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09 Nov 11. Afghanistan: OP HERRICK. A Private from 4th Bn The Yorkshire Regiment was killed by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Babaji on 9 Nov 11. UK deaths since the start of Operations on 7 Oct 01 thus rose to 385, of whom 341 were killed as a result of hostile action. (MoD, 9 Nov 11.)
The past week was “exceptionally busy” for the Reaper aircraft of 39 Squadron RAF operating out of Kandahar. (Joint Media Ops, 5 Nov 11.)
1st Bn The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment took over responsibility for the Police Mentoring and Advisory Group in Lashkar Gah in October and a team is now working with the Afghan Uniform Police. (MoD, 7 Nov 11.)
The Watchkeeper unmanned air system is expected to be deployed to Afghanistan during the first quarter of 2012. (Written Answer (WA), 9 Nov 11.)
The Defence Secretary arrived in Kabul on 9 Nov 11 for meetings with Commander ISAF and senior Afghan officials. The Minister went on to spend time with troops in Helmand Province and to join them for an Armistice Day Service at Camp Bastion. (MoD, 10/11 Nov 11.)
Comment: The Armed Forces’ Minister announced (9 Nov 11) that a new call-out order has been made following the expiry of the order made on 24 Oct 10. Some 98 members of the Reserve Forces were called out under the order in the past year. The new order is effective from 8 Nov 11 until 7 Nov 12. The Swedish Foreign Minister announced (9 Nov 11) that his Country would start to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 11/44, 14 Nov 11)
08 Nov 11. Libya: OP ELLAMY. 170 hours of air tanker support, using a combination of VC10 and TriStar aircraft, were required to support the small number of Tornado sorties flown from the UK during OP ELLAMY. (WA, 8 Nov 11.)
From the start of OP ELLAMY until 27 Oct 11, the RAF conducted approximately 2,990 sorties of which 2,060 were combat sorties. The Fleet Air Arm and the Army Air Corps also conducted combat and other air sorties during the Operation. (WA, 8 Nov 11.)
Comment: A Written Answer in the House of Lords (9 Nov 11) indicated that export credit cover for Libya had been resumed following the end of the Qadhafi regime. $250m of cover is available to support exports. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 11/44, 14 Nov 11)
03 Nov 11. UK mulls sending ex-Nimrod crew to support US Navy P-8A transition. The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) is looking to send former Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) crew across the Atlantic to fly with the US Navy (USN) and support the introduction of the new P-8A Poseidon MPA. Disclosing the plans in a Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force (MPRF) community update released on 28 October, Rear Admiral Michael W Hewitt, the USN’s Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group (CPRG), said that he had been designated “as lead for MPRF collaboration with [the] UK on maritime patrol issues including support of P-8 introduction.” (Source: Jane’s Navy International)
09 Nov 11. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Georgia on Nov. 9 to intensify its political and military reforms to bring the ex-Soviet state closer to membership of the Western alliance. “Further reforms will be a ticket to membership,” Rasmussen told reporters in
Tbilisi at the start of his two-day visit to the country. NATO leaders agreed at their 2008 summit in Bucharest that Georgia and Ukraine could join the military alliance at an unspecified point in the future, although they were denied coveted pre-membership status amid strong opposition from Russia. (Source: Defense News)
08 Nov 11. Now that Germany has made good on its promise to cut its defense modernization program as part of a sweeping reorganization, the question remains: Will the government follow through with the promise to