Current Events in Europe

Lord Nelson would be rolling over in his crypt... British navy facing severe cutbacks, according to report 'REDUCED READINESS': Unnamed defense sources said it was possible that the navy would cease one of its major commitments overseas to save money AFP, LONDON Saturday, Jan 06, 2007, Page 6 "What this means is that we are now no better than a coastal defense force or a fleet of dug-out canoes. The Dutch now have a better navy than us." unnamed senior officer in the British Royal Navy Almost half of the British Royal Navy's warships are to be mothballed as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) tries to slash costs, the Daily Telegraph reported yesterday.…

British nukes were protected by bike locks By Meirion Jones Newsnight producer BBC News Newsnight has discovered that until the early days of the Blair government the RAF's nuclear bombs were armed by turning a bicycle lock key. Inserting a key into a nuclear device There was no other security on the Bomb itself. While American and Russian weapons were protected by tamper-proof combination locks which could only be released if the correct code was transmitted, Britain relied on a simpler technology. The Dr Strangelove scenario The British military resisted Whitehall proposals to fit bombs with Permissive Action Links - or PALs - which would prev…

DCNS Lorient Shipyard Visit and FREMM Frigates Program Update with Vincent Martinot-Lagarde (Navy Recognition) Lots of pics. FREMM spec sheet (Navy Recognition)

CV32: I think I heard that sigh of relief from here. From RIA Novosti A test warhead from a Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile successfully hit its target on the Kura test range in Russia's Far East Kamchatka region, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday. The missile was fired from the Dmitry Donskoy submarine in the White Sea. Bulava test launches were put on hold after a failed launch on December 9, 2009, which was caused by a defective engine nozzle. The Bulava (SS-NX-30), a three-stage liquid and solid-propellant submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), has officially suffered seven failures in 13 tests. MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novo…

Bulgaria To Offer Three Bases To U.S. Associated Press May 16, 2005 Military.com SOFIA, Bulgaria - Bulgaria said Saturday it will provide three military bases for use by U.S. forces. American officials have said they could use Bulgarian sites to deploy troops on rotational training tours as part of a broader U.S. strategy of shifting troops based in Europe further east. An American team was expected in Bulgaria next week to discuss the bases, senior military officials have said. Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov said three bases will be offered to the Americans but "it remains to be determined which bases are to be chosen," according to the state …

From Defence Talk Bush Preparing For British U-Turn On Iraq Agence France-Presse | May 21, 2007 London: US President George W. Bush has been told to prepare for a British U-turn on Iraq once Gordon Brown becomes prime minister, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said. A Bush administration official, however, described the report as "baseless." Bush has been briefed by White House officials to expect an announcement on British troop withdrawals during Brown's first 100 days in office, the weekly said. The president was advised on how to handle the aftermath of a British pullout and the end of steadfast support from London, said the broadsheet, citing senior offici…

Cameron: UK Will Operate 2 Aircraft Carriers (DefenseNews)

Can Russia’s Pantsir Air-Defense System Handle Drone Swarms? (War is Boring)

Canadians, French, U.S. Hunt For Submarine Off Scotland (Aviation Week)

Carrier Relaunches Jets After 2 Years MOSCOW -- Russia has started flying jets again from its only operational aircraft carrier after a two-year break, state-run television reported yesterday in the latest show of the country's reviving military capability. "Aircraft are taking off and landing from the deck of the Kuznetsov after a gap of two years. To the pilots and crew [the gap] seemed enormous," Channel One television said in a report from on board the vessel. Last week, President Vladimir Putin announced Russia was returning to its Soviet-era practice of sending long-range bomber aircraft on regular patrols near to NATO airspace. Observers saw those sorties as…

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]

This Sunday at 5 EDT, Michael Cee, author of the World War 1987 blog, retired USAF and military policy expert (and also a friend of mine) will be the host on CDR Salamanders Midrats pod cast on Blogtalk Radio. Give it a listen, should be some very interesting insights into what’s really going on in this bit of brinkmanship. https://www.blogtalkradio.com/midrats

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

From Ares A pic showing how similar the Rafale and Typhoon really are in size and planform ...

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

Maybe the premise behind Red Storm Rising isn't so far fetched, after all. Now, how can we work this into a scenario..... CIA slipped bugs to Soviets Memoir recounts Cold War technological sabotage MORE ON WASHINGTONPOST.COM By David E. Hoffman Updated: 12:13 a.m. ET Feb. 27, 2004 In January 1982, President Ronald Reagan approved a CIA plan to sabotage the economy of the Soviet Union through covert transfers of technology that contained hidden malfunctions, including software that later triggered a huge explosion in a Siberian natural gas pipeline, according to a new memoir by a Reagan White House official. Thomas C. Reed, a former Air For…

From Jane's Commissioning problems hit Astute delivery By Richard Scott 8th September 2008 The introduction to service of Astute, the UK Royal Navy's (RN's) first Astute-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN), has suffered further delays as a result of problems encountered in the boat's commissioning and test phase. Representatives from prime contractor BAE Systems Submarine Solutions and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) have engaged in a joint review process to re-baseline the boat's programme to delivery. No formal announcement on the extent of the delay has been announced, but it is expected that the schedule slippage will push Astute's programme ac…

Russia to deploy Iskander SSMs to Kaliningrad. Provocative and a half. What next, sell them to Cuba along with Su-35s?

From RIA Novosti [excerpt]

Couple of interesting recent YouTube videos: