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02 Dec 22. French Senate submits budget request for national future fighter effort. French lawmakers have submitted a request to develop a wholly national future combat aircraft, with a Finance Bill for 2023 amendment posted in late November. The budget request by the French Senate is to fund a EUR10m (USD10.5m) feasibility study to develop a future replacement for the country’s Dassault Rafale. It came after repeated references by that company’s CEO, Éric Trappier, to a “Plan B” should industrial agreements not be reached on the Future Combat Air System (FCAS)/Système de combat aérien du futur (SCAF) project with Airbus of Germany and Indra of Spain. (Source: Janes)
02 Dec 22. British Army’s elite Ranger Regiment reviews its action-packed first year. Made up of four battalions, the Rangers were formed on 1 December 2021 and have this year alone deployed to more than 60 countries, from learning to operate in the freezing colds of the Arctic Circle to the hotter climates of Africa, the Middle East and south-east Asia.
The highly trained Army unit was created to meet the next challenges in warfare, focusing on delivering special operations in high-threat environments with complex human terrain.
- Ranger Regiment: What it means to be part of an elite infantry regiment
- Ranger Regiment troops trial new cutting-edge battlefield kit with US Special Operations Forces
- Rangers – the American history behind the new British Army regiment
In February, at short notice, the Rangers deployed to Ukraine where they delivered anti-tank missile training to troops shortly before Russia invaded.
Also in February, troops from the 1st Battalion the Ranger Regiment (1 RANGER) deployed to West Africa to conduct joint training with their Ghanaian Armed Forces counterparts.
This included rural and urban counter-terrorism tactics and tactical information operations.
At Fort Irwin in California, the Rangers tested themselves alongside soldiers from the US 7th Special Forces Group – facing extreme weather conditions that varied from snow to dust storms with temperatures higher than 40°C.
In the same month, troops from 3 RANGER teamed up with soldiers from the 193rd Jägarbataljonen (Swedish Rangers), part of the Norrland Dragoon Regiment, a specialised Arctic light infantry unit.
Sweden’s unforgiving sub-Arctic conditions, saw the Rangers carry out long-distance patrols and practise crossing cold waterways by boat.
Soldiers from 2 RANGER, in the meantime, have deployed on operations in Estonia, Somalia and Kenya.
The Ranger Regiment was established as part of Future Soldier, the biggest transformation of the British Army in more than 20 years.
The regiment is at the heart of the Army Special Operations Brigade, whose role is to operate in complex, high-threat environments, alongside partner forces across the world, countering violent extremist organisations and hostile state threats.
With Ranger teams only being 11-strong, every team member is expected to contribute to planning and executing operations.
Recruits from across the Army have come from the Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Signals, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and Infantry, with a growing number of female soldiers being successfully selected.
While people are at the heart of the Ranger Regiment, it is increasingly looking to technology to ensure it is at the cutting edge of warfare.
In Africa, a Ranger team recently trialled using augmented virtual reality so that a doctor in the UK could help the team with more complex medical techniques.
The Ranger Regiment is very proud of its cap badge which takes inspiration and spirit from the peregrine falcon.
Fast, agile and fiercely loyal to its partner, it operates around the world in all environments including deserts, mountains and cities.
It follows a long history of birds being used as emblems and logos around the world. Peregrine derives from the medieval Latin word ‘peregrinus’ which means wanderer.
While many regiments have a cloth badge for officers and a metal badge for soldiers, everyone serving in the Ranger Regiment wears a metal badge, irrespective of rank.
Rangers draw their name from an elite unit that fought in the British Army in the 18th Century in North America, using irregular tactics.
The British Army shares this heritage with US Special Operations Forces, whose 75th Ranger Regiment traces its lineage back to the same grouping.
(Source: forces.net)
02 Dec 22. British Army ‘neglected’ over last 20 years, Defence Secretary says. Ben Wallace made the comments just weeks after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the defence budget will remain at least 2% of GDP (Picture: MOD).
The Defence Secretary has hit out at the “neglect” the Army has faced over the last 20 years.
Ben Wallace made the comments in an interview with The Sun, only a few weeks after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in the Autumn Statement that the defence budget will remain at least 2% of GDP.
Mr Wallace has long backed increased defence spending but ambitions have been apparently scaled back under Rishi Sunak’s new administration amid tough decisions on public spending.
Watch: British Army tests latest tech in Army Warfighting Experiment.
His short-lived predecessor Liz Truss had pledged to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2030.
“We’re investing £24bn into the Army’s equipment programme between now and the end of the decade,” Mr Wallace told the newspaper.
“That’s a lot of money. Because, quite rightly, the Army needs to catch up.
“It has been neglected by quite a few people over the last two decades, I’d say at least.
“So it needs to be modernised.
“We need to rapidly look at the lessons of Ukraine because they have actually given us an opportunity to see not only where we’re vulnerable but actually have you got the balance of investment right within the Army.”
In the most recent budget announcement, the Chancellor said he and the Prime Minister recognised the “need to increase defence spending”, but added it was “necessary to revise and update the Integrated Review, written as it was before the Ukraine invasion” before making that commitment.
“I have asked for that vital work to be completed ahead of the next Budget and today confirm we will continue to maintain the defence budget at least 2% of GDP to be consistent with our Nato commitment,” he said in November. (Source: forces.net)
01 Dec 22. Meeting of Global Alliance of Leaders in Paris. On November 29, 2022, meeting of Global Alliance of Leaders for Nuclear Security and Nuclear-Weapon-Free World (GAL), which unites political leaders, diplomats, experts, Nobel peace prize laureates, heads of international NGOs from 45 countries, was held at Dialogue of Continents forum in Paris.
The participants discussed challenges over the war in Ukraine during session “How to avoid nuclear war?”.
In her speech, Angela Kane, former UN Deputy Secretary-General, stressed that nuclear escalation became possible scenario in current geopolitical crisis.
“There are currently two risks. First is destruction of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant resulting in a nuclear catastrophe. Second scenario is possibility of using nuclear weapons. This conflict upended all progress that remained for past 60 years in arms control field,” – stressed the expert.
In turn, Urban Rusnak, former Secretary-General of Energy Charter, Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovak Republic, noted that in light of recent international events, steps taken by Kazakhstan on voluntary denuclearization are of particular value.
“Situation in Ukraine, which, like Kazakhstan, had nuclear potential and went through denuclearization, is of particular concern. Until recently, it was difficult to imagine that nuclear infrastructure facilities could become targets for attacks,” – stressed the speaker.
Ariel Cohen, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council, Director of Energy and Security Program (ITIC), focused audience’s attention on consequences of incidents involving nuclear reactors in a warzone.
“If Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor security is compromised, that will raise catastrophic consequences not just for Ukraine, but for nuclear security in general. International mechanism to ensure security of nuclear power reactors is broken,” – summed up the expert.
Summing up the session, Kairat Abuseitov, a well-known Kazakhstani diplomat, from Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation, noted that Kazakhstan has a unique example of voluntary denuclearization.
“The country possessed world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal (in 1991). Kazakshtan had the right to be nuclear-weapon-state. But chose a different path,” – concluded the speaker.
In conclusion, participants agreed that lack of political will to resolve issues of nuclear non-proliferation is fraught with further escalation, and importance of dialogue platforms which could restore lost mutual trust between nuclear states is important as never before.
GAL meeting was held during an official visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev to France. Kazakhstan, which produces 42% of world’s uranium, actively develop cooperation with France and EU in the field of peaceful atom and nuclear nonproliferation. (Source: PR Newswire)
01 Dec 22. British Army could rush in new rockets as Ukraine war exposes Britain’s ‘out of date’ artillery.
Ben Wallace says years of campaigning in Iraq and Afghanistan has left the traditional war fighting role of the army ‘neglected.’
The army could rush new rockets into service after the war in Ukraine has shown Britain’s current artillery system is “hopelessly out of date” the Defence Secretary has said.
Ben Wallace said years of campaigning in Iraq and Afghanistan has left the traditional war fighting role of the army “neglected” and in dire need of modernisation.
The war in Ukraine has shown how one of the army’s current artillery systems is “not good enough…short of range” and “outgunned by most of its peer group,” he added.
Plans to introduce new precision rocket systems could be brought forward as a result.
Speaking in Italy on HMS Albion, one of Britain’s amphibious assault ships, Mr Wallace said: “We’re investing 24bn pounds into the Army’s equipment programme (EP) between now and the end of the decade.
“That’s a lot of money. Because quite rightly, the army needs to catch up.
“It has been neglected by quite a few people over the last two decades. So it needs to be modernised.
“We need to rapidly look at the lessons of Ukraine because they have actually given us an opportunity to see not only where we’re vulnerable but actually have [we] got the balance of investment right within the Army. Are there too many of X and not enough of Y.”
In a new paper on the war in Ukraine, defence think tank Rusi says from April, the West “became Ukraine’s strategic depth”, and Kyiv’s troops “only robbed Russia of the initiative once long-range [missiles] brought Russian logistics under threat”.
Defence chiefs have long wanted to retire Britain’s ageing AS-90, a self-propelled artillery gun, which fires 155mm shells, in favour of increased numbers of the M270 multiple launch rocket system.
Britain has gifted six M270 MLRS plus ammunition to Ukraine, from a total of around 40 systems.
Mr Wallace said Britain’s AS-90 artillery system was out of date for the modern battlefield and not capable of providing “deep fires”; military terminology for long-range attacks.
Even taking into account stocks of precise weapons, Mr Wallace said: “we don’t have enough deep fires and our deep fires aren’t good enough”.
He said the extra money won from the Treasury for the MoD’s equipment plan could allow an earlier retirement date for AS-90.
“The AS-90 replacement programme is in [the EP] and it’s very important.
“If I can bring it forward I will.
“Our AS-90 is hopelessly out of date, short of range and outgunned by most of its peer group.”
He said AS-90 replacement was “one of the main programmes” in the MoD’s equipment plan.
Not all of the additional £24bn is expected to be spent on new kit, The Telegraph understands.
About half will be ring-fenced as a reserve in case existing programmes run over budget, and for research and development projects.
An estimated £6bn will be used to fill the ‘black hole’ in MoD finances caused by years of equipment overspends.
The remainder will be used for new equipment.
Some has already been allocated to the improvement programme for the RAF Chinook helicopter fleet, a move likely to save the taxpayer millions of pounds.
The £1.4bn order, announced in May 2021, for the H-47 Extended Range-variant of Chinook had been expected to be delayed after the MoD said it needed to “reconsider the expenditure profile of this project”.
Extending delivery of the first of 14 aircraft by three years to 2030 was expected to cost £300m, money that will not now be lost as the programme is brought back to its original time scale.
The new helicopters will take the number of Chinooks in RAF service up to 60. (Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/)
BATTLESPACE Comment: It looks very much as if, following analysis from Ukraine that a tracked solution for MPF is now the preferred option over a wheeled version such as the Boxer RCH155 and Nexter’s Caesar. The next question is who will bid a tracked solution against the Hanwa K9 A2? Elbit could well be a strong contender with their Athos 155 system, already being trialled in the US.
01 Dec 22. Turkey: Embassy warnings underscore heightened threat amid ‘imminent’ conflict with PKK. On 30 November, international media outlets circulated reports, later shared by Turkish social media accounts, suggesting that Western embassies have issued new security warnings pertaining to Turkish cities, including the capital Ankara and Istanbul. While these embassies’ details are unknown, Serbia’s foreign minister stated that Serbs should avoid travelling to Turkey in the short term due to an increased risk of attacks. The warnings come amid an intensification in Turkey’s conflict with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in the tri-border area with Iraq and Syria. The US has warned against Turkey’s ‘imminent’ ground incursion into northern Syria due to concerns over wider stability and retaliatory attacks. Beyond Turkey’s domestic environment, an uptick in aerial attacks will increase physical and bystander risks for personnel working in northern Iraq and Syria in the short term. In the longer term, protracted periods of instability will foster an environment conducive to the spread of terrorist activity and Islamist militancy. (Source: Sibylline)
01 Dec 22. USTR, Department of Commerce, Small Business Administration and UK Government Convene the 6th United States-United Kingdom Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise Dialogue in Edinburgh.
The United States and United Kingdom jointly hosted the 6th U.S.-UK Small- and Medium-Sized (SME) Dialogue on November 29, bringing together business representatives from both sides of the Atlantic to identify ways to expand bilateral trade and investment and to enhance broad and inclusive SME participation in that trade and investment. The SME Dialogue is convened by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, and the Small Business Administration with the UK Department for International Trade, and the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Today, U.S. and UK government officials convened government-to-government meetings to discuss and consider the useful input provided by the SME participants from the SME Dialogue. Participants at the SME Dialogue discussed an update on U.S.-UK trade; opportunities and obstacles for SMEs accessing U.S. and UK markets, including advances in paperless trading and customs and trade facilitation; advancing women’s economic empowerment; best practices for exporting to the United States and the United Kingdom; and resources for SME export assistance. Based on the input of SME stakeholders, the U.S. and UK have agreed to several actions over the next six months. First, the two governments will update and enhance toolkits targeted at helping SMEs navigate trans-Atlantic trade including export resources for women, minority and indigenous-owned SMEs and underserved communities. Second, U.S. and UK government officials from the trade agencies will convene special expert-level discussions on digital trade and customs and trade facilitation to consider the input of small businesses and identify opportunities for deeper cooperation in these areas. Third, U.S. and UK officials agreed to continue their commitment to jointly engage trans-Atlantic small businesses by having the United States host the 7th SME Dialogue in the United States in May 2023. (Source: glstrade.com)
30 Nov 22. UK MoD’s plans to modernise military going to be slowed by rising costs, watchdog report says. A new report says the Ministry of Defence’s plans to modernise Britain’s military are going to be slowed down by rising costs.
The National Audit Office (NAO) report says inflation and the global energy crisis are likely to add billionns of pounds to the bill, meaning flagship projects like the Royal Navy’s Future Commando Force could face funding gaps.
The Future Commando Force was unveiled in last year’s Integrated Review. It would see four thousand troops deploy around the globe, taking on roles traditionally carried out by Special Forces.
However, the NAO report says significant parts of the £200m plan are still unfunded, creating ‘additional risks’ that it can be delivered.
The MOD plans to spend £242bn on equipment over the next 10 years. At the same time, it is aiming for £13.5bn in efficiency savings.
The NAO, the UK’s independent public spending watchdog, says it is optimistic, particularly amid the Ukraine war and energy crisis.
The Navy has already withdrawn initial plans for Type 32 frigates on grounds of unaffordability. The report says the eventual cost is likely to be much higher. The spending watchdog says the MOD has improved its budgeting but the current equipment plan gives defence very little flexibility to absorb cost increases. It projects that by 2032, rising inflation alone could increase the MOD’s spending bill by more than £3bn. (Source: forces.net)
30 Nov 22. Airbus finalises CJIP agreement with French authorities. The President of the Tribunal Judiciaire of Paris has approved the Convention Judiciaire d’Intérêt Public (CJIP) signed on 17 November 2022 between Airbus SE and the French Parquet National Financier (PNF). This CJIP covers past matters relating to the use of intermediaries in sales campaigns prior to 2012, in particular related to Libya and Kazakhstan. These could not be dealt with simultaneously with the 2020 CJIP for procedural reasons.According to the CJIP approved on 30 November, Airbus will have to pay a fine of 15,856,044 Euros. There is no monitorship obligation associated with this new CJIP. This CJIP will have no adverse impact on the 2020 settlements reached with the French, UK and US authorities in the context of their compliance investigations into Airbus. The Company has taken significant steps since 2016 to reform itself by implementing a benchmark compliance system underpinned by an unwavering commitment to integrity and continuous improvement.
30 Nov 22. Croatia: First euro budget represents a significant step towards Eurozone entry in 2023. On 29 November, the government passed its first budget denominated in euros, rather than Croatian kuna ahead of the country’s official entry into the Eurozone on 1 January 2023. The budget was passed with 77 votes in favour and 50 against in the 151-seat parliament. The country’s adoption of the euro is expected to improve its resilience against external shocks. In the short term, the timing of the Eurozone accession will help ease surging inflation, which reached 13.3 percent in October. In a positive sign for markets, the government aims to cut public debt from 70.2 percent this year to 67.9 percent in 2023. However, growth is expected to drop below 1 percent which may lead to a marginal deterioration in living standards. (Source: Sibylline)
30 Nov 22. The new cold war between the west and east has particular resonance in the UK. Older Britons reflexively hark back to the second world war when discussing the war in Ukraine or China’s aggression towards Taiwan. Any concession to authoritarians is likely to be lambasted as “appeasement”. Critics inevitably applied it this week to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s attitude towards China. He preferred the self-contradictory formula “robust pragmatism”.
There is plenty of support in the UK for higher defence spending among those who believe that if you want peace, you should prepare for war. Winston Churchill, a proponent of the 1930s rearmament and the second world war prime minister, remains a national hero. An affectionate likeness of him as a celestial being even adorns the clock on the side of the FT headquarters where I work.
A recent description of the British army as “only big enough to tootle around at home” by defence secretary Ben Wallace does not inspire confidence. With about 72,000 soldiers, the army is at its smallest size since the Napoleonic wars. But more boots to put on the ground — and soldiers to wear them — look like a low priority despite a global pivot to a more conventional doctrine of defence.
Wallace’s warning came as chancellor Jeremy Hunt paused plans to increase defence spending to as much as 3 per cent of national output by 2030.
That makes it harder for Britain to become more self-sufficient in armaments. The US has supplied three-quarters of UK arms imports over the past decade. The largest contract remains the supply of F-35 jets. The first part of this contract is expected to cost the UK £9bn when it completes in 2026.
The soaring dollar has sharpened the appetite of the UK Ministry of Defence for higher indigenous weapons capacity. Increased armaments costs are harder to tolerate when the bulk of jobs and taxes they generate are headed abroad. US reluctance to share weapons source code is a further issue.
This all bodes well for Tempest, the joint British-Italian-Japanese sixth-generation fighter. If the programme goes ahead, the UK’s key prime contractor BAE Systems will be heavily involved as would Leonardo of Italy, which owns large parts of the UK’s defence electronics industry.
Defence spending can be expected to rise across Europe with a larger share set to land at the feet of domestic manufacturers. In the UK spending has hovered around the 2 per cent mark for the past decade. At the end of the cold war in the early 1990s it was close to 4 per cent.
A small boost would make a big difference. UK procurement accounts for £17bn of a total defence budget of £42bn. An increase in defence spending to 2.5 per cent would push the equipment budget up by two-thirds assuming other spending remained constant, says Sash Tusa of consultancy Agency Partners.
Wallace would struggle to bring the army up to fighting strength quickly, even if money is available. A service career is unattractive to most young people. And it takes years of training to bring new recruits up to speed.
One solution is to outsource supply and support roles to free up current personnel. That would benefit Babcock, a contractor that has been out of favour since a short seller raid a few years ago. The business specialises in site management and training.
The outlook for the whole UK defence sector is positive. This reflects higher spending in other countries and western support for Ukraine. Consensus earnings estimates for the UK’s remaining listed companies for the next 12 months have risen 17 per cent since the start of the year. After several years in the doldrums the sector has re-rated to a multiple of 13 times, in line with the 10-year average.
Industry behemoth BAE now trades at a premium of 15 times earnings. The company’s earnings per share will grow at a 10 per cent CAGR through to 2025, thinks Agency Partners.
Restocking of supplies sent to Ukraine is an important part of the outlook, says Tusa. New orders for depleted kit have yet to start coming in. This is one reason the rally in defence shares began to fizzle out over the summer.
Bureaucratic friction is the reason. But the conventional war in Ukraine has reminded the generals of lessons they learnt during preparations for a war with the Soviet Union. For example, an artillery piece must fire between 100 and 200 rounds per gun daily to be effective in battle. That is equivalent to three to six months of existing UK production simply to supply 100 guns in the field for a day.
Conventional warfare is in part a competition to manufacture weapons and projectiles. That penny is slowly dropping in the minds of politicians. The British defence sector, out of favour through the years of asymmetric threats, should benefit accordingly. (Source: FT.com)
29 Nov 22. Auditors flag fiscal vagaries in UK military-buying plans. The British government’s budget watchdog says a newly published Ministry of Defence ten-year equipment plan is affordable but fails to account for the country’s difficult economic situation.
“While the plan continues to serve a useful purpose in reporting to Parliament on planned expenditure, the volatile external environment means this year’s plan is already out of date,” the National Audit Office said in its report on the 2022-2032 defense spending plans released by the MoD on Tuesday.
The government expects defense equipment spending would total £242bn ($290bn) over the next ten years, compared to an estimated £238bn ($285bn) in last year’s program.
“The department faces significant and growing cost pressures which will have an immediate impact on its spending plans,” auditors wrote. “The department believes it can manage these pressures but has left itself limited flexibility to absorb any cost increases on equipment projects, or across other budgets.”
The equipment plan is based on data submitted by the end of March this year and does not take account of the impact of exchange rate changes, rampant inflation, fuel costs and the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
The MoD, though, says its plans remain relevant.
In a foreword to the equipment plan Defence Secretary Ben Wallace acknowledged there were difficulties ahead on equipment spending.
“The plan is not immune to risk, we have set ambitious savings targets and made hard decisions in spending priorities across the commands,” he wrote. “We are confident, however, that the capabilities we are investing in, and spending decisions made in the last year, remain in line with the developing defense landscape and ensure we have a stable financial footing for this and future plans,” said Wallace.
Just how relevant the plans will be going forward remains to be seen.
In September, then-Prime Minister Liz Truss commissioned the MoD to reconsider the details of an integrated review published 2021in light of changing security circumstances.
That work continues under the new government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and is expected to be complete during the first quarter of next year.
The outcome of the review will dictate if, and when, the government finds additional money for the MoD to reflect the global security situation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Truss had promised the MoD an increase in defense spending from the current level of 2.1% to 3% GDP by 2030, but Britain’s dire financial position has thrown a shadow over the spending pledge.
“Before we make that commitment it is necessary to revise and update the integrated review, written as it was before the Ukraine invasion,” Hunt told Parliament Nov. 17 while delivering what is known here as the Autumn Statement.
But the equipment plan warned that without the extra cash the MoD would need to take an axe to capabilities and programs.
“Without additional funding it is clear that difficult decisions will be required to reduce the scope of the plan and funding profiles may need to be reshaped to align the delivery of key military equipment with objectives,” said the MoD document.
As it is, defense leaders are optimistically hoping to realize savings of over £13.5bn ($16.2bn) to balance the books on the equipment plan.
Most of those savings are based on the MoD renegotiating existing commercial contracts.
Auditors believe it is clear the MoD is facing significant and growing cost pressures and has left itself limited flexibility to absorb cost increases across equipment and other budgets.
The MoD will need to make difficult prioritization decisions to live within its means and retain enough flexibility in its plan to respond promptly to changing threats, said the NAO.
Moves have already been put in place to mitigate some of the cost pressures, including introducing changes to commercial policy to manage the impact of inflation.
“We are making greater use of index-linked, fixed-price contracts to prevent firms from either applying high premia on firm price bids or not bidding entirely. We are also ensuring early engagement with key suppliers to discuss how inflation will be treated in future contracts, including our view of what is reasonable for payroll costs,” said the MoD plan.
“Similarly, our unreserved contingency funding will also aid in offsetting some of this pressure,” it said.
Constraints across industry may also influence the ability of the MoD to keep programs and budgets on track.
The NAO said budgets shareholders in the MoD are beginning to report supply chain risks and industry capacity constraints, including skills gaps and, more recently, an increased demand for defense equipment in other countries.
This trend, they said, will likely make delivering projects within existing schedules and budgets more difficult. (Source: Defense News)
30 Nov 22. EU leaders to push for defence investment programme at December summit -draft. European Union leaders are pushing to quickly establish an investment programme to ramp up production in the bloc’s defence industry in light of the war in Ukraine, according to a draft of conclusions for a Dec. 15-16 summit.
“The European Council … calls on the Commission to rapidly present a proposal for a European Defence Investment Programme to reinforce the capacity and resilience of the European defence technology and industrial sector, including small and medium enterprises,” said the draft, seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
The document is likely to be adjusted before the summit.
EU leaders will also push the bloc’s executive commission and the European Defence Agency to intensify efforts to identify military gaps and coordinate joint defence procurement, in particular to replenish their stocks of materiel, which have been depleted in support of Ukraine.
The EU has long urged member states to join forces on arms purchases instead of driving up prices by competing against each other or striking deals individually with suppliers outside the bloc.
Countries have been reluctant to do so, but the Ukraine war – which Russia calls a “special operation” – and the rate of Western arms deliveries to Kyiv have added a fresh sense of urgency.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said this month that the EU and its member states have provided arms and military equipment worth at least 8 bn euros to Ukraine so far.
At their summit in Brussels, EU leaders will also call for speedier implementation of infrastructure work meant to facilitate swift military movement across Europe, according to the draft document.
The construction and modernisation of infrastructure such as roads and bridges is part of the EU’s “Military Mobility” project, which also aims to simplify and standardise procedures for military personnel and equipment as they cross borders by road, rail, sea or air.
Military experts have long complained that derelict or missing infrastructure and red tape are hampering the swift movement of personnel and equipment that would be crucial if NATO allies had to send reinforcements to eastern Europe in the case of a conflict. (Source: Reuters)
29 Nov 22. BAE Systems asked to explore bringing retiring Typhoons back to life in a crisis. The Defence Select Committee has asked defence manufacturer BAE Systems to come back with answers on whether Typhoon fighter jets could be upgraded out of retirement after 2025, in case of “national emergency”.
Up to this point, the firm has never been asked to produce any design studies on bringing out-of-action Typhoons back to life in a crisis, claims the BAE’s air branch Chief Operating Officer Ian Muldowney, but the committee claims timelines drawn up pre-Ukraine war must be revisited.
The UK’s current plans to phase out 30 Tranche 1 (the most basic batch of Eurofighter Typhoon, flown by the UK since the early 2000s) halfway through the decade prompted questions from the committee over a potential future gap in defence capability.
Sarah Atherton MP said a remaining 107 Tranche 2 and 3 Typhoons set for continued upgrades will be “worked harder”, will “fatigue quicker” and are likely to be “non-operational for longer periods as they get older”.
Meanwhile, the Tempest aircraft – hoped to underpin the future of combat air for the UK – isn’t set to be operational until 2040.
Giving evidence to the committee on aviation procurement, Mr Muldowney said incoming radar and weapon fits to the Tranche 2 and 3, combined with the British fifth-generation F-35 fighter capability, should see the UK through to 2040 regardless of total aircraft numbers.
Mark Francois MP responded with a reference to the gradual decrease in combat aircraft in the RAF of the years – now down to seven frontline squadrons.
He said: “There is one scenario in which you get a brutal capability gap. It’s called war.
“As we’ve got so few aircraft left, why does it make sense to retire about 30… shouldn’t we at the very least put them in a war reserve?”
In the case of a “come as you are” war and regardless of costs, BAE doesn’t know how long Tranche 1 crisis upgrades would take, but building one from scratch would take four years.
Unsure if Russia would grant its enemy that grace period and citing a seven-year lead time for F-35s, Mr Francois has asked the firm to write back with answers.
The 2021 Defence Command Paper, a playbook for UK defence moving forward in coming decades, brought the Tranche 1 retirement date forward five years from 2015’s ambitions, and the outgoing 30 planes will have flown less than half of the airframe’s maximum 6,000 hours.
Mr Francois was quick to point out that 2021’s playbook came before Russia’s invasion, which was “a total game-changer in defence”, as he initiated the unprecedented contingency plan. (Source: forces.net)
28 Nov 22. Estonia says European nations should double defence expenditure. European countries should double their defence expenditure because of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Estonia’s foreign minister said on Monday, adding that his own country planned to raise national defence spending to 3% of GDP.
Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu made his comments in an interview with Reuters during a trip to Kyiv with six other foreign ministers.
The visit was intended to show support for Kyiv as it struggles with power outages following a wave of drone and missile strikes by Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February.
“We would like to see European countries doubling their defence expenditure in the time of the Ukrainian war and after the war, and we are going to spend 3% of our GDP on national defence,” he said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that countries in the military alliance, of which Estonia is a member, may decide to aim to spend more on defence than their current target of 2% of national output.
Many NATO allies have already increased their military spending since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Ukraine, which is not a NATO member but has applied to join the alliance, has increasingly called for support from its Western allies since Russian increased its missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Reinsalu said the 27-nation European Union, which includes Estonia, should also increase the level of funding it earmarks in military support for Ukraine.
“The European Union combined has supported around 0.2% of its GDP to military assistance to Ukraine and I made a pledge if we could reach 1% it would make a grand difference on the ground in changing the course of the war,” he said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Twitter that Monday’s trip by Reinsalu and the six other ministers had included discussion of tightening EU sanctions, rebuilding Ukrainian energy infrastructure, financial support and Ukraine’s “Euro-Atlantic aspirations.”
(Source: Reuters)
28 Nov 22. Italian and Spanish forces continue Nato’s eAP to secure Black Sea coast. The deployed aircraft include four Italy Eurofighters and six Spain F-18 aircraft.
Aircraft and personnel from the Italian and Spanish Air Forces have been deployed to continue NATO ’s Enhanced Air Policing (eAP) mission in Romania.
The deployment aims to secure and safeguard the Black Sea coast.
As part of the deployment, a total of four Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft and personnel from Italy have already arrived at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania, on 25 November.
The aircraft and personnel, collectively designated as Task Force Air Romania (TFA-R) ‘Gladiator’, belong to the Italian Air Force Eurofighter Wings 4, 36, 37 and 51.
All four Italian Eurofighter jets will carry out various flying operations together with the Romanian aircraft.
The mission will begin in December and continue until the end of July 2023.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Air Force has deployed its six F-18 aircraft that arrived at Romania’s Fetesti Air Base on 25 November.
The Spanish detachment will operate together with the Romanian and Italian fighter jets to conduct Nato’s eAP mission to monitor and secure the alliance’s airspace over the next four months.
The F-18 jets will also support the alliance’s enhanced vigilance activities during this deployment.
Italian TFA-R commander colonel Michele Morelli said: “By deploying Italian fighters, the alliance demonstrates a reliable, robust and effective capability for the Nato eAP and Nato Air Shielding missions along the eastern flank.
“Our national contribution in Romania underlines the alliance’s ability to resolve and to adapt swiftly to any changes in the international security environment, by defending every inch of Nato territory.”
Nato began conducting the eAP mission from Mihail Kogalniceanu base, near Constanța on the Black Sea Coast, in 2014 and the allied nation forces have since been supporting an air policing posture on the eastern flank. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
27 Nov 22. Rosyth to be ‘de-nuclearised’ with removal of old submarines.
Old nuclear submarines have been laid up at Rosyth for decades.
ALL of the laid-up nuclear submarines will be gone as part of a UK Government pledge to “de-nuclearise Rosyth” by 2035.
Councillors were given an update on the programme to remove radioactive waste and turn the seven boats that have been parked at the dockyard for decades into “tin cans and razor blades”.
The Ministry of Defence have faced heavy criticism for the delays in dealing with the nuclear legacy, with 27 Royal Navy subs to be scrapped in total.
Christine Bruce, from the Rosyth Submarine Dismantling Project, said most of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLW) should be gone by the end of 2024.
She added: “The subs will take a bit longer but we’ve got a forward programme which definitely does remove them all by about 2035.
“It absolutely is our aim to do what we said all those years ago, to de-nuclearise Rosyth.”
One of the decommissioned subs, Dreadnought, has been in the Rosyth basin since 1980 and she admitted that it had been out of service for so long that a lot of the low-level radiation had “disappeared naturally”.
The MoD has also been slated for the cost of maintaining the subs, £30 m a year.
At the South and West Fife area committee yesterday (Wednesday), Ms Bruce acknowledged: “It’s taken a long time to get to where we are.
“It’s not just disposal, it’s mostly recycling.
“We started in 1998, I was part of it from the beginning, it’s taken quite a long time to come up with the policy and for good reasons.
“There were no easy answers. If it had been easy we would have done it a long time before now.
“The aim is to get rid of 27 submarines, of which seven are at Rosyth and the rest are, or will be, at Devonport.”
A facility to deal with the boats at Rosyth had to be brought up to date, to make sure it was safe to remove the radioactive material, with funding from the MoD.
Work started on Swiftsure in 2015-16 and around 52 tonnes of LLW was removed, with most of the metals recycled.
With lessons learned from the first sub, they progressed and removed 77 tonnes from Resolution and then 120 tonnes from Revenge.
The next step was a world first, the removal of the reactor from Revenge, the most radioactive part left in the sub, as well as the steam generators.
Next will be removing the rest of the LLW from Swiftsure so all that’s left is the reactor, which should be taken out around 2025.
The sub was to be recycled elsewhere but it’s cheaper, safer and more secure “to do the first one at Rosyth” and then sell it off to scrap merchants.
Gordon McAughey, head of internal assurance at Babcock Rosyth, added: “Hopefully, by 2026, the skyline change at Rosyth will occur where the first boat will be gone, it will be tin cans and razor blades.
“It’s a very challenging programme to build a facility to do all this work and to get all the permissions from regulators, but what I will say is we never compromise on safety for the sake of progress. We can’t compromise on safety.”
LLW is to be taken to a facility in Dorset, which should be completed next year, by 2024.
The reactors are to be taken to Capenhurst in Cheshire and it hasn’t yet been decided if they’ll be transported by road or sea. Ms Bruce said safety and security would be paramount. (Source: News Now/https://www.dunfermlinepress.com)
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