30 Jan 17. Iraq and Syria: OP SHADER. “The only Iraqi Forces to whom the UK has gifted weapons and ammunition are the Kurdish Peshmerga….We
are content with the contracts the Kurdish Regional Government has in place for distribution and use of UK-supplied weaponry.” (Written Answers, 30 Jan 17.)
On 24 Jan 17 a Tornado and Typhoon mission destroyed a car bomb South West of Mosul. On the following day Typhoons supported Syrian Democratic Forces West of Raqqa. (MoD, 30 Jan 17.)
“The UK has no current plans to increase the number of troops deployed in Iraq….UK personnel will continue to deliver the Infantry skills, counter-IED, combat first aid and engineering training Iraqi Forces require.” (Written Answers, 2 Feb 17.)
On 30 Jan 17 Tornados engaged two groups of terrorists South of Mosul while a Reaper destroyed two vehicles in Western Iraq. On 1 Feb 17 Typhoons struck a Daesh-held building to the West of Mosul. (MoD, 2 Feb 17.)
Comment: The MoD reported (2 Feb 17) that Eastern Mosul had been ‘liberated’ from Daesh and that Iraqi Forces had conducted Operations along the approaches to the Western half of the city. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 17/06, 06 Feb 17)
28 Jan 17. Turkey: Increased Co-operation. The Prime Minister held a Press Conference in Ankara (28 Jan 17) with the Turkish Prime Minister following their discussions on security, terrorism and trade. The two Prime Ministers “agreed to strengthen [their] co-operation on security through a new strategic security partnership”. The two Governments and Security Services are to “work even more closely together in important areas such as intelligence sharing, aviation security and domestic security.”.
The Prime Minister also announced the signing of a new agreement between Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and BAE Systems that will see the Companies collaborating on the pre-design phase of Turkey’s new fighter jet (TF-X).
Comment: BAE Systems’ Chief Executive said (28 Jan 17) that the announcement of the agreement with TAI “signals an exciting next step in relations between Turkey and the UK….paving the way for a deeper
Defence partnership”. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 17/06, 06 Feb 17)
27 Jan 17. Afghanistan: Visits and Recognition. The MoD noted (27 Jan 17) that the Armed Forces. Minister had made his initial visit to Afghanistan; meeting Afghan and British mentors at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA). The UK continues to support Afghanistan by training, advising and assisting the Afghan Defence and Security Forces. The recent increase in support brings the total number of UK personnel committed to 500. Since 2014 UK mentoring assistance has helped the ANAOA train over 1,500 (male and female) Officers.
Comment: HM The Queen is to unveil a new memorial in Victoria Embankment Gardens during a service at 11.00hrs on Thu 9 Mar 17. The memorial honours the UK Armed Forces and supporting civilians who served their Country in the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan between 1990 and 2015 (OP GRANBY, OP TELIC and OP HERRICK). (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 17/06, 06 Feb 17)
02 Feb 17. Russia: Cyber Security. The Defence Secretary delivered (2 Feb 17) a speech at St Andrew’s University on Russian Resurgence, during which he referred to the alleged use by Russia of “cyber weaponry to disrupt critical infrastructure and disable democratic machinery”. The Defence Secretary went on to say that Cyber Defence is now part of
NATO’s “core task” and that the UK had almost doubled its investment in “defensive and offensive cyber capability to £1.9bn [£1,900m]”.
Comment: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published (3 Feb 17) a report on ‘Protecting information across Government’ as HC 769. The Committee found that while cyber security threats are growing rapidly, the Government is struggling to find enough staff with the skills to fight them. In particular the processes for recording departmental personal data brea