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05 Jan 24. What is the strength of the Royal Navy?
The Royal Navy has ships deployed around the globe 365 days a year, and 2024 is going to be no different.
With tensions in the Red Sea, deployments to the Indo-Pacific and Russian ships continuously needing to be shadowed, the Royal Navy needs to be at the top of its game.
But what is the strength of the service?
The Royal Navy has 29,220 full-time, trained personnel – as well as 2,730 reservist personnel.
With 12 different ship classes plus submarines, the Royal Navy has a number of personnel deployed on each vessel at any given time.
Starting with the largest and most powerful warships ever built for the Royal Navy, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales can each operate with a crew of 679 but can accommodate up to 1,600 personnel.
Next in size order are the Albion class vessels, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark – tasked with delivering the punch of Royal Marines by land, sea or air.
They can carry six Challenger tanks, or around 30 armoured all-terrain tracked vehicles, with a floodable well dock, as well as four Landing Craft Utility boats.
These ships operate with a crew of 325.
Six destroyers make up the backbone of the Royal Navy, designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare they can operated on a crew of 190.
The Navy has 11 Type 23 frigates, which were originally designed for anti-submarine warfare during the Cold War, which are operated with a 181-strong crew. The Navy also has a specialised fleet of patrol and mine countermeasures vessels.
This includes six Hunt Class vessels looking for mines and lost explosives, crewed by 45 personnel; three Sandown Class ships, clearing UK waters of ordnance, crewed by 37 personnel; and two Cutlass Class vessels, used to patrol naval and territorial waters around Gibraltar, crewed by six personnel.
It also includes eight River Class offshore patrol vessels, designed to secure territorial waters and support law enforcement missions, each crewed by 28 personnel and 16 Archer Class fast patrol boats, each crewed by five personnel, operating across the UK and Europe.
The Royal Navy also has a fleet of submarines.
This is made up of four Vanguard Class vessels, the protectors of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, crewed by 132 personnel, and five Astute Class submarines currently in service, with two more set to join the fleet this year, which each take 98 crew.
Finally, there is also one Trafalgar Class submarine, adapted for covert surveillance and inshore reconnaissance, which is crewed by 97 personnel.
In total, that means 7,141 Royal Navy personnel are needed to crew the current fleet of vessels.
The Navy’s personnel numbers have received a lot of attention lately and, in November last year, a senior Royal Navy officer called on the service to review its medical standards for people wanting to join.
Rear Admiral Jude Terry, the Royal Navy’s Director of People and Training, said medical provision and technology has advanced, while the service’s standards have not changed for more than 20 years.
RAdm Terry was commenting on social media in response to an article which references findings from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request that Royal Navy recruitment has dropped to its lowest number since 2017.
The service was also reported to be offering a bounty of £500 to personnel who refer a candidate to the service. (Source: forces.net)
05 Jan 24. Denmark to Review Major Defense Programs. Government and Political Parties to Analyze Defense Settlement. The government and the parties behind the defense settlement have agreed to initiate a series of analyzes of future settlement initiatives. The first of the analyzes is expected to be completed as early as January 2024 and will form the basis for negotiations of future sub-agreements.
Ship-based anti-submarine capability, F-35 fighter jets, conscription and the formation of the brigade are some of the analyzes that the government and the settlement parties have agreed to initiate. The analyzes are to form the basis for the negotiations of future settlement initiatives and the first ones are expected to be completed as early as January.
“It is important to me that we get started with building up the Armed Forces, and therefore I am happy that we can now start a series of analyses. The analyzes will form a solid starting point when we have to make decisions in the new year about the strengthening of Danish defense and security”, says Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
Specifically, the government and the settlement parties have agreed to initiate a series of analysis, the first six of which contain:
— The structure of the brigade.
— Ship-based anti-submarine capability.
— F-35 fighter jet.
— Air defense on land and from ships.
— Satellite capacity.
— Enlistment.
The parties behind the defense settlement agree that there is a need for ongoing analyzes of developments in the field of defense and security policy. That is why it has also been planned to continuously assess which elements require closer analysis, as well as which elements concrete investment decisions must be made about here and now.
The analyzes must provide a more adequate decision-making basis with a view to investment decisions in later partial agreements.
“With the defense settlement for 2024-33, the government is setting out, among other things, that Denmark must meet NATO’s strength targets to a greater extent. The analyzes must give us a better decision-making basis and are, among other things, selected on the basis that Denmark must be able to meet the expectations of NATO, the EU and allies to a greater extent,” says Troels Lund Poulsen. (Unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com) (Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/ Danish Ministry of Defence; issued Jan. 05, 2024)
05 Jan 24. FMV Awarded Orders Worth Over 80bn Kroner In Two Years. FMV’s business continues to grow. In 2022, orders to industry increased by 95 percent to 36.4bn kroner, and for 2023 the forecast is a further increase of just over 20 percent to around 44 bn kroner in orders. 80bn kroner (approx. $7.8bn–Ed.) in supplier orders in two years means a historic increase.
The forecast increase in 2023 is due both to replacement procurement due to the war in Ukraine and increased (forced) ambition in accordance with the existing total defense decision.
“With this result, I can state that FMV has so far managed to meet the new defense policy requirements. FMV works on a different level and at a much higher pace than before. At the same time, we must continue to place extensive orders in 2024 and beyond in order to get deliveries to the Armed Forces as quickly as possible,” says FMV Director General Göran Mårtensson.
At the same time as supplier orders have continued to increase, FMV’s support to Ukraine has developed in several areas. Extensive work has also been carried out to strengthen the authority’s internal processes, governance and follow-up in order to meet further increases in materiel procurement for defence. The cooperation with the Swedish Armed Forces has also been developed to shorten lead times and increase the pace of the procurement process.
“In order to manage further growth in defense and future increases in funding, FMV and other actors in the materiel procurement chain must keep up the pace and work even smarter,” concludes Göran Mårtensson.
(Unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com) (Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/ Swedish Defense Materiel Agency, FMV; issued Jan 4, 2024)
05 Jan 24. Polish Ministry of Defence Outlines the Priorities and 2024 Budget: Large Army, Full Readiness of the Territorial Defence Component. Increase in troops number, full operational readiness of the Territorial Defence Component, cybernetic forces, reinforcements of the units stationed in the eastern, and northern parts of Poland, creating proper host nation conditions for permanent presence of the US forces in Poland – these are some of the defence planning priorities expressed by the Polish Ministry of Defence, regarding the year 2024.
The Ministry presented these priorities, along with the next year’s defence budget bill that received a positive opinion from the Parliamentary Defence Commission.
The defence budget envisages spending equivalent to PLN 118.14bn (approx. $29.8bn—Ed.), which translates into 3.1% of the expected GDP. If the Armed Forces Support Fund is included, the defence expenditure may reach the level of PLN 159bn, an equivalent of 4.2% of GDP. PLN 4.8bn. would be allocated to financing the “Equipping the Polish Armed Forces with Main Battle Tanks” long-term programme.
More than PLN 52bn has been planned to cover the capital expenditure within all parts of the budget (44.3% of the total defence expenditure).
Central material plans expenditure assumes that PLN 48.9bn. would be spent – more than 12bn zlotys more than this year (33.4% increase). The capital expenditure level within the framework of the central material plans would go up to PLN 38.644bn. which, as Vice-Minister of Defence Stanisław Wziątek said, translates into a 29% increase, in comparison with 2023.
PLN 34.9bn. would be allocated to technical modernization, including PLN 31.4bn. of capital expenditure (investments, procurement subsidies, expenditure related to co-financing of EU and NATO investment programmes).
Personnel expenditure constitutes 18.6% of the defence budget. Remuneration, emoluments, pay, and derivatives would be covered by PLN 21.88bn., including 16.4bn. to cover emoluments, and PLN 5.4bn. to cover remuneration. The emoluments for soldiers, military intelligence, and military counterintelligence officers, and remuneration for employees would go up by 20%, and a 30% increase is expected for the teaching staff.
The ongoing expenditure is to be higher than PLN 3.46bn., including PLN 2.5bn. to cover overhauls of the military and general purpose equipment. 723m zlotys would be allocated to the procurement of equipment and armament, and 207 m zlotys would be used to pay for services covered by the Central Material Plan.
Retirement and pensions would be covered by an amount of PLN 11.11bn., and that includes indexation and 13th and 14th retirement pension payouts. More than 157 thousand persons would be entitled to receive military retirement pensions.
Parts of the budget separate from national defence include expenditure on defence research projects (PLN 250m in the higher education and science section), ESA contribution (PLN 55m in the economy section), PLN 107m for Military Prosecution activities, and more than PLN 48m to cover the military qualification.
The main objective adopted by the Ministry of Defence is to boost the defence potential, for instance, by increasing the number of troops in active service, getting the Territorial Defence Component “fully ready for crisis response and cooperation with the operational forces”, establishing operational readiness for the Cyberspace Defence Forces Component Command, and the subordinated elements, development of capabilities aimed at countering the military surprise, and increasing the Armed Forces’ potential and capabilities in the area of conducting autonomous and allied defence operations, increasing of the capabilities of elements stationed in the eastern and northern part of the country by “forming and establishing complete organizational structures” of the 18th Mechanized Division, 16th Mechanized Division, and 1st Legions Infantry Division.
The primary tasks also include the establishment of proper conditions for the permanent presence of the US forces in Poland, and troop training during domestic and international exercises.
Next year the Polish Ministry of Defence is willing to recruit around 8,000 soldiers for the Territorial Defence Component, with the number of troops expected to go up to 41,000 by the end of 2024. Each volunteer is to engage in at least 36 days of training, while the new recruits would be obliged to train 42 or 50 days – this concerns basic, or complementary training.
30,000 volunteers are to engage in voluntary military service, with 20,000 postings in active reserves; 5,000 people in the active and passive reserves would undergo training. (Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/ Defense24.com)
04 Jan 24. Royal Navy has so few sailors it has to decommission ships. The Royal Navy has so few sailors that it has to decommission two warships to staff its new class of frigates, The Telegraph can reveal.
HMS Westminster, which was recently refurbished at huge expense to the taxpayer, and HMS Argyll will be decommissioned this year.
The crews will be sent to work across the new fleet of Type 26 frigates as they come into service.
It comes as the Armed Forces experience a significant recruitment crisis, with the Navy having suffered a collapse in the flow of new recruits into the service.
A defence source told The Telegraph: “We will have to take manpower from one area of the Navy in order to put into a new area of the force.”
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has ordered eight Type 26 frigates, which will be the Navy’s most advanced submarine-hunting warships to date.
However, HMS Glasgow, the first of the new Type 26s, will not be operational until 2028 at the earliest, followed by HMS Cardiff, expected by the end of the decade.
The move will bring the number of frigates in Britain’s surface fleet down to just nine until the two new ships arrive.
The MoD has ordered six more Type 26 frigates, but they are not expected to start arriving until the 2030s.
It comes as Britain considers military action against Houthi rebels over their attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea.
One option being considered is moving HMS Lancaster, a Type 23 frigate, to support HMS Diamond in the Red Sea as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian to safeguard shipping.
Critics have suggested Britain would have more capacity to protect cargo in the Red Sea if frigate numbers were not being reduced.
A Whitehall source justified the move and said the decision allowed the military to focus on “updating the Navy into a modern, hi-tech fighting force”.
The source said: “It is always emotive when ships that have a long history of service come to the end of their working life. They and the sailors who crewed them have done the country proud. But decommissioning them is the right decision. The new Type 26 frigates will be in service before those ships can be refitted.” (Source: Daily Telegraph)
04 Jan 24. The United States and Baltics Sign Bilateral Defence Cooperation Road Maps for the Next Five Years. Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian defence officials travelled to Washington for the signing of bilateral road maps for defence cooperation with the United States of America for the next five years.
Bilateral defence cooperation road maps define bilateral defence cooperation and national security areas that will be covered until 2028. Rad maps detail joint activities aimed at strengthening US and Baltic military capabilities and interoperability on bilateral basis.
Stronger NATO deterrence posture and capabilities required to face any regional threats emanating from potential aggressors are a priority of all three bilateral defence cooperation road maps.
Additionally, the agreements convey the Secretary of Defence’s intention to provide heel-to-toe persistent rotational presence of US forces in each Baltic State.
Moreover, roadmaps promote defence cooperation in defence areas such as air and missile defence, information technologies and cybersecurity, international military operations, military infrastructure development and other fields. (Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/ Latvia Republic Ministry of Defence)
02 Jan 24. Denmark’s defence revival: Collaborations and capabilities. From budget surges to tactical triumphs, Denmark’s Army, Air Force, and Navy forge a defence front.
Denmark’s defence landscape is undergoing a profound shift, propelled by a projected CAGR of 4.7% that catapults the defence budget to $6.3bn (DKr42.9bn) by 2028, according to GlobalData’s “Denmark Defense Market 2023-2028” report.
Responding to geopolitical tensions and meeting NATO targets, the Danish Army, Air Force, and Navy set the stage for modernisation initiatives. Historically allocating 1% of GDP to defence in 2022, the Scandinavian country now aims to achieve NATO’s 2% target by 2030.
A key driver behind the budget surge is the modernisation of the Danish military, witnessing an ascent in acquisition budgets from $1.9bn in 2023 to $2.4bn in 2028, according to information provided by GlobalData’s intelligence on the Danish defence market.
Denmark’s defence trajectory responds strategically to evolving security challenges, focusing on air policing, NATO forces in the Baltic region, and addressing High North tensions. Force restructuring becomes imperative, allowing Denmark to navigate the complexities of state-based challenges and technological proliferation.
Cybersecurity emerges as a focal point, given Denmark’s highly digitised society. The nation endeavours to fortify its cyber defences against potential remote attacks across borders, reinforcing its commitment to security.
Recent developments underscore Denmark’s commitment to NATO standards, which is evident in collaborations with US Naval Forces Europe and contributions to regional security. A notable aid package of nearly $1bn to Ukraine, participation in the European Leopard main battle tank coalition, and the reception of F-35s showcase Denmark’s global engagement.
The rise of the country’s defence capabilities is epitomised by military fixed-wing, missiles, and missile defence system surges and a strategic shift in tactical communication system, reinforcing the market insights provided by GlobalData’s analysis of Denmark’s defence. Investments in naval engines, vessels, and surface combatants show Denmark’s desire for maritime security.
Contracts and collaborations highlight Denmark’s role in Lockheed Martin‘s F-35 programme, procuring a Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) system from Rheinmetall, and an effort to procure six new patrol vessels, integrating green technologies. (Source: army-technology.com)
02 Jan 24. German weapons exports reached record high in 2023. Germany’s government authorized more arms exports in 2023 than ever before, according to preliminary figures disclosed to lawmakers last month.
The war in Ukraine partly fueled this uptick, with exports to Kyiv more than doubling compared to 2022. The record-breaking volume follows the government’s commitment to placing tougher restrictions on arms sales, a promise from the campaign trail.
As of mid-December, Germany had authorized the export of €11.7bn ($12.8bn) in defense articles, as revealed in a response to a parliamentary inquiry. Of this amount, €6.1bn were weapons, with the remaining €5.6bn classified as “other defense articles.”
The previous record for arms exports was set in 2021, at €9.35bn.
An official tally for all of 2023 is expected from the Berlin government in the coming weeks.
The largest chunk of exports last year was destined for Ukraine. Kyiv was authorized to receive over €4.1bn in military exports from Germany in 2023, the preliminary numbers show. It marked a further increase in aid for Ukraine from €2.24bn worth in authorized exports in 2022.
Israel, too, was among the top ten intended recipients, with €323m earmarked for the country that has been at war with Hamas since Oct. 7. This marked a tenfold increase over 2022, German public broadcaster ARD reported.
These export authorizations to governments engaged in hostilities further called into question Germany’s self-imposed restriction of not exporting arms to active war zones, a norm that was already qualified in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s pivotal “turning point” (“Zeitenwende”) speech following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Scholz’s Social Democrats had made it one of their campaign promises to enact a new law restricting arms exports to governments engaged in war or with problematic human rights records. The governing coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals enshrined the promise as a separate point in their coalition treaty in November 2021 and published a ten-page proposal containing the key points. The text straddled calls for stricter benchmarks on the one hand and the need for geopolitical maneuvering on the other. Since then, the initiative appears to have largely stalled, overshadowed by a fundamental reassessment of Germany’s security situation in the aftermath of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Aside from Ukraine, the top intended recipients in 2023 were Norway (€1.2bn), Hungary (€1bn), the UK (€655m) and the U.S. (€545m). Poland, France, Israel, South Korea and Cyprus were also among the top ten. (Source: Defense News)
28 Dec 23. UK takes lead of NATO Rapid Response Force. UK forces are taking lead of NATO’s rapid response force on 1 January 2024, placing thousands of soldiers on standby and ready to deploy within days. NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) was created after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and deployed for the first time for the collective defence of the Alliance after Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Taking leadership of the VJTF will see the UK provide the majority of forces in the task force. The United Kingdom’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps will serve as the land component command.
The leadership position is rotated annually among NATO members, and the UK now takes over from Germany, which led the force in 2023. The UK previously led the task force in 2017.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “The UK is at the heart of NATO. By heading up NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force in 2024, we are taking another leading position in the Alliance, sending a clear message that Britain is stepping up to our global defence commitments as NATO enters its 75th year. The UK’s Armed Forces stand ready, at a moment’s notice, to defend our Allies and protect the British national interest. The world is a more dangerous and contested place than it has been for decades and we need NATO more than ever. The UK and its allies are committed to supporting NATO and what it stands for”.
The VJTF is the highest-readiness element of NATO’s larger Response Force (NRF), which also includes air, maritime and special operations forces. In 2024, VJTF land forces will comprise some 6,000 troops, with the UK’s 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team – the ‘Desert Rats’ – at its core.
This is the same force that led the response during the activation of NATO’s Strategic Reserve Force in Kosovo last year. The brigade consists of a light cavalry regiment, and four light-mechanised infantry battalions with enabling artillery, engineering, logistics, and medical regiments. Major units include the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, the 4th battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, and the 2nd battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment.
The MOD’s 2023 Integrated Review Refresh was clear that NATO will remain the cornerstone of UK defence and security. The UK remains committed to offering the full spectrum of defence capabilities to the Alliance, and the past year has underlined the continued importance of the Alliance’s role in deterrence and defence.
Our existing commitments to NATO include UK leadership of the enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) mission in Estonia, with a brigade of troops held at high readiness in the UK to reinforce Estonia and the wider Baltic at a time of crisis.
Around 1,000 UK troops are persistently deployed to Estonia as part of the eFP mission – known as Operation Cabrit. This year, over 1,500 UK troops participated in Exercise Spring Storm in Estonia, the first time the UK conducted a brigade-sized deployment as part of Op Cabrit.
The UK also provides a Reconnaissance Squadron to a US-led NATO battlegroup in Poland, as well as a Ground-Based Air Defence system (Sky Sabre) to help protect Polish airspace.
In 2024, nine NATO Allies – UK, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Latvia, North Macedonia, Romania and Albania – will contribute to the NATO Response Force. The Alliance will transition the NATO Response Force into the new Allied Reaction Force in mid-2024. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
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