Sponsored by Bertin Exensor
www.exensor.com
————————————————————————-
09 Feb 24. Scotland boosting UK with more than £2bn spend in defence annually. Defence spending with UK industry by the Ministry of Defence in Scotland is currently £2.09bn, official statistics have revealed.The statistics highlight the UK Government’s commitment to continually improving the defence sector, while supporting the economy and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country.
An average of £380 is being spent on defence for each person living in Scotland, higher that the UK average of £370, with this figure staying consistent in recent years, and showing the level of spending that helps keep the nation protected.
Latest figures also show 12,200 Scottish jobs are directly supported through the MOD’s expenditure with the Scottish defence industry.
Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps said: “As threats increase across the globe, it’s crucial that investment in our Armed Forces matches that picture. That’s why we’re spending more than £50bn annually on helping equip our military with cutting-edge capabilities, so they can continue to protect our freedoms around the clock. These statistics demonstrate how all parts of the UK are playing their part in that crucial work, delivering through our fantastic defence industry and boosting local prosperity.”
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “Nothing is more important than defending our country and these figures show the enormous contribution Scottish skills, expertise and innovation make to the UK’s defence industry. As well as playing a crucial role in the security of the UK, defence also contributes significantly to delivering high-skilled jobs and investment in Scotland. The UK Government is committed to growing our economy, including by working with the defence industry to support its success in the UK and in exporting overseas.”
Scotland is home to the Royal Navy’s Type 26 and Type 31 frigate building programme, spanning shipyards on the Clyde and Rosyth, supporting thousands of skilled jobs into the next decade. Some of the MOD’s highest level strategic assets, such as the Continuous At Sea Deterrent at HMNB Clyde and the P-8 Poseidon and Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon aircraft at RAF Lossiemouth are also base in Scotland, investing in multi-million-pound support contracts which have created thousands of jobs. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
08 Feb 24. Current tensions reinforce the importance for Kosovo and Serbia to return to the EU-facilitated dialogue: UK statement at the UN Security Council
Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council meeting on Kosovo.
Thank you, President, and I thank Special Representative Ziadeh for her briefing today. I also welcome the participation of President Vucic and Prime Minister Kurti in our meeting.
President, next week marks the 16th anniversary of Kosovan independence. The UK welcomes the progress it has made as a sovereign state in that time.
Yet for many years the absence of a normal relationship between Kosovo and Serbia has had implications for regional stability and for communities in both countries.
Current tensions reinforce the importance for Kosovo and Serbia to engage with renewed commitments in EU-facilitated dialogue, and to make progress towards the normalisation of relations.
The UK will continue to work in support of this goal alongside our wider efforts to build regional stability.
Three immediate steps can help support this goal.
First, Kosovo and Serbia should honour their existing commitments and avoid unilateral actions or rhetoric that could reduce prospects for a comprehensive and sustainable normalisation agreement.
Second, Kosovo should exercise its sovereign powers in a way that is consistent with the vision of a multi-ethnic democracy embedded at the heart of Kosovo’s constitution.
Through its recent actions, Kosovo’s central bank has sought to fulfil its responsibility to regulate the operation of foreign currencies. But the Kosovo Government’s implementation of these measures so far has shown insufficient regard for the impact on Kosovo’s minority communities.
Kosovo’s authorities should set out a clear plan to ensure that all affected Kosovo Serbs can continue to receive their incomes, and that essential services can operate until a sustainable solution is found.
Finally, President, the UK calls on Serbia to ensure that those responsible for the attacks in Banjska in September are held to account.
Regional stability and the interests of all communities are best served by the creation of a conducive environment that will allow further progress under the EU-facilitated dialogue.
Thank you. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
08 Feb 24. UK defence industry spending tops £25bn for first time.
Defence spending with UK industry by the Ministry of Defence has topped £25bn for the first time, official statistics have revealed.
- Official breakdowns show increases in almost all areas and nations
- Notable increases in spending recorded in Northern Ireland and Wales
- Figures show more than 200,000 jobs are supported through the UK’s defence industry
The 2022/23 statistics, published today, detail the money spent by the MOD with UK defence companies. The breadth of spending highlights the government’s commitment to continually improving the defence sector, while supporting the economy and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country.
Yorkshire and The Humber saw a doubling in overall expenditure, the highest of all areas, while Wales saw a 25 per cent rise in the same figure.
An average of £370 is being spent with the UK defence industry for each person living in the UK, showing the level of spending that helps keep the nation protected.
The latest jobs figures – published in the summer – also show 209,000 UK jobs are supported through the MOD’s expenditure with our defence industry.
Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps said:
As threats increase across the globe, it’s crucial that investment in our Armed Forces matches that picture.
That’s why we’re spending more than £50bn annually on helping equip our military with cutting-edge capabilities, so they can continue to protect our freedoms around the clock.
These statistics demonstrate how all parts of the UK are playing their part in that crucial work, delivering through our fantastic defence industry and boosting local prosperity.
The UK has experienced its third consecutive year of increased spending, with the Southeast of England receiving the highest MOD Expenditure with UK Industry, followed by the Southwest.
Wales and Northern Ireland saw an increased level of expenditure compared to last year’s statistics, highlighting the key role the Nations play, with Scotland leading the investment with more than £2bn spent annually.
Background
- The stats published on Thursday 8 February regarding spend with UK industry can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-statistics-with-industry-202223
- The latest figures on jobs supported through UK industry can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-with-uk-industry-and-supported-employment-202122/mod-regional-expenditure-with-uk-industry-and-commerce-and-supported-employment-202122#total-jobs-supported-by-mod-expenditure-with-uk-industry (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
06 Feb 24. Bulgaria: New espionage allegations indicate ongoing Russian influence operations. On 5 February, reports emerged about the arrest of two Bulgarian officials who allegedly spied for Russia. One concerns a police officer working in Bulgaria’s National Service for Combating Organised Crime, while the other involves an employee of a state security agency. The Bulgarian authorities suspect both individuals of passing sensitive information to a former employee of the Russian embassy in the capital Sofia. The arrests follow previous cases of espionage facilitated by a ‘golden passport scheme’ that granted Russian nationals access to Bulgaria until 2022. In recent years, Bulgaria has expelled more than 100 alleged spies, including employees from the defence ministry and the abbot of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia. Russian influence is also significant within Bulgaria’s opposition, especially the Bulgarian Socialist Party. While Bulgaria’s defence industry is a primary target of Russian espionage operations, we assess that Russian espionage interests possibly also extend to broader campaigns against Western businesses.
(Source: Sibylline)
08 Feb 24. Britain must start preparing for large-scale conflict, defence officials warn. Britain must start preparing for a “large-scale conflict which could be with Russia or others at some point in the future”, defence officials have warned.
They told Forces News that the demands on defence intelligence are more complex and more varied in 2024 and that we are living in “dangerous times”.
The warning came as they made the rare decision to invite journalists into one of their top secret intelligence facilities at RAF Wyton, a tri-service base that is home to the biggest defence intelligence centre in the UK.
They stressed that Russia is still a “very potent force”, using a weather analogy to describe the current global situation as having “storms in the Middle East, an acute hurricane in Ukraine and that China represented climate change”.
During the visit journalists were presented with a Russian Orlan 10 drone and a Shahed 131 Iranian drone that have been used against the Ukrainians.
These were just two examples of weapons that are being analysed by defence intelligence experts in the UK to find out more about how they work.
Both had been given to UK defence intelligence by the Ukrainians.
The officials also said “significant lessons” would be learned from the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel.
China’s aspirations in quantum computing and its hypersonic missile capabilities were highlighted – as was the work being undertaken by UK defence intelligence on how to counter those threats.
The vast majority of resources, they said, are focused on threats emanating from overseas which pose a threat to the UK, and recognised that they have their work cut out for them.
These threat assessments follow a speech made by Defence Secretary Grant Shapps in which he warned the UK was now moving to a “pre-war” era.
This was then followed by the head of the Army saying that Britain should train and equip a “citizen army” to prepare the country for a potential land war.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing Chief of the General Staff, said creating such a force ahead of a potential conflict would need to be a “whole-of-nation undertaking”.
However, Gen Sir Patrick said even a mobilisation of this scale might not be enough, highlighting how the UK’s allies in eastern and northern Europe were “laying the foundations for national mobilisation”.
There is, it seems, a very clear message emerging from defence officials in 2024, warnings of various dark possibilities that could face the UK in the future.
08 Feb 24. EU Commission Starts Proceedings Against Czech Republic For Defence Procurement Violations. The European Commission has initiated proceedings against the Czech Republic over violations of EU directives when buying military helicopters, the Commission said in a statement yesterday. The Czech Republic has been sent a formal notice for breach of an obligation under the defence procurement directive and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Commission said. Prague now has two months to respond and address the shortcomings highlighted by the Commission.
According to CTK, the breaches are related to the purchase of US military Venom and Viper helicopters, costing around CZK 17 bn.
“We will respond through the Foreign Ministry and then we will wait for further decisions,” the Czech Defence Ministry said in response. According to the ministry’s statement, the purchase of the helicopters was decided by the previous government and then-defence minister Lubomir Metnar.
Metnar told CTK and Czech Television he was convinced that everything was correct in the purchase of the helicopters. The decision took into account Czech security interests, he said, and the purchase removed the country from dependence on Russia. The US helicopters, which are to gradually replace the Russian Mi-24V/35 in the arsenal, were chosen by the Czech army soldiers themselves, he added.
The European Commission noted that the aim of the defence procurement directive is to increase transparency and openness in the European market, to ensure equal conditions for European companies and to safeguard the security interests of member states.
The Commission considers that the procurement procedure and conditions applied by the Czech Republic in awarding the contract were not in line with the Defence Procurement Directive and the principles enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, the EU executive said yesterday.
The specific infringement allegedly committed by the Czech Republic concerns the possible abuse of the intergovernmental procurement exemption. The direct award of the contract also violates the principles of non-discrimination, equal treatment and transparency by denying EU companies the opportunity to submit a bid and compete effectively for the contract, the commission explained.
“We are convinced that the purchase of 12 Venom and Viper helicopters is in order and we acted in accordance with all laws and regulations,” a spokesman for the Czech Defence Ministry said at the time. The Office for the Protection of Economic Competition subsequently fined the ministry CZK 550 m for violating the public procurement law.
The intergovernmental agreement for the purchase of eight multirole Venom and four attack Viper helicopters was signed on 12 December 2019, by Czech and US defence ministers Metnar and Mark Esper. In Washington in April 2022, the current minister Jana Cernochova negotiated the delivery of eight more older aircraft (two Venom and six Viper), which the Czech Republic would receive from the US for free. (Source: News Now/https://brnodaily.com/)
05 Feb 24. EU member countries push back on Italy’s call for European army. Amid calls for a common European military to stand up to an aggressive Russia and other potential threats, EU members Slovenia, Spain, Denmark and Poland say the idea is unrealistic and unnecessary.
“The EU should have its own army,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani of Italy, a founding member of both the trade bloc and NATO, said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa last month. The official proposed that the fighting force could be involved in peacekeeping missions and preventing conflict.
However, even with war now raging in Europe and a push for stronger defense cooperation across the continent, the proposal hasn’t gained much traction. For starters, there’s little consensus among the 27 nations of the EU on the need for such a force.
“The establishment of this common defense — a necessary framework for the development of a ‘European Army’ – would require a unanimous decision of the Council,” the Spanish Ministry of Defense said in a statement. “If achieving this requirement was almost impossible in 1992, when the EU was composed of 12 member states, a decision by an EU of 27 or more countries in the future, would be very difficult to take – in this context the idea is unrealistic or unaffordable in the near future.”
Furthermore, Europe already has a defense force in NATO, making a separate European-only force unnecessary, according to Denmark, also a member of both organizations.
“NATO is the cornerstone of our collective security, and defense remains a matter of national sovereignty – there is no NATO or EU army, but close defense cooperation between allies and member-states,” the Danish defense ministry said in a statement. “Denmark does not support establishing an EU army.”
This question is also not on the agenda of Slovenia, Aleš Sila, the official responsible for strategic communications at the country’s Ministry of Defense, told Defense News.
In the past, a challenge that has loomed over the EU in regard to successfully achieving the bloc’s priorities has been that member-states tend to implement their defense plans at the national level.
This finding was highlighted in the 2022 Coordinated Annual Review on Defense Report published by the European Defense Agency. The document also found that most EU countries are also part of NATO, and see the military alliance as their primary multilateral orientation.
It is Poland’s view that the two should be seen as complementary rather than as incompatible.
“Poland does not neglect EU actions in the security and defense area – [EU actions] should become complementary to strengthen NATO efforts and contribute to trans-atlantic security,” the Polish ministry of defense said in a statement.
New initiatives, similar roles
The consensus shared by three of the four member-states was that other initiatives have been established that will play a similar role to that of a European army and provide similar capabilities.
The Slovenian, Spanish and Polish ministries all pointed to the development of the EU’s Rapid Deployment Capability, which by 2025 aims to allow the swift deployment of a modular force of up to 5,000 troops in non-permissive environments.
The first RDC deployment exercise took place in Spain in October, during which nine European countries contributed 2,800 military personnel and equipment. The participating states included Austria, Spain, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Romania.
Additional cooperative measures are also being taken amongst other EU member-states individually, as highlighted by the Polish MoD.
“It is our goal to tighten defense cooperation within EU countries, which was manifested on Jan. 30, when the head of the MoD signed a letter of intent on military redeployment procedures with the ministers of the Netherlands and Germany,” it said,
The document, although different from a common military, will facilitate and accelerate the movement of allied troops across the three countries. (Source: Defense News)
05 Feb 24. What’s going wrong with the UK’s Queen Elizabeth-class carriers? The UK Royal Navy flagship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, did not set sail to participate in Exercise Steadfast Defender over the weekend after propellor shaft issues were discovered.
The unfortunate short history of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers operated by the UK Royal Navy has added another entry, with the development that HMS Queen Elizabeth, lead ship in the class, will no longer kickstart Nato’s Exercise Steadfast Defender.
Posting on the X social media platform on 3 February 2024, the Royal Navy stated that “routine pre-sailing checks” undertaken on 2 February had identified “an issue with a coupling on [HMS Queen Elizabeth] starboard propellor shaft”.
As such, the vessel “will not sail on Sunday” to join Exercise Steadfast Defender, with its sister ship HMS Prince of Wales, itself only recently returned to sea following its own propellor shaft issues, due to take its place “as soon as possible”.
“It’s not uncommon to have maintenance issues with state-of-the-art ships which contain complex engineering and technology. Having two aircraft carriers means that HMS Prince of Wales can quickly prepare to deploy in place of HMS Queen Elizabeth,” a Royal Navy spokesperson told Naval Technology.
“HMS Prince of Wales will deploy soon on Nato exercise Steadfast Defender, carrying out her duties to keep the nation and our allies safe.”
The unwelcome news that a mechanical issue, particularly surrounding propulsion, comes at a time when their unavailability will prompt questions as to whether these are teething issues experienced by a class of relatively new warships, or something more complicated.
The Queen Elizabeth class: a history of troubles
In August 2022 HMS Prince of Wales encountered issues related to the carrier’s starboard propellor shaft, which brought the vessel’s intended Atlantic crossing to participate in exercises off the US eastern seaboard to a sudden halt.
After several weeks spent alongside the Princess Royal Jetty, where the vessel’s 33-tonne starboard propellor was removed, HMS Prince of Wales was dispatched, under reduced speed, to Babcock’s Rosyth Dockyard in the Firth of Forth for drydock repairs. The vessel subsequently drydocked at Rosyth dockyard, where it was built, for rectification work.
Subsequent UK parliamentary data into at-sea and repair days revealed in May 2023 that HMS Prince of Wales had spent nearly 33% of its time commissioned in the Royal Navy undergoing repairs. It’s time at sea was even lower, at just 21.3%.
As reported by Naval Technology at the time, in the 1,251 days since the carrier was commissioned into service the vessel has spent just 267 days at sea, with 411 days spent alongside or in dock undergoing repairs.
Commissioned into service in December 2019, issues have been a constant presence for the vessel, which in October 2020 sustained major flooding in its engine room following a burst fire main which caused significant damage to its electrical switchboards.
By contrast, HMS Queen Elizabeth completed a global deployment in 2021, operating in the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and Asia-Pacific region, fully integrating a US Marine Corps F-35B unit alongside its own embarked air wing.
However, in November 2021 a UK-operated F-35B fighter crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after taking off from HMS Queen Elizabeth, sparking a recovery effort to ensure that technology did not fall into Russian hands, which operates a number of vessels in the region.
Following an investigation, it was disclosed that the UK F-35B had ingested a cover that protects the engine air intake when the aircraft is inactive, which had not been removed prior to take-off.
The advantage of having two carriers
Despite these issues, it should be mentioned that in all cases of one of the UK carriers sustaining propulsion or other issues, its sister ship has been able, if not immediately, then relatively quickly, to take its place. In example, HMS Queen Elizabeth also split from its own exercise programme in 2022 to deputise for HMS Prince of Wales as host vessel for the Atlantic Future Forum in New York Harbour.
Similarly, HMS Prince of Wales will now depute for the Queen Elizabeth on Exercise Steadfast Defender, although no public timeframe has been given as to when it will head to sea. The Nato exercise is due to run until May, so any serials that would have incorporated a UK carrier can be adjusted.
Nevertheless, discussions about the usability of the UK carriers – which were not dispatched to replace a US Navy carrier strike group that departed the Mediterranean late last year and the new doubts raised about their ability to potentially replace USS Dwight D Eisenhower in the Red Sea in light of the latest setback – will persist. (Source: naval-technology.com)
05 Feb 24. Kosovo-Serbia: Kosovo police raids will fuel bilateral tensions in coming week. On 3 and 4 February, EU and US officials condemned the Kosovan government for directing police raids against several Serbian-administered institutions. Both the EU and the US noted that these unilateral actions will have a negative impact on the lives of Kosovo Serbs, raising ethno-religious tensions. The US also condemned Kosovo for the seizure of a vehicle transporting Serbian dinars (RSD) intended for social payments to Kosovo Serbs. The latter move follows Kosovo’s 1 February imposition of a euro (EUR)-only policy for cash payments, despite the widespread use of the RSD by Kosovo Serbs in North Kosovo. Serbian President Aleksandr Vučić pledged on 1 February to continue to defy this policy. We assess that these developments will almost certainly drive bilateral and regional tensions in the coming week. Any further Kosovo police operations against Serbian-linked institutions and/or Kosovo Serbs will act as possible triggers of unrest in North Kosovo. (Source: Sibylline)
————————————————————————-
Founded in 1987, Exensor Technology is a world leading supplier of Networked Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) Systems providing tailored sensor solutions to customers all over the world. From our Headquarters in Lund Sweden, our centre of expertise in Network Communications at Communications Research Lab in Kalmar Sweden and our Production site outside of Basingstoke UK, we design, develop and produce latest state of the art rugged UGS solutions at the highest quality to meet the most stringent demands of our customers. Our systems are in operation and used in a wide number of Military as well as Homeland Security applications worldwide. The modular nature of the system ensures any external sensor can be integrated, providing the user with a fully meshed “silent” network capable of self-healing. Exensor Technology will continue to lead the field in UGS technology, provide our customers with excellent customer service and a bespoke package able to meet every need. A CNIM Group Company
————————————————————————-