Current Events in Europe

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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 …

In Return to Cold War Posture, U.S. Sending Sub Hunting Planes to Iceland (Foreign Policy)

From RIA Novosti [excerpt]

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.

From http://www.defense-aerospace.com Ministry of Defence Announces AirTanker Ltd as Preferred Bidder on FSTA Programme Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued Feb. 28, 2005 The Royal Air Force is a step closer to getting a modern air refuelling aircraft under a Private Finance Initiative programme worth £13bn. The British based AirTanker consortium has today been selected as Preferred Bidder for the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme, which will create hundreds of jobs in the UK and sustain thousands of others. Geoff Hoon, Defence Secretary said: "FSTA is the MoD's biggest Private Finance Initiative project. I applaud the positive…

Excerpt: Full story

In short, UK retires the Nimrod MR.2 in March 2010, and it must wait to 2012 to see the Nimrod MRA.4 in service. A two year gap without ASW nor maritime patrol aircrafts, bad thing for a insular state: http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=112034 (in french) http://australianaviation.com.au/uk-brings...mr2-retirement/ Some relevant excerpts of the Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker-Siddeley_Nimrod : On 15 December 2009, the Ministry of Defence announced that the introduction to service of the Nimrod MRA4 will be delayed until 2012 as part of wide-ranging defence spending cuts

Statistical Bulletin Series 4 provides figures on the equipment of the United Kingdom Armed Forces and gives international comparisons. (PDF)

It's looking more and more like a Hung Parliament...

From Flight Global [excerpt]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-03/uk-unveils-radical-defence-overhaul-to-meet-new-global-threats/105368708?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

From DefenseNews Posted 01/10/08 15:27 U.K. May Delay Carrier 18 Months By ANDREW CHUTER LONDON — British defense officials are considering delaying the Royal Navy’s 3.9 billion pound ($7.7 billion) program to build two aircraft carriers for up to 18 months or longer to help plug a yawning hole in the defense budget. Partners in the BAE Systems-led alliance set up to deliver the 65,000-ton carrier have been asked to look at ways of adjusting the spending profile on the program to help overcome cash shortages at the MoD over the next three years. Britain is cooperating with France to design the carriers, which will be the Royal Navy’s largest warships ever. “O…

From Defense Aerospace MoD Signs £3 Billion Contracts for Aircraft Carriers (Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued July 3, 2008) The MoD today signed contracts with industry to build the two future aircraft carriers. The contracts, worth in the region of £3 billion, were signed with the newly-formed UK maritime Joint Venture, BVT Surface Fleet, and the Aircraft Carrier Alliance onboard HMS Ark Royal, one of the Royal Navy's existing aircraft carriers and currently the Fleet Flagship. Contracts authorised today encompass work worth: -- £1,325M for the construction of giant sections of both ships by BVT Surface Fleet at Govan on the Clyde and Portsmouth; …

A slightly chaotic navigation site with articles and comments about UK modern weapons systems and others security issues: http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2013/04/uk-complex-weapons-part-1-introduction/

U.K. Mulls Sea King Successors (Aviation Week)

From Jane's Navy International 31 May 2007 UK MoD remains open to three-boat nuclear deterrent option By Jon Rosamond The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has refused to rule out replacing its four Vanguard-class ballistic nuclear missile submarines (SSBNs) with a new generation of just three boats. However, officials said a "significant body of work" would have to be carried out before they can judge whether the UK could maintain a continuous nuclear deterrent at sea with fewer, but more reliable, submarines. They also warned that the financial savings that accrue would not be as large as the one-quarter reduction in the size of the SSBN fleet might suggest…

From Flight International DATE: 24/11/08 SOURCE: Flight International UK prepares for carrier operations with JSF By Craig Hoyle The UK is making significant advances in its preparations for carrierborne operations with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and expects to sign a contract by late February to acquire three aircraft to support test and evaluation of the type. Partners to the US-led JSF project have until 28 February to commit funds to buy aircraft for use by a joint test team during initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) activities, with the Netherlands and the UK expected to acquire low-rate initial production example…

UK retires ALARM missile (Jane's)

BBC News story Basically, this is a programme to privatise civilian helicopter search and rescue in the UK.