Defence: Public ignorance, the media, and cutbacks
Thread Starter
From the Telegraph (a few days ago): Defence: an indefensible muddle
A measure of how badly managed the Strategic Defence and Security Review has become was revealed when a rumour should surface at the weekend that the Coldstream Guards – the oldest regiment in the Army – were about to be disbanded.
No evidence was supplied to support this claim and, therefore, we see no reason to take it seriously. What we do take seriously, however, is the prospect of entire battalions being disbanded on their return from Afghanistan – a proposal revealed in a leaked memo to officers from Gen Sir Peter Wall, Chief of the General Staff. According to Gen Wall, an extra 5,000 soldiers face losing their jobs, in addition to the 7,000 redundancies already announced. As he put it, “we must assume that these reductions will require the further removal of formed battalions and regiments from the force structure, including the combat arm”.
This is how the British people learn of the dismantling of their Armed Forces these days: through seemingly random leaks rather than carefully prepared ministerial announcement. In some cases, it is how politicians learn of them, too.
This state of affairs reflects deep unhappiness, not just at the scale of the SDSR, but also at its haphazard and bungling execution. “Strategic” it is not. And nor are our demoralised Armed Forces capable of providing the degree of security Britain requires in these unpredictable times.
This newspaper has said many times that the SDSR has made bizarre and ill-considered cuts to the defence budge, such as the scrapping of HMS Ark Royal and its Harrier jets, leaving us without an aircraft carrier for a decade. Here is yet more evidence of muddled thinking and broken lines of communication. If the review must be scrapped in order to secure the defence of the realm, then so be it.
See also: Decision to axe Harrier is "bonkers" - PPRuNe
As this post from the Harrier thread illustrates, there seems to have been a breakdown in communication with myths arising over things such as the physical state of things or the level of experience amongst pilots.
By th way, what happens if Gaddafi does not fall? Will the NATO action stop - or carry on until he does? Will it be stopped so that we can concentrate on next years Olympics?
A measure of how badly managed the Strategic Defence and Security Review has become was revealed when a rumour should surface at the weekend that the Coldstream Guards – the oldest regiment in the Army – were about to be disbanded.
No evidence was supplied to support this claim and, therefore, we see no reason to take it seriously. What we do take seriously, however, is the prospect of entire battalions being disbanded on their return from Afghanistan – a proposal revealed in a leaked memo to officers from Gen Sir Peter Wall, Chief of the General Staff. According to Gen Wall, an extra 5,000 soldiers face losing their jobs, in addition to the 7,000 redundancies already announced. As he put it, “we must assume that these reductions will require the further removal of formed battalions and regiments from the force structure, including the combat arm”.
This is how the British people learn of the dismantling of their Armed Forces these days: through seemingly random leaks rather than carefully prepared ministerial announcement. In some cases, it is how politicians learn of them, too.
This state of affairs reflects deep unhappiness, not just at the scale of the SDSR, but also at its haphazard and bungling execution. “Strategic” it is not. And nor are our demoralised Armed Forces capable of providing the degree of security Britain requires in these unpredictable times.
This newspaper has said many times that the SDSR has made bizarre and ill-considered cuts to the defence budge, such as the scrapping of HMS Ark Royal and its Harrier jets, leaving us without an aircraft carrier for a decade. Here is yet more evidence of muddled thinking and broken lines of communication. If the review must be scrapped in order to secure the defence of the realm, then so be it.
See also: Decision to axe Harrier is "bonkers" - PPRuNe
As this post from the Harrier thread illustrates, there seems to have been a breakdown in communication with myths arising over things such as the physical state of things or the level of experience amongst pilots.
By th way, what happens if Gaddafi does not fall? Will the NATO action stop - or carry on until he does? Will it be stopped so that we can concentrate on next years Olympics?
PLEASE will somebody make him stop...
Who do you think? The serial repeating, say nothing, re quoting requoted quotes that quote himself about quotes....
Work it out for your self.
Work it out for your self.
PLEASE will somebody make him stop...
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Without a Harrier/Carrier combo not sure we could manage that at all
Hmmm, NATO can fly over Libya about as soon as they decide that they want Israel to be involved in a fracas within a day or two of them doing so.
Recall that Saddam Hussein launched Scuds at Israel when ge got attacked by the coalition in 1991.
If Assad thinks he's going down, he's gonna do some damage on the way out.
That's how I see it. I am guessing the Israelis have asked the NATO and altruists mucking about to lay off of Assad.
Also, you will find that the Arab League did NOT ask the UN et al to intervene in Syria, unlike the Libya deal.
After that long ansewr: not any time soon, NATO planes over Syria.
Recall that Saddam Hussein launched Scuds at Israel when ge got attacked by the coalition in 1991.
If Assad thinks he's going down, he's gonna do some damage on the way out.
That's how I see it. I am guessing the Israelis have asked the NATO and altruists mucking about to lay off of Assad.
Also, you will find that the Arab League did NOT ask the UN et al to intervene in Syria, unlike the Libya deal.
After that long ansewr: not any time soon, NATO planes over Syria.
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Cuts have left our troops with mission impossible in Libya and Afghanistan
There is “mounting concern” that the military has fallen below the “minimum utility” needed to conduct present and future operations, says the defence select committee.
The MPs suggest that the Government sacrificed national security to make savings.
The MPs suggest that the Government sacrificed national security to make savings.
Thread Starter
Here is another incident that the media have mostly missed:
Yemen navy foils suicide attack: ministry
Yemen's navy has foiled a suicide bomb attack on one of its warships off the coast of the Al-Qaeda stronghold of Abyan province in the south, the defence ministry said on its Internet site on Sunday.
"A small high-speed boat tried to approach one of our warships on Saturday at around 21:00 hours local time (1800 GMT)" off Abyan, navy chief Rear Admiral Ruiss Abdullah Mujawar was quoted as saying on the 26sep.net site.
The vessel continued on its course despite warning shots being fired, and "naval forces then fired at the craft, which sank along with its occupants," he said.
The defence ministry said the small boat had been filled with explosives, but gave no information on those thought to have been behind the failed attack.
Abyan is a bastion of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), whose militants have seized several villages since they occupied the provincial capital of Zinjibar at the end of May.
The most infamous Al-Qaeda sea-borne suicide attack in Yemen was on October 12, 2000 and targeted the warship USS Cole in Aden, killing 17 American sailors and wounding 38.
Two years later, a small boat filled with explosives blew a hole in the 500,000-tonne French supertanker Limburg as it prepared to dock, killing a Bulgarian crewman and wounding 12 others.
Al-Qaeda admitted responsibility for that attack also.
AQAP have not gone away. Waterborne IED attacks have also been attempted in Libya by Gaddafi's forces.
Yemen navy foils suicide attack: ministry
Yemen's navy has foiled a suicide bomb attack on one of its warships off the coast of the Al-Qaeda stronghold of Abyan province in the south, the defence ministry said on its Internet site on Sunday.
"A small high-speed boat tried to approach one of our warships on Saturday at around 21:00 hours local time (1800 GMT)" off Abyan, navy chief Rear Admiral Ruiss Abdullah Mujawar was quoted as saying on the 26sep.net site.
The vessel continued on its course despite warning shots being fired, and "naval forces then fired at the craft, which sank along with its occupants," he said.
The defence ministry said the small boat had been filled with explosives, but gave no information on those thought to have been behind the failed attack.
Abyan is a bastion of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), whose militants have seized several villages since they occupied the provincial capital of Zinjibar at the end of May.
The most infamous Al-Qaeda sea-borne suicide attack in Yemen was on October 12, 2000 and targeted the warship USS Cole in Aden, killing 17 American sailors and wounding 38.
Two years later, a small boat filled with explosives blew a hole in the 500,000-tonne French supertanker Limburg as it prepared to dock, killing a Bulgarian crewman and wounding 12 others.
Al-Qaeda admitted responsibility for that attack also.
AQAP have not gone away. Waterborne IED attacks have also been attempted in Libya by Gaddafi's forces.
Thread Starter
Poor example maybe, but this sort of threat is countered by, amongst other things, helicopters.
On the subject of naval helicopters: The M/V Caravos Horizon: Rotorheads and the Royal Navy in Maritime Security Operations by LCDR BJ Armstrong
On the subject of naval helicopters: The M/V Caravos Horizon: Rotorheads and the Royal Navy in Maritime Security Operations by LCDR BJ Armstrong
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For WEBF link above don't click it, HMS Monmouth is mentioned once (yes once in the whole article) and that is it, the US Navy sort the rest out.
Mods sort him out please..........
Mods sort him out please..........