Current Events in Europe

Russia to Finish Slava-Class Missile Cruiser Refit in 2015 (RIA Novosti)

CVN-75 to keep station in the Med: https://news.usni.org/2021/12/28/secdef-orders-u-s-carrier-uss-harry-s-truman-to-stay-in-mediterranean-to-reassure-allies

Revealed: Blair to upgrade Britain's nuclear weapons PM secretly signs up to new deterrent as UN tries to cut global threat By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor 02 May 2005 The Independent Tony Blair has secretly decided that Britain will build a new generation of nuclear deterrent to replace the ageing Trident submarine fleet at a cost of more than £10bn - a move certain to dismay thousands of Labour Party loyalists in the approach to polling day. The disclosure that the decision has already been taken will expose Mr Blair - who has struggled throughout the election campaign to fend off accusations that he lied over the Iraq war - to fresh allegations of d…

From Aviation Week R-77, R-73 Missile Upgrades Emerge Aug 13, 2009 Douglas Barrie/London Maxim Pyadushkin/Moscow Russia's leading guided-weapons manufacturer will wheel out revised--if long- touted--versions of its two key air-to-air missile products this month, as it tries to bolster its position in the export arena. Tactical Missile Corp.--also known as TRV--will formally unveil its so-called RVV-SD and RVV-MD missiles for the first time at the Moscow air show later this month. The RVV-SD is an improved version of the R-77 (AA-Adder), while the RVV-MD is a variant of the R-73 (AA-11 Archer). The radar-guided R-77 has been sold widely, with China and I…

Germany Christens First of New Frigate Class (DefenseNews)

From RIA Novosti Georgia and Russia - doomed to conflict 21:06 | 20/ 08/ 2007 MOSCOW. (Yelena Imedashvili for RIA Novosti) - It would be naive to assume that a joint Russian-Georgian expert inquiry would produce a unanimous opinion on what aircraft became a catalyst for another aggravation of bilateral relations. It is hard to say why Tbilisi and Moscow went into this joint inquiry, considering that it was clear from the very beginning that neither side would give radar evidence against itself. This is exactly what happened and both Georgia and Russia hastened to accuse each other of concealing information and forging evidence, although both understood wh…

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

From Defense Industry Daily Upgrading the Admiral: Russia’s Kuznetsov 08-Apr-2010 15:11 EDT Russia’s “heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers” have received a lot of unfavorable attention from India’s snake-bit deal to refurbish the Admiral Gorshkov; in fairness, however, the Russians haven’t had much more luck with their own ship. Launched in 1985, it was not commissioned until 1995 – and since then, it has endured extremely long dockings and seen only limited deployment. When it’s operational, the The 55,000t Admiral Kuznetsov is a big step up from the smaller Kiev Class’ combination of Yak-38 Forger V/STOL jets and naval helicopters, flying navalized SU-25 close air …

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 RIA Novosti [excerpt]

The ASW Destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov has just departed Portsmouth UK after a 4 day port visit. Recently returned from the Horn of Africa and the Eastern Med, the Kulakov was open to the public for a short time on Sunday. battered and a bit rusty she was still an impressive sight . I'll post some pictures of the open day and her departure shortly.

Russia's Northern Fleet Brings The Fireworks In This "Explosive" Year In Review Video (The War Zone) some great footage here

From Ares [excerpt]

From RIA Novosti [excerpt] CV32: The Ivan Gren class already appears in the HCDB.

U.S. May Use Spanish Base for Special Forces Report By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, MADRID DefenseNews The United States is considering a plan to concentrate its special forces units in Europe, which currently are scattered across the continent, at its base at Rota, southern Spain, the El Pais newspaper reported May 2. Right now, U.S. Marine, Army and Air Force special forces units are stationed in Britain, Germany and Italy. A possible regrouping of the forces at Rota could be discussed during a visit by Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono to the United States this week, his first since the Socialist government came to office in 2004 and pulled its forces out of …

Russia's Military Might Is Center Stage At Show By Associated Press ZHUKOVSKY, Russia -- The largest air show in Russia's post-Soviet history opened yesterday to show off the country's growing military might and to try to boost the country's sagging civilian plane-making sector. "The task stands before us of supporting our leadership in the production of military aviation technology," President Vladimir Putin said at the International Aviation and Space Show at the once-secret Zhukovsky military airfield in Moscow's outskirts. He said Russian manufacturers "must more actively enter the world market for passenger and transport aircraft with competitive prod…

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: Yes, yes, we hear this all the time from the Russian Navy, and yes, work has stopped and started before, and yes, its ambitious, and yes, its probably unlikely in the long run, but a refit with P-800 Yakhont (SS-N-26 Sapless), a naval version of S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) and other modern weaponry is an impressive ambition. At least on paper. From RIA Novosti [excerpt]

Testing a new variant of Il-76 for Special Forces over Black Sea: https://theaviationist.com/2017/10/03/russian-il-76-candid-modified-to-support-special-operations-conducts-flight-test-over-the-black-sea/

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/aircraft-carrier-hms-queen-elizabeth-begins-having-phalanx-guns-fitted/