Women in the army, I forsee a problem...

Women serving on the army frontline, I foresee a problem...

An early Merry Christmas from HMS Ocean

Nicely done guys and girls...

HMS Ocean returned to Plymouth on friday after serving off the coast of Libya.

Is asking actress Mila Kunis out that easy?

The question from Marine Sgt Scott Moore...

The not too reluctant response from Mila Kunis...

Fox News have more detailsabout the story and if you are unsure who Mila Kunis is then can I suggest reading this GQ magazine piece or you could look at the pictures... here's a couple

'The best armed forces in the world'?

I have often pointed out that the NHS is not 'the envy of the world' despite what our politicians say. So let's nail another lie, the British armed forces are not the best in the world and haven't been for quite a while. They do their best with the limited resources they are given, a situation that worsened horribly under the parsimonious (when it came to defence) Gordon Brown. So I am not surprised to read at The Register that

'Pakistani pilots flying modernised versions of the 1970s-vintage F-16 Falcon fighter have beaten the RAF's brand-new Eurofighter Typhoon superfighters during air combat exercises in Turkey, according to a Pakistani officer.'

The article in The Register quotes an interview with an unnamed but evidently experienced Pakistani Air Force (PAF) F-16 pilot on exchange with the Turkish air force, posted on the official site of the PAF display team, which includes the following intriguing and rather damning passage. (Hat tip to the excellent DEW Line blog for flagging this up.)

Q: Any memorable experiences that you would like to share? A: On one occasion – in one of the international Anatolian Eagles - PAF pilots were pitted against RAF Typhoons, a formidable aircraft. There were three set-ups and in all three, we shot down the Typhoons. The RAF pilots were shocked.
Q: Any particular reason for your success?
A: NATO pilots are not that proficient in close-in air-to-air combat. They are trained for BVR [Beyond Visual Range] engagements and their tactics are based on BVR engagements. These were close-in air combat exercises and we had the upper hand because close-in air combat is drilled into every PAF pilot and this is something we are very good at.

 An underfunded army with inadequate equipment, a massively underfunded navy short of ships and submarines & having to contemplate sharing an aircraft carrier with France and an air force so starved of modern equipment that relevant skills may have been lost. It's almost as though the last Labour government was deliberately trying to destroy the UK's ability to defend itself and operate an independent armed force; now why would that have been the case?

'Ever closer union' in practice

If you still think that David Cameron and William Hague are in any way euro-sceptic then you are sadly mistaken. We are being lead into a EU-superstate, set by step and neither main political party really opposes it. Today I read in The Telegraph that:

'Britain and France are set to share an aircraft carrier as part of plans for far closer integration between the two navies, the head of France’s fleet has said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.'

I know Labour overspent to such a degree that there is little money left for spending on proper defence but sharing an aircraft carrier with the french? Who would control it? Will it be on a timeshare basis? Do the UK get mornings and the French afternoons? What happens if/when the British and French disagree over usage; another Falklands for example?

Of course the above are all good reasons to oppose such a sharing but the real reason is not addressed. The real reason for this sharing is to further the creation of a Euro armed force. Be under no illusions, the EU superstate is advancing and we have no way of opposing it.

A Scots Guard speaks

'Watching a massive Jew gathering at the Tower of London! Have never seen so many rabbis in my life.'

A pal replied: 'Get the rifle out…'

To which he responded: 'Have got one of the Jews in my sights now lmao' ('laugh my arse off'

Classy? Threatening? Anti-Semitic?

Israelly Cool has the full details of this pleasant chap's other misspeaks that have got him taken off duty from the Royal Wedding Parade. I wonder if the 'Jew' comments would have been enough without his anti-Kate Middleton comments? Somehow I doubt it.

Oh for heaven's sake (with update)

Words all but fail me on reading this Telegraph report:

'The Royal Air Force's most advanced warplanes have been unable to drop bombs on Libyan targets because defence spending cuts mean that pilots are not fully trained, The Telegraph can disclose.

The Ministry of Defence announced last week that RAF Typhoons would drop bombs on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's tanks and other ground targets.

But so far this has not happened, because the planes' pilots are not considered to be properly trained in ground attacks.

In a further embarrassment, laser targeting pods for the Typhoons, which cost £160 million, have been left in packing crates because the RAF has not been able to pay for its pilots to train to use them.

Nato leaders have said that more international military power is needed in Libya, as the rebels struggle to make progress against Gaddafi forces.

Four of the 10 Typhoons based at Gioia del Colle in southern Italy were to be sent on bombing missions until the RAF realised that pilots were not qualified to drop weapons.

...

A National Audit Office report this year said that only eight of their pilots were trained in ground attack operations.

It has since emerged that pilots were "out of date" on training, having completed their ground attack courses three years ago. RAF insiders said the MoD failed to fund annual refresher courses.

A senior RAF officer said: "The guys are not considered safe to drop live bombs on live targets. '

Thank you Gordon Brown for so denuding our armed forces of funding that we don't have any pilots considered safely trained to drop bombs. If the first duty of a government is to defend the country then you failed. If you ever came to the House of Commons maybe there would be a chance of you being held to account for this failure. If the media in this country was not so supine maybe they would ask you to answer for your failures not that you would answer the questions.


UPDATE:
Sky News report that:

'The RAF Typhoon multirole jet has for the first time deployed its weapons on operations - destroying two of Colonel Gaddafi's tanks.

...

Flying a joint mission with Tornado GR4 aircraft over Libya on Tuesday evening, a Typhoon dropped two Paveway II bombs.

...

Responding to reports that there were an insufficient number of Typhoon pilots trained in air to ground attack, AVM Osborn said that although Typhoon was due to be fully multirole capable by 2015 the UK is "deploying early capability to meet the needs" of the Nato mission.

"We would not deploy capability if we couldn't support it."'

What is a 'conscientious objector'?

The BBC would have you believe that a serving Royal Navy medic who is refusing to go to Afghanistan is a 'conscientious objector'. I would have thought that a 'conscientious objector' was someone who refuses to serve at all in the armed forces, on moral or religious grounds, when  conscription was in force. Leading Medical Assistant Michael Lyons joined the Royal Navy voluntarily so how can use this defence?

However the BBC are anti the Afghan campaign and so are sympathetic to any news that puts that war in a bad light.

Israel assisting the coalition against Colonel Gaddafi but not formally acknowledged

Here's an interesting tweet from last night

In case you don't know, the E-4B is a Boeing 747-200 converted to act as an 'Advanced Airborne Command Post'. The E-4B is an incredible plane, is actually designed to survive an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP), one of the results of a nuclear explosion, with systems intact as well as possessing direct fire countermeasures. Because of its command and control function and the need to survive an EMP the E-4B uses analog instruments. The E-4B operates, depending on mission, with between 48 and 112 people which makes it the largest crewed plane ever in USAF history.

With all that in mind it is interesting that according to FMCNL the USAF chose to land it in Israel rather than one of its European allies which are no further away; why?

Denis MacShane again

13 years of Gordon Brown underfunding the military and putting the country deeper and deeper into debt and Denis MacShane wants David Cameron to be attacked on the issue of military kit. Denis, your Labour government wasted so much money that there's not enough left to fund the armed forces as fully as David Cameron would like. Denis, your Labour government underfunded the UK's armed forces whilst claiming that they weren't. Denis, you and your Labour colleagues should hang your heads in shame rather than criticise this government.

One of the legacies of Gordon Brown's underfunding of the British Armed Forces

'British forces would struggle to mount even a small scale military intervention as the cupboard for resources was “threadbare”, senior officers have said. '

The Telegraph have more but it is a very depressing story of betrayal of our armed forces and how the very existence of the UK is potentially in peril; could we even defend ourselves against attack any more?

13 years of Labour's inadequate funding of the armed forces mean this...

The Telegraph reports that:

'Vintage VC10 pressed into service with RAF's transport fleet
A vintage aircraft that has been banned from flying passengers bar “exceptional circumstances” has been pressed into service with the RAF’s transport fleet at breaking point.'

Thank you Gordon Brown.

Can you see where this is heading?

The Telegraph confirms what many of us thought would be the case last week:

'French fighter jets could be stationed on Britain's new aircraft carrier as the two nations' navies become "interdependent," the French defence minister has said.

...

Plans for extensive Anglo-French military co-operation will be discussed by David Cameron and Nicholas Sarkozy next week in London.'

What flag will the UK carriers fly when French planes flown by French pilots are on board? What flag will UK support ships fly when accompanying the French carrier? Does anyone not believe that we are being lead towards a European armed force starting with an 'integrated' French/British navy?

‘Who the hell has ever heard of an aircraft carrier with no jets?’

Good question, is ther a sensible answer? The Mail is the latest paper to point out the absurdity of building two new aircraft carriers to come into service in 2014 and 2016 that will have no jet planes until 2018. The carrier borne Harriers must not be taken out of service until the Joint Strike Fighters are delivered and working.