Thin Pinstriped Line

The Ministry of Defence has announced that the Royal Navy will retain three RIVER class patrol vessels in service for at least another two years. Originally due to be paid off and replaced by five larger Batch 2 vessels, the RN will, on paper at least be getting slightly larger. This is theoretically good news, but there are some questions that need to be clarified before it can be wholeheartedly welcomed. The announcement makes clear ( HERE ) that the three vessels will be retained in service until at least 2020, and that they will be forward based in their namesake rivers to support operations (Cardiff, Liverpool and Newcastle respectively). The ships are intended to be available for sea duties for 320 days per year each and are operated using a rotating watch system that permits some of the crew to be ashore on leave or training. This significantly increases their availability, and capability. Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright Intended for both fish...

It has been confirmed that the wreckage of the missing Argentine submarine ARA SAN JUAN has been found. This news, coming just over a year after her disappearance is sad, but will hopefully provide closure to the families of those affected. The loss of the SAN JUAN is a timely reminder of how dangerous the sea is, and the risks that those who work on it face daily. The crew are now on an eternal patrol, but they will be remembered. One bright spot emerging from this sad chapter is that it helped reinvigorate the Anglo-Argentine relationship. It is worth pausing to reflect that prior to this, the relationship had been in a challenging place, after years of the Kirchener administration using the issue of the Falkland Islands as a convenient distraction from internal political problems. Even though the arrival of the Macri administration had changed the dynamics, it had not really reinvigorated things. Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright The UK reaction to ...

The tragic loss of the Norwegian Frigate HELGE INGSTAD is a timely reminder of the peril on the sea. The maritime environment is an inherently difficult and dangerous place to operate it, when even very routine operations have the potential to go disastrously wrong. Over the coming months we will no doubt learn a great deal about this incident and what happened, but for now Humphrey wanted to capture a few initial thoughts. Firstly, the reaction and the fact that no lives were lost is not only a minor miracle, but a good reminder of the value of the Sea Training conducted not only by the Royal Norwegian Navy, but also the Royal Navy at FOST (with whom the Norwegians regularly train). To undergo a collision at any time is difficult, but to experience it in the darkest hours of the night, with most of the crew probably sound asleep in bed is incredibly challenging. The actions onboard in the hour between the collision and the decision to ground and abandon ship, when people h...

SIOP – a simple acronym whose four letters referred to the innocuous sounding ‘Single Integrated Operational Plan’ ( LINK ). Had this plan ever been delivered then it would have heralded the most violent conflict in human history, as the United States delivered a nuclear attack onto an opponent. A masterpiece of analysis and data, crunching numbers, images and assessments to produce a coherent war plan that enabled the USA to overwhelm an opponent. The plan began in the 1950s as the US sought ways to fight a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, and represented a coherent effort to work out the best manner to employ the nuclear arsenal appropriately. Simply put it identified which targets needed to be hit by what type of weapon, and in what sequencing order to overwhelm the Soviet Union, China and other allies in a single strike. In its initial format it would have seen over 3200 weapons delivered across Eurasia, and had it gone to plan, the attack would likely have killed over 285 ...

There is a thrill to be gained from going through old archive files at locations like the National Archives in Kew, reading formerly deeply sensitive material that was for many decades classified as ‘TOP SECRET’. The advent of legislation such as the Freedom Of Information (FOI) act has been a boon in forcing Government to release material rather than horde it away. Humphrey has over the years enjoyed going through many older files in Kew, particularly on the Machinery of Government in War process and the plans by which the Civil Service thought the unthinkable and how Government could survive. The files serve as a testament to the strength of individuals asked to consider how, in the most difficult circumstances imaginable, something could continue to keep the nation going. The US Government has also been busy releasing information for many years over the roles of its armed forces, their capabilities and how they were to be employed during the Cold War. Recently during a slig...

The MOD has announced significant changes to the way that recruitment for Commonwealth citizens will work in the Armed Forces (full story HERE ). Under the new system recruits from Commonwealth nations will not have to have any residency requirements to be able to join – compared to five years under the old system. Currently there are around 4500 service members from the Commonwealth in the British Armed Forces (and a further approximately 4000 Gurkhas, due to grow by around 25% in coming years) out of a total headcount of 140,000 personnel – so approximately 6% of the regular forces are from overseas. On the one hand this announcement should be rightly welcomed, it represents a continued statement about the valued place that our friends from the Commonwealth play in the security of the UK. On the other hand, Humphrey feels that in some ways this announcement represents a wider policy failure – the purpose of this short blog is to try and explain his conflicted views here. ...