British Military Current Events

[daftandbarmy]

Warlord No4 killed by Apache

AN Apache gunship blew up a key Taliban warlord after he was tracked down by the SBS, The Sun can reveal.
The British helicopter slammed a Hellfire missile into his Jeep — making him the FOURTH terror boss to die at the hands of the SBS in 18 months.
The precision strike also killed his bodyguard and left a second henchman badly injured as they drove across the southern Helmand desert.
The warlord — whose name is being kept secret — is believed to be a new field commander sent in to coordinate bomb and gun attacks on Our Boys across the Afghan badlands.
But the SBS, the Navy’s special forces, spotted him crossing the border from Pakistan and then trailed him with unmanned “drone” spy planes. Ninety minutes later he was dead.


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article1726840.ece

 

[geo]

BZ to the SBS boys

MIghty hospitable of them to give him a big SBS welcome to Helmand province.

:cheers:

 

[The Bread Guy]

Army's demand for 15% limit on foreign recruits to safeguard 'Britishness' upsets race watchdog
Matthew Hickley and Ryan Kisiel, Daily Mail, 25 Sept 08
Article link

Army chiefs want foreign recruit numbers to be capped to safeguard 'Britishness' within the ranks.

They have demanded a 15 per cent limit amid fears the soaring numbers of foreign troops would dilute the force's cultural identity.

They also fear that foreign countries could ban their own citizens from fighting Britain's wars, seriously hampering key operations.

The measure has been backed by Defence Secretary Des Browne and was due to be announced two weeks ago.

But the plans have been thrown into chaos by race relations watchdogs who will not support the measure.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission says there are 'large issues of principle'.
graphic

Senior officers are angry over the Government's dithering, and recruiting trips to the West Indies have had to be cancelled until the confusion is cleared up....

More on link

 

[daftandbarmy]

Like I always said, 'There'll always be an England - as long as they've got Canadians in their army'.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Navy has 41 admirals but just 40 warships

The number of admirals serving in the Royal Navy outstrips the number of warships in the fleet, research has disclosed.

There are 41 admirals, vice-admirals and rear-admirals, but with constant cuts the number of fighting ships stands at 40, figures released in the annual UK defence statistics show.

Since Labour came to power in 1997 the Navy has been steadily eroded, losing one aircraft carrier, six frigates, four destroyers and three submarines.
The 41 admirals draw an estimated annual salary of £6.7 million, which would fund 420 able seamen at a time when the Navy has a shortfall of 1,200 sailors.
The news comes after the UK National Defence Association (UKNDA) accused the Government of “chronic underfunding” of the Navy as a result of repeated cuts over the past two decades. If this trend continues, the fleet would be reduced to half its current size by 2020, leaving it “grievously weakened”, the pressure group said in a report earlier this month.

Following the withdrawal from service of the Sea Harrier, the fleet will be left without air cover for the next nine years, the report added.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/3075936/Navy-has-41-admirals-but-just-40-warships.html

 

[geo]

Army's demand for 15% limit on foreign recruits to safeguard 'Britishness' upsets race watchdog

Umm.... there is no reason for the race watchdogs to be upset IMHO..... any resident / UK national regardless on ethnic nationality has every right to join the UK military without being lumped into that 15% foreign content rule...

What's the problem ???

 

[Blackadder1916]

Two Army assault rifles go missing 'after soldier falls asleep during training exercise'

By Daily Mail Reporter  Last updated at 1:48 PM on 26th September 2008

Two deadly assault rifles have gone missing during an Army training exercise following reports that a soldier fell asleep.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the automatic weapons and a secure portable radio system disappeared during a 42 Engineer Regiment training weekend on Dartmoor, Devon.

But officials refused to confirm whether the weapons were taken when a serviceman fell asleep.

The missing items are now the subject of a military investigation. A spokesman said that the radio has been disabled and is unable to intercept military communications.

It will be rendered useless when it runs out of charge. 

The two rifles are unloaded. A spokesman said: 'The Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch is investigating the loss of two unloaded SA80 rifles and a Bowman radio. It would be inappropriate to comment further.

'They went missing after a training exercise last weekend on the south side of Dartmoor,' he said. 

The equipment belonging to the Oxfordshire-based regiment went missing in the early hours of Sunday at Homing Beam, a regular military training area near Princetown. 

No ammunition is missing and the MoD Police's special investigation branch was leading the inquiry, a spokesman explained 

In 2006, the BBC discovered that more than 200 weapons had been lost by or stolen from the British military over a nine-year period. 

The SA80 rifle is one of the British military's standard combat weapons. It takes a 30-round magazine and is capable of firing 700 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition per minute. 

There has been a military presence on Dartmoor for more than 200 years. The MoD has licences for firing on 13,000 hectares of National Park land.

 

[ironduke57]

September 28, 2008

Britain considers £9bn JSF project pullout

Michael Smith

BRITAIN is considering pulling out of a £9 billion project with America to produce the new Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft, intended to fly off the Royal Navy’s forthcoming aircraft carriers.

The move is part of an increasingly desperate attempt to plug a £1.5 billion shortfall in the defence budget. The RAF’s 25 new Airbus A400 transport aircraft could also be at risk.

Studies have now been commissioned to analyse whether Eurofighters could be adapted to fly off the carriers.

If Britain abandons the JSF, it will be seen as a further snub to the Americans following Gordon Brown’s decision last week not to send 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

Only a week earlier, during a visit to London, Robert Gates, the American defence secretary, had said he understood Britain would be sending more troops to meet what commanders say is a 10,000 shortfall.

The possible ditching of the JSF results in part from spiralling costs that have seen the price of the planned 150 British aircraft rise from the original £9 billion estimate to £15 billion.

Britain has already paid out £2.5 billion in preliminary costs but next spring must start paying for actual aircraft. At that point it is committed to the entire project whatever the price.

Once full production begins, Britain will be paying more than £1 billion a year for the aircraft, exacerbating the already dire state of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget.

“That has really concentrated minds at the MoD,” said Francis Tusa, editor of Defence Analysis. “Put simply no-one has the faintest idea how much this project will cost.”

The cost is only part of the problem. There is serious concern over the aircraft’s lack of firepower as it can only carry three 500lb bombs, compared with as many as eight on the Eurofighter.

There is also increasing frustration over the continued American refusal to share information on the technology involved.

President George Bush signed a deal with Tony Blair shortly before the former prime minister handed over to Gordon Brown, promising to share top secret technology with Britain.

The deal has still to be ratified by Congress and the Senate foreign relations committee has written to Bush warning him it will not now be ratified until the new president takes office.

There is consternation over the lack of information Britain is receiving on the aircraft and this country’s lack of input into designing its capability.

BAE Systems, manufacturer of the RAF’s Eurofighter, has been asked to produce a study into whether it could be flown from the carriers, which are due to enter service in 2014 and 2016.

The JSF is a short-take-off-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) aircraft similar to the Harrier aircraft that are currently being flown off the Royal Navy’s two old carriers.

Flying Eurofighter from the new carriers would require pilots to learn a completely new skill of landing conventionally at sea — a task likened by experts to a “controlled crash”.

It would also require the Eurofighter fuselage to be strengthened, the attachment of an arrestor hook to stop the aircraft on landing, and protection against saltwater erosion.

The BAE Systems study, carried out earlier this year, determined that the aircraft could be built to land on carriers without major difficulty.

A company spokesman would only confirm that the study had been carried out and that the MoD had seen the results which confirmed the aircraft could be adapted to fly off carriers.

Replacing JSF with some of the 232 Eurofighters the RAF is committed to buying would be attractive for the Treasury, which has always wanted to find ways to cut its £16 billion cost.

The deal committed all four major partners — Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain — to paying for all the aircraft they originally ordered even if they later decided to cut the numbers they needed.

The cost of the project, now running at close to £1.2 billion a year, is the biggest single contributor to the £1.5 billion shortfall in the defence budget.

Efforts to stave off the payments dragged the government into the controversy over the decision to call off a Serious Fraud Office investigation into alleged bribes paid by BAE Systems.

The probe into the company’s £43 billion al-Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia was expected to examine the bank accounts of members of the Saudi royal family.

A £6 billion deal under which Saudi Arabia agreed to take 72 Eurofighters from Britain — earning the MoD a two-year payments holiday on its own aircraft — was dependent on the probe being called off.

That has only served to focus attention on the fact that when the payments holiday ends, Britain will be committed to a decade of paying well in excess of £2 billion a year for two different strike aircraft.

The additional measure of cancelling the military version of the Airbus A400 would only save a total of £1.5 billion but is attractive to the Treasury because it would cost nothing.

The aircraft has consistently failed to meet deadlines with manufacturer EADS admitting last week that it could not meet the deadline for the first test flight.

“The RAF and the MoD would prefer to enforce penalty clauses providing compensation for delays while continuing with the project,” said defence sources. “But the Treasury would happily bin it.”

The MoD said “marinising” Eurofighter had been looked at as an option but “JSF remains our optimum solution to fly off the carriers”.

A spokesman said Britain remained “fully committed to the defence trade cooperation treaty and we are working closely with the American administration to find a way forward.”

- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4837746.ece

From an logistical point of view an navalised EF should be the cheapest solution in the long run.

Regards,
ironduke57

 

[The Bread Guy]

More on foreign troops serving in UK forces.....

How dare those foreigners die horribly for us
Rod Liddle, Times Online, 28 Sept 08

.... Given that we have franchised our entire manufacturing base to the Third World and now subsist on an entirely fictitious and ectoplasmic economy based on pyramid selling and rumour, it seems sort of fitting that our numerous wars should also be franchised ....  It seems to me a minor miracle that a growing number of people from countries that were once part of our empire still seem prepared to swallow the bile and sign up for the British Army, regardless of our recent behaviour (nobody, one assumes, has told these people about the poor Gurkhas refused British passports despite their brave service). The British Army, meanwhile, would be ill-advised to look such a gift horse in the mouth.

 

[daftandbarmy]

"They are not angels" - good quote Huw. Watch out for the moratr platoon. Well done 'Gungy' 3....

Para troops welcomed home
Coalition forces are "moving forward" in the fight to bring stability to Afghanistan, a senior paratrooper has said as his battalion returned home.
 
Soldiers from 3 Para made their return to Colchester on Sunday after their six month tour of Afghanistan Photo: PETER LAWSON/EASTNEWS
Lieutenant Colonel Huw Williams spoke as a battle group - the 3rd Battalion, the parachute regiment - returned to its base in Colchester, Essex, from a six month tour of duty without losing any soldiers.
He said he could see a change in the situation after completing his second tour of duty in two years.
"When we went two years ago we didn't know what to expect," said Lt Col Williams.
"This time we expected the worst and to come home having lost no one means a great deal."
He added: "This year we are starting to make progress - moving forward."
He said coalition forces were providing electricity to enable factories to be built and bringing stability to Afghan people.
"There's still a long long way to go," he added. "But we are moving in the right direction.
"In terms of how far are we away from winning - that depends on how you define winning. It's not a straight fight, it will be getting to a point that will be acceptable to the Afghan people."
Lt Col Williams said modern paratroopers were a match for any British soldiers who had gone before them.
He said: "I have never once had to worry about them being scared. I know they are scared sometimes but that never prevents them going forward.
"These are young men of 18 and 19 going into situations where bullets are flying at them but they do not hesitate.
"They go into situations where other people would not go and they do that because they are disciplined and proud of their regiment."
Some 120 British soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the war started in 2001.
Ten British paratroopers have been killed in recent months.
Lt Col Williams said soldiers were today experiencing levels of fighting not seen by the British army for decades.
"Young soldiers today are witnessing things that a generation of their senior officers and sergeants have not experienced," he said.
"In the Falklands, battles tended to be over one day but in Afghanistan they are going on day after day and seeing more and more people get hit and killed and many of them are only 18. It is humbling to see."
"They are not angels. These men are an element of society that does a very dangerous job and it is humbling to be with them and in command of them."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/3097739/Para-troops-welcomed-home.html

 

[daftandbarmy]

Thgis chap's definitely off the Queen's Christmas card list...

Taleban warrior who delights in killing British soldiers

Tom Coghlan in Lashkar Gar

For a self-confessed and enthusiastic killer of British soldiers there was something strangely naive in the manner of the Taleban bomber. The lightly bearded 23-year-old looked younger than his years, with gentle features beneath his black turban and a habit of asking odd questions.
“The British soldiers have shaved their heads but when we see them washing they are still shampooing their heads, but they have no hair.” He looked mystified and then laughed.
Between the moments of naive curiosity, he boiled with a visceral hatred of Westerners. Almost casually, he mentioned the desire he felt to kill me with a pistol he was carrying, before explaining that he was restraining himself because of a promise he had given to tribal intermediaries who set up the interview.
Instead he focused on his enthusiasm for bombs and dead foreign soldiers and his role as a midlevel commander of 20 to 30 fighters.
“Last year, after one attack near the town of Baramcha, there was the hand of one British soldier left on the field. We took it and we hung it as a souvenir in the room and sometimes we would shake the hand.”
He laughed again.
“We have a new magnetic bomb,” he said. “It is from Pakistan. We put it under the vehicle and then wait till there are many British vehicles together, then just press a button.”
Other bombs he improvised using old munitions and cables from a motorcycle clutch, suggesting perhaps that Taleban bomb supplies were limited.
“We enjoy finding the British bombs unexploded. We have some guys with us, they are not Afghan, they use the bomb back on the British. I like to bury a gas canister on top of the bomb, the explosion is very large,” he added.
“We have some other people with us, I can't tell you where from but they don't speak a language we understand. They have a bomb that recognises the number plate of a vehicle and only explodes with the number plate you put in a computer.” His face betrayed a bemused reverence for such voodoo. The bomber learnt his trade last winter as the Taleban began to appreciate the effectiveness of roadside bomb-making tactics perfected by Iraqi insurgents.
Bombs that he and other Taleban makers have built have killed 34 of the 43 British soldiers killed in the country this year. Many more Afghan civilians have also been killed.
If there was no shortage of bravado about the man, some of his answers also betrayed underlying problems that beset the Taleban.
One was an obsession with spies - suggesting that at least a part of the civilian populace detests the Taleban enough to betray them. “We got two spies last Friday,” he said. “I shot them in the head with 16 bullets each. The spy problem has stopped for now.”
Another problem was how to counter the relentless British pursuit of the Taleban's leadership. It was a particular source of concern since the bomber had been told that he was soon to graduate to a higher level of command - one that would make him of greater interest to Western special forces units tasked with decapitating the Taleban command structure.
“The British give special coats to their spies,” he said. “They have mirrors to show where the planes should go. The spies also drop a tiny piece of metal on the roof of a house. It sends a message and the bomb the house.”
Then, suddenly turning on me, he asked: “When we go to a village at night the British soldiers come for us in helicopters. How can they see us? How do they know we are there? They have technology?”
I shrugged. He nodded.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4842542.ece

 

[Kirkhill]

Thgis chap's definitely off the Queen's Christmas card list...

Taleban warrior who delights in killing British soldiers

Tom Coghlan in Lashkar Gar ......

A great example of why we should encourage reporters to talk to "the enemy" - regardless of the spin they apply.

 

[daftandbarmy]

They sent me a big 'FO' letter shortly before I was due to retire too. I should apply under the same deal, if I wanted to actually live there again of course, which may not be likely!

Gurkhas win right to stay in UK


A group of retired Gurkhas fighting for the right to settle in Britain have won their immigration test case at London's High Court.

They were challenging immigration rules which said that those who retired from the British Army before 1997 did not have an automatic right to stay. Prominent supporter actress Joanna Lumley said it was a "chance to right a great wrong". The government said it would now review all Gurkhas' cases.

The regiment moved its main base from Hong Kong to the UK in 1997 and the government had argued that Gurkhas discharged before that date were unlikely to have strong residential ties with the UK.

That meant those who wanted to settle in the UK had to apply for British residence and could be refused and deported.
The judgement could affect some 2,000 former Gurkhas who retired before 1997.

The judge, Mr Justice Blake, said the Gurkhas' long service, conspicuous acts of bravery and loyalty to the Crown all pointed to a "moral debt of honour" and gratitude felt by British people.

He ruled that instructions given by the Home Office to immigration officials were unlawful and needed urgent revision.
Lawyer Martin Howe said: "Today we have seen a tremendous and historic victory for the gallant Gurkha veterans of Nepal.
"This is a victory that restores honour and dignity to deserving soldiers who faithfully served in Her Majesty's armed forces.
"It is a victory for common sense; a victory for fairness; and a victory for the British sense of what is right."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7644441.stm

 

[Strike]

Beat you to it...

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/80207.0.html

 

[Blackadder1916]

Army chief who spoke out for his soldiers 'set for early retirement' after being passed over for top job
By Matthew Hickley Daily Mail Last updated at 8:23 PM on 30th September 2008

The head of the British Army is lining up an early retirement, military sources have claimed.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, 57, will go after being passed over for the top job of Chief of the Defence Staff, they say.

The general is thought to have earned respect from rank-and-file soldiers for publicly highlighting the serious strains facing the Armed Forces - as well as calling successfully for improved pay for junior troops.

But according to Ministry of Defence insiders his 'plain speaking' soured relations with Labour ministers after he was appointed as Chief of the General Staff two years ago.

Hopes among his supporters that he would become Britain's most senior commander - in overall charge of all three services - are fading.

Critics are angry that such a widely admired officer appears to have fallen foul of Whitehall politics, and said it would be a 'national scandal' if his views were to curtail his career.

The Chief of the Defence Staff is a political appointment which must be backed by the Prime Minister, and Sir Richard's prospects were effectively ended recently when ministers announced that the current head of the armed forces, Air Chief Marshall Sir Jock Stirrup, will stay in the post for two years longer than normal.

By convention, each of the three single service chiefs and the overall Chief of the Defence Staff serve for around three years, with a single service chief then chosen to move into the top job.

Sir Jock took up his post in April 2006, and when General Dannatt took charge of the Army four months later it appeared he was in a strong position to succeed him.

But because Sir Jock will now serve a five-year term, Sir Richard and his counterparts in the other two services will have retired before he does.

Insiders believe Sir Richard may now step down long before his planned retirement date of late 2009 - possibly before the New Year - to allow David Richards to establish himself in the post and position himself to succeed Sir Jock in 2011.

General Richards is currently Commander-in-Chief Land Forces.

 

[daftandbarmy]

3 PARA motto: Girls are OK but there's nothing like the real thing  ;D


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article1762942.ece

 

[Blackadder1916]

Army bans Christmas parcels after post backlog
The Army has banned the public from sending Christmas parcels to combat troops unless they are addressed to an individual soldier.

By Graham Tibbetts Telegraph.co.uk  Last Updated: 4:00PM BST 03 Oct 2008

It said the British Forces Post Office system had become overloaded and would only be used to deliver mail from friends and family to service personnel in war zones.

Other people wishing to send cards or donations were urged to use recognised charities instead of simply addressing them to "a British soldier".

Last year the military postal service suffered such a backlog that many soldiers were left without mail from loved ones at Christmas.

Prince Harry, who was serving in Afghanistan, declared the system "pants" after a Christmas card from his father arrived two months late.

The Ministry of Defence said the boxes from well-wishers resulted in more work for staff and meant dangerous trips had to be made to reach the frontline in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Susan Coulthard, a spokesman, said: "Every item of post received by the BFPO has to be checked by hand and scanned to make sure that there is nothing inside that is unsuitable to send.

"Sometimes we get people trying to send things like chocolate which of course just melts when it is sent to the Middle East. If we get thousands and thousands of boxes that we don't know where they came from or what's inside it can really clog up the system.

"It can also put individuals lives at risk if they have to make extra trips through dangerous areas to deliver the post to the front.

"Additional mail in the system can delay the delivery of personal mail from loved ones, which is of huge importance to those away from home for long periods, especially at Christmas."

Since September last year 146,000 bags of mail have been sent out to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Vice Admiral Peter Wilkinson, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel), said: "The generosity and support of the British public has been outstanding and it means a huge amount to all those serving in our Armed Forces.

"When on operations, the receipt of news from home, a letter from your wife or children, is a huge boost to morale, but, unfortunately, this can be delayed by the sheer volume of mail generously donated.

"Last Christmas, the mail created a significant challenge to our logistics chain in theatre, which must also focus on the supply of operational essentials such as ammunition, food and medical supplies.

"These controls mean we will continue to supply free post to the friends, family and loved ones of those serving on operations overseas, whilst ensuring our operational effectiveness is maintained."

The MoD said donations can be made via charities set up to support the servicemen and women, including UK4U Thanks!, the Royal British Legion, Poppyscotland, SSAFA, Army Benevolent Fund and Help for Heroes.

 

[xena]

Prince Harry, who was serving in Afghanistan, declared the system "pants" after a Christmas card from his father arrived two months late.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Is it wrong of me to be quite amused by that particular quote?

 

[Danjanou]

3 PARA motto: Girls are OK but there's nothing like the real thing  ;D


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article1762942.ece

Mortar Platoon?  8)

 

[daftandbarmy]

Mortar Platoon?  8)

We regarded the majority of 3 PARA with great suspicion. Like I always said "Don't drop your wallet in 3 PARA's lines or you'll have to kick it to Basingstoke before you can bend over to pick it up"