class submarine, began in 1993 at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk but has since been dogged by financial setbacks. Russia planned to float out the submarine on May 7 to mark the 65th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in May 1945. "The launch of the new Severodvinsk submarine has been d…

From Ares Blog Scalp Naval Starts Flight Trials Posted by Robert Wall at 6/15/2010 7:26 AM CDT France has begun flight trials of the MBDA Scalp Naval sea-launched cruise missile. The test firing of the MdCN (missile de croisiere naval), as the Scalp Naval is formally known by its customer, the French armaments agency DGA, took place at France’s missile range at Biscarrosse on May 28, but DGA only announced the event June 15. The missile was fired from a vertical launcher which would be used for the operational application on the Fremm multipurpose frigate and the Barracuda submarine. France is looking to field 150 Scalp Navals on Fremm frigates s…

From Defense Aerospace HMS Dauntless Commissioned Into Fleet (Source: U.K Ministry of Defence; issued June 3, 2010) HMS Dauntless, the second of the Royal Navy's new, formidable Type 45 destroyers, was formally commissioned into the fleet today, Thursday 3 June 2010. Hundreds of guests including families of the 190-strong ship's company attended the colourful 'christening' ceremony at Portsmouth Naval Base. Principal guests were Lady Mary Burnell-Nugent, the ship's sponsor who launched the ship at BAE Systems' Govan shipyard in Glasgow in January 2007, and Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Admiral Sir Trevor Soar. The ceremony was conducted by the Venerable J…