MtarfaLee retweeted
Read the article @Mtarfal. Lobbying it most certainly isn't, and it details the key weakness of the T-7 (range/endurance) in a way that your own thread does not...
MtarfaLee retweeted
AFM can be ordered direct from Key for £5.99 (a price discounted by 50 pence) plus £2.99 P&P.
shop.keypublishing.com/produ…
MtarfaLee retweeted
River class frigate HMCS Fort Erie (K 670) T/A/Lt.Cdr. Aubrey Winston Ford, RCNR: Commissioned 27.10.44.
Built by George T. Davie & Sons Ltd. Lauzon, Quebec.
MtarfaLee retweeted
BPB 63 feet-type class Motor Anti/Submarine Boat HMMA/SB 35 (MA/SB 35): Commissioned 27.20.41.
Built by British Power Boat Hythe, England.
Putting to sea surrounded by a fleet of minesweepers in the Firth of Forth.
MtarfaLee retweeted
809 Sqn Belize, January 1972, that is power projection. Also 803 Sqn from Lossiemouth to HMS Hermes off Malaysia, 8000 miles. iwm.org.uk/collections/item/…
MtarfaLee retweeted
BYMS class minesweeper HMBYMS 2155 (J 955): Launched at Burger Boat Co. Manitowoc, Wisconsin 27.10.42.
Shown post war as HNLMS Vliestroom (MV 38).
MtarfaLee retweeted
Canadian experiences on specifying, then changing the River-class should serve as a lesson to others on not repeating the same mistakes. The most obvious case being Germany with F127. Especially now that cost estimates cause political concerns.
navalnews.com/features/2026/…
MtarfaLee retweeted
A bit of hyping here. It’s just one of those funny times with one on her way out, one about to be relieved, and one post maintenance trials/workup.
Now if all three were bombed up and stayed out?
Then worry.
Till then….🤷♂️
🚨Three of the UK’s four nuclear deterrent submarines are out at sea, it is understood.
It is not clear why and the Ministry of Defence declined to comment.
@larisamlbrown first broke this story in @thetimes
The unusual deployment of most of the fleet indicates improved availability, which has been a problem for the Royal Navy’s submarine service in recent years.
It will doubtless be noted by the UK’s enemies and its allies.
At least one of the Vanguard-class boats will be carrying nuclear-armed ballistic missiles.
There's a new version of this post
MtarfaLee retweeted
Ark Royal. Our full Air Group was 14 Buccaneers, 12 F4, 4 Gannets, 6 Sea Kings, and 3 Wessex. And the bar was big enough to service all of us.
MtarfaLee retweeted
The treaties we signed and @UKParliament agreed have always been clear - we didn't give the ICJ jurisdiction over the Chagos Islands.
We should be defending the Chagossian people and the laws we signed, not bowing to expansionist courts reaching beyond their remit.
Whose side is the Foreign Secretary on?
MtarfaLee retweeted
Unusual:
Three of the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class submarines are currently at sea.
One boat is due back from patrol soon (198 days on patrol so far), one boat is the relief and the other is likely conducting trials / work up.
We were aware of this, but now been reported by @thetimes
MtarfaLee retweeted
2019-20: Engine issues, missed 20/21 Antarctic season (£10m repair)
2025 - scheduled repairs
Late 25 - failed trials back to dock missed 25/26 Antarctic
26 - More tests, engines failed, back to dock
Oct 26 - towed to Devonport probably beyond economic repair
More than a shambles.
MtarfaLee retweeted
Should 3% be in tomorrow's Budget or next year's Spending Review? Let's ask John Healey👇
MtarfaLee retweeted
Instead of vanity in '97 putting two strong (& armour heavy) high readiness divisions with a corp HQ, in the shop window, promising to be the 'pointy end of the spear' a better solution would have been to create a larger cadreised land force at longer readiness. Regular bde HQs, one reg & the rest TA battalions alongside a resourced system of reserves & mobilisation. After expending energy in pointless wars & letting the armoured fleet rot we now have nothing left of the '97 force except scraps. We can't have a global army, we should have a global navy
MtarfaLee retweeted
Can we be stupid enough to pick RedHawk? A failed unsafe aircraft that is made by a proven failure of a contractor…. Should anyone need proof? Look at their performance on Wedgetail! No idea 🤷♂️ of ISD or even what FOC consists of - MoD having to issue sustainment contracts…
MtarfaLee retweeted
yep, it is a really good article / thread. I still stand by the Boeing option being the worst one possible. I would also argue for moving training to Deci rather than Valley.
MtarfaLee retweeted
Classic deflection. Shoot the messenger, ignore the message.
💥Returning fire💥
“It takes some *brass neck* for a former Conservative Def Sec who admitted his party “hollowed out & underfunded” our AF to complain about a govt fixing that failure with the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.” – @LukePollard
MtarfaLee retweeted
Agree here with @HarvSmyth on being bold (RUSI Tweet👇), but, WADR, bolder would have been six years ago…
Why mention now? Because our force development system still defaults to reservation in our actions covered by boldness in our presentation.
xitter.cf/rusi_org/status/211504…
Agreed, these are good ideas @MTSavill . But one must ask why has it taken six years before the MOD orthodoxy can accept them? Such concepts were aired in 2020 during the Integrated Review drafting process, details via @Substack 👇
edstringer.substack.com/p/th…
MtarfaLee retweeted
Sounds as if the ‘Say-Do Gap’ is set to continue, and maybe open up more than a little bit…
@haynesdeborah
@haynesdeborah takes a close look at the Defence Investment Plan and the key figures to look out for ahead of the Budget.
To watch the full Morning Call, download the app and subscribe to Defence Insider. Paid subscription required for full access. UK only. 18+. T&Cs apply.
🔗Tap the link to download #defenceinsider: qrcode.skynews.com/skynews/N…