Dartmouth Passing Out Parade - More than 130 men and women of the Royal Navy’s Officer Corps as they formally passed out of the Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) at Dartmouth.      Former First Sea Lord Admiral, the Lord Boyce was the guest of honour and the parade marked the end of seven months of initial training.   The parade included young officers from more than 20 different nations - roughly one in four cadets at BRNC is sent by a foreign navy.

SHACKLETON the Rescue – over Easter the British Antarctic Survey ship RRS ERNEST SHACKLETON was alerted to assist a Brazilian navy vessel ARY RONGEL from thick pack ice in the north eastern end of Bransfield Straits near the South Shetland Islands on the Antarctic Peninsula.    The Brazilian icebreaker and oceanographic research ship was heading for Punta Arenas (Chile) and got stuck in the ice.    The RRS ERNEST SHACKLETON arrived at night and by using search lights, the ARY RONGEL was then able to follow the Royal Research Ship  through the heavy pack ice throughout a very stormy night until the following morning as they reached Deception Island and open sea.   Once out of the pack ice, the ships exchanged thank you gifts before continuing on their separate ways.

Joint Strike Fighter Update – The MoD reported, after Easer (in mid April) that The Scotsman incorrectly reports that “it has been decided which variant of Joint Strike Fighter will be flown from the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers”.     

Quote
The paper claims that a Royal Navy press release confirms that the MOD will opt for the short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, but no such decision has been made.    An article on the Royal Navy website yesterday merely reported on the maiden flight of one of the trial versions of the F-35 LIGHTNING II aircraft, which was purchased years ago by the previous government and happens to be a STOVL variant. The Royal Navy article said 'there has been intense media speculation about the F-35 and the variant which may - or may not - fly from the decks of the HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and PRINCE OF WALES'.    The article also made clear that while Britain did originally opt for the 'jump jet' version, known as F-35B, following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review a decision was made to instead purchase the traditional carrier version, the F-35C.   The intention to move to a 'cats and traps' based carrier strike capability was always subject to a detailed piece of work to assess the costs and risks involved in converting a QUEEN ELIZABETH Class carrier and that work is ongoing.     The Defence Secretary will announce the outcome of this process to Parliament in due course.

The combat and mission systems of the 'jump jet' version of the F-35 are almost identical to the carrier variant. So, irrelevant of what decision is made over which jets to buy, British pilots will be using the aircraft which flew yesterday as part of their training and learning experience, until the first carrier variant trial aircraft are ready.   The Strategic Defence and Security Review set out a strategic view of our defence requirements and took the decision to reintroduce carrier strike capability as part of Future Force 2020. This government is committed to implementing that decision.
unquote

So now we know!

Busy WESTMINSTER – the Type 23 Frigate WESTMINSTER has makes huge drugs haul – valued at £14 m with the frigate’s MERLIN helicopter playing a key part in intercepting a suspicious dhow in the Indian Ocean, seizing over 70 bales each of about 180kg of pure heroin. The  WESTMINSTER is operating under the banner of Combined Task Force 150, one of three task forces co-ordinated by the international Combined Maritime Forces, with the aim of defeating terrorism, preventing piracy, stopping the illegal trafficking of people and drugs, and promoting the maritime environment as a safe place for mariners with legitimate business.    The WESTMINSTER was directed to seek out the suspicious dhow by the commander of Combined Task Force 150 - a Commodore of the Royal Australian Navy.

The WESTMINSTER has also recently visited Mombasa (Kenya) to train with her Kenyan counterparts and promote trade between the UK and East Africa and was also used as the venue for the launch of the 'SeaSafe' initiative. This campaign will see UK authorities, through the High Commission, partner with the Kenya tourism industry and the Government of Kenya to provide useful advice to visitors, helping them enjoy the Indian Ocean safely.   Several of the ship's company attended a memorial service for the nine Royal Navy personnel who lost their lives when the LYNX helicopter from the Type 22 Frigate BRILLIANT crashed near Mombasa in 1989 whilst carrying crew ashore.    Another group visited the Coast General Hospital in Mombasa to meet with patients and distribute small gifts to a variety of delighted children's, and also visited the maternity and burns wards.

New Definition of a Capital Ship - The capital ships of the Royal Navy have traditionally been the most important warships with the heaviest firepower and armour and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels.      There is no formal criterion for the classification but the term since 1920 has usually applied to battleships, battlecruisers and aircraft carriers.   In the modern era the Royal Navy's 'capital ship' the Type 23 Frigate WESTMINSTER serving with Combined Task Force 150 in the Middle East, and unusually among ships of this class has a Captain in command, and a detachment of Royal Marines from 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group embarked – and hey presto a modern “Capital Ship” and that’s official.

Exercise Joint Warrior - will see warships, submarines and aircraft take to the west coast of Scotland for a two week training exercise – it is held twice a year to prepare forces from the UK, USA, Denmark, Norway, France, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands for events and active service.     The event is aimed at creating a task group capable of being deployed to worldwide incidents such as last year's war in Libya, as well as testing the ability of the Armed Forces to cope with events such as a terrorist attack on the Olympics.      An air assault exercise will see 1,600 troops from the 16 Air Assault Brigade secure an airfield at West Freugh (Stranraer) through a combination of parachute, air assault and tactical air landings.     Once it has landed, the task force, based around the 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders that was), will defend the airfield and carry out air assault exercises to defeat a notional enemy force. This part of the exercise will involve more than 1,600 troops, and be supported by APACHE, CHINOOK and SEA KING helicopters.   

 The military exercise comes as the Scottish National Party played down reports that its leadership was considering proposing a change to the party's policy on Scotland's future membership of NATO - the party has been opposed to membership of the military alliance for more than 30 years - its policy is to be a member of Partnership for Peace, such as Sweden, Austria, Finland and Ireland, which allows bilateral co-operation between NATO and non NATO countries.   Though at least Nationalist MSP seems more concerned about the “disorientating” impact war games have on whales, dolphins and porpoises, claiming "They will shell the cliffs at Cape Wrath while surface ships and aircraft hunt submarines from Plockton to the North Minch”.    The Cape Wrath Training Area is located approximately 120 miles from Inverness and is the only Range in Europe where Land, Sea and Air forces can conduct live firing training activities.

 

A key element is the exercise will be nine (9) maritime patrol aircraft - Canadian and US P3-ORION aircraft whilst the French will provide a contingent of ATLANTIQUE II aircraft – all operating from the former NIMROD base at RAF Lossiemouth – sadly there can be no British maritime patrol aircraft contribution to this activity.    The Royal Navy will field its two major surface ships at Joint Warrior, fresh from Exercise Cold Response with the repaired helicopter carrier ILLUSTRIOUS hosting the UK’s Joint Force HQ, whilst the assault ship BULWARK will host the Commander United Kingdom Task Group.

Falkland Parallel - Comment – behind much of the concerns over the defences of the Falklands among the senior military one suspects are the memories of the Siege of Malta some seventy years ago. From 1940-1942 the fight for the control of the strategically important island of Malta gained even more importance following the opening of hostilities in mid-1940 in North Africa. British air and sea forces based on the island could attack Axis ships transporting vital supplies and reinforcements from mainland Europe. The Axis resolved to bomb or starve Malta into submission by one of the most intensively bombing campaigns of the War. The German Air Force and the Italian Air Force flew a total of 3,000 bombing raids over a period of two years in an effort to destroy RAF defences and the port facilities. The cost in lives and ships during the defence of Malta is hard to contemplate in the modern era but should be recommended reading for all those charged with current Defence Policy. Malta received the unique honour of a George Cross to mark the stalwart civilian effort during the siege an event that will be marked in April this year. By November 1942 events in North Africa has seen the Axis loose the Second Battle of El Alamein and the Allies had landed forces in Vichy French Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch) and from December 1942 the air and sea forces operating from Malta went over to the offensive but is had been a close run thing ... to close!!