British Military Current Events

[daftandbarmy]

Utterly effing stupid. The amount of capital tied up in one of these ships and they cheap out on these?

May I refer you to the infamous 'Blue Circle' radar?


Production Tornado F.2s had concrete ballast in place of the Foxhunter radar, due to the development delays. This ballast became known as the "Blue Circle radar", a play on words from a British brand of cement by the same name, and the Rainbow Codes previously used for British radars.

AI.24 Foxhunter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Kirkhill]

May I refer you to the infamous 'Blue Circle' radar?


Production Tornado F.2s had concrete ballast in place of the Foxhunter radar, due to the development delays. This ballast became known as the "Blue Circle radar", a play on words from a British brand of cement by the same name, and the Rainbow Codes previously used for British radars.

AI.24 Foxhunter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

So the Yanks are still taking lessons from the Masters?

Why some F-35s will be delivered with no radar​

Since mid-2025, Lockheed Martin has reportedly been installing ballast weights in place of the missing radar on US-delivered F-35s to ensure the aircraft remains airworthy.

Why some US F-35 jets are being delivered with no radar

F-35 radar delays see US jets delivered without APG-85 system, with aircraft restricted to training until upgraded.

aerospaceglobalnews.com

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Except in this case, the guns and associated equipment are already available and they are just to cheap to do it.

 

[daftandbarmy]

LUOTC ski trip transport this morning. Officer Cdts all lectured about the need for security and barred from using any MTP warm kit or day sacs etc” Taken on the ship at Dover on its way over to Europe.
You couldn't make it up, priceless

Facebook

 

[Kirkhill]

Problems in the waggon train.

The waggon masters want more money,

Royal Fleet Auxiliary seafarers walk out over pay

Seafarers serving in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have begun strike action after overwhelmingly rejecting the latest pay offer from their employer, the UK Defence Journal understands.

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

RMT is currently one of Britain's most militant unions.

They are adamant that the trains that run in Vancouver with no crew need both a driver and conductor whe in London.
The also got a hefty plus-up the week that Labour took power, contributing massively to the black hole that prevents Britain investing in Defence and paying the RFA better,


And here's the boss

"The leader of a major railway union posed with a communist flag and was pictured alongside people singing pro-Russia chants on a visit to occupied Ukraine, it has emerged.

"The general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), Eddie Dempsey, travelled to the Donbas region of Ukraine in 2015, one year after it had been invaded by Russia."

Union boss ‘pictured alongside people singing pro-Russia chants in occupied Ukraine’

RMT spokesperson insists that Eddie Dempsey has ‘at no time supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’

www.independent.co.uk

....

Starmer is in deep trouble with the Unions

Declining Union membership has made it easier for radicals generally, usually on the left, to gain positions of power. The central committees then control the funds to the Labour party and so when they take positions on international policy the Party has to listen.

One union turned hard left on the basis of a leadership vote of only 7% of its membership.

Add in his troubles with the county council elections in May and the striking Junior Doctors at the NHS and his historically low popularity ratings ..... Britain is hamstrung.

 

[Kirkhill]

Problems in the waggon train.

The waggon masters want more money,

Royal Fleet Auxiliary seafarers walk out over pay

Seafarers serving in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have begun strike action after overwhelmingly rejecting the latest pay offer from their employer, the UK Defence Journal understands.

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

RMT is currently one of Britain's most militant unions.

They are adamant that the trains that run in Vancouver with no crew need both a driver and conductor whe in London.
The also got a hefty plus-up the week that Labour took power, contributing massively to the black hole that prevents Britain investing in Defence and paying the RFA better,


And here's the boss

"The leader of a major railway union posed with a communist flag and was pictured alongside people singing pro-Russia chants on a visit to occupied Ukraine, it has emerged.

"The general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), Eddie Dempsey, travelled to the Donbas region of Ukraine in 2015, one year after it had been invaded by Russia."

Union boss ‘pictured alongside people singing pro-Russia chants in occupied Ukraine’

RMT spokesperson insists that Eddie Dempsey has ‘at no time supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’

www.independent.co.uk

....

Starmer is in deep trouble with the Unions

Declining Union membership has made it easier for radicals generally, usually on the left, to gain positions of power. The central committees then control the funds to the Labour party and so when they take positions on international policy the Party has to listen.

One union turned hard left on the basis of a leadership vote of only 7% of its membership.

Add in his troubles with the county council elections in May and the striking Junior Doctors at the NHS and his historically low popularity ratings ..... Britain is hamstrung.

The Aussie solution to Bolshie Brit unions?

"The AROS Console is designed to be fitted on new or existing vessels, enabling the remote operation and tasking of autonomous and uncrewed assets, complimenting shore-based operations and supporting crewed-uncrewed teaming (MUM-T).

"Developed in collaboration with Greenroom Robotics, the console enhances Australia’s sovereign capability to deliver support for optionally crewed vessels and uncrewed assets being delivered for future maritime forces.

"The console provides three main stations

• Remote piloting, with both touch input and physical controls, for uncrewed surface vessels (USV), remotely operated vessels (ROV) and uncrewed air vehicles (UAV).
• Asset tasking, mission planning, course plotting and target interactions.
• Remote engineering of multiple assets, allowing crews to administer engineering functions, fulfilling both regulatory requirements and further enabling mission success."

Autonomy

In collaboration with our customers, we are integrating with, and enhancing, the mission capability of crewed platforms, working together across government and industry to meet evolving threats and ensure mission success. In 2025 we launched a number of autonomous capabilities including AROS...

www.austal.com

....

The console has been grafted on to Aussie Armadale Patrol Boats and American JHSV Transport Cats.

Maybe RN should just recommission RFA Lyme Regis as HMS Lyme Regis and install one of those consoles. It is intended to deploy autonomous vessels and vehicles in any event.