Thin Pinstriped Line

A week after the publication of the MOD defence paper, it is perhaps possible to begin to take stock and reflect on the paper, and its contents. As more information has seeped out, it is also easier to take a more reflective view on the positives within the paper, and how these can tell an exciting story for the years to come. The Royal Navy has benefitted particularly well from this paper, and it is worth considering in a bit more detail why the review is so positive for the RN, and the impact that this will have. This broadly breaks down into three main areas, the operation of the fleet, the state of the fleet, and the future of the fleet. Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright In terms of the state of the current fleet, it seems that the RN has successfully pushed forward a proposal that will see the UK operate essentially a three tier Navy. At its heart will be the Carrier Strike Group, which will be the centrepiece of UK defence and provide a valuable force that can...

  As we head towards the announcement by the MOD that will set out the planned changes for Defence in the wake of the Integrated Review, news reports continue to highlight the changing nature of the threat. One of the key takeaways from the IR was that the challenges to UK security will be far more diversified in future, and could come in ways short of outright war. The media this week had a good example of this by reporting about how there was, reportedly, GPS jamming going on near the major RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus. This was reportedly posing a challenge to aircraft conducting operations. This sort of ‘grey zone’ effect is a good example of the sort of ambiguities that need to be tackled in future. Akrotiri plays host to a wide range of RAF units that are conducting operations in Syria and northern Iraq, as part of Op SHADER. In the last week there have been multiple strikes, including with Typhoons launching Storm Shadow missiles, on various targets inside Iraq. Image ...

  The Integrated Review has been published, and it sets a compelling vision for the next 10 years of UK national security strategy. The document was intended to act as the top level paper, setting out the overall strategy and vision, and further Departmental papers will follow. This means that the MOD will not announce until next Monday (22 Mar) the likely force structures arising as a result of the IR. An initial read of the paper shows a document that is determined to reshape how we think about defence and security, and this is to be welcomed. For too long the phrase ‘defence review’ has become synonymous with decisions on tank or warship numbers, and not the deeper discussion about what it is that the UK wants to do in the world, and how it wants to do it. The paper eloquently captures that the reason the UK is such an influential country is due to a very wide range of factors, not just our armed forces. The emphasis for example on soft power, multilateral diplomacy and loo...

  As tensions mount ahead of the publication of the British Governments ‘Integrated Review’ (IR) on Tuesday, there is a variety of informed speculation in the media about what it may herald. The review is being trailed as the most significant shift in UK strategic thinking since the end of the Cold War. This sounds impressive, but arguably so too have been most of the previous defence reviews since 1991. It is hard to think of a new Defence Review launched that was not simply saying ‘steady as we go’ and changing very little. The publication of this review will arguably be the fifth major Defence Review since the 1990s Options for Change paper was released, heralding the end of the Cold War. Since then, we have had the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, the 2010 SDSR, the 2015 SDSR and now the 2021 IR. This is in addition to a variety of smaller papers such as the 2001 SDR ‘New Chapter’ and the 2004 paper. In 30 years, the UK has attempted to define its defence and security strat...

  There are multiple media reports this weekend talking about what may, or may not, emerge in the Integrated Review (IR), due to be published on 15 March. The general view seems to be that cuts lie ahead for the armed forces, along with modernisation. Naturally this has caused concerns in many areas, people do not instinctively like defence cuts, or want to see military equipment taken out of service ahead of its planned lifespan. But right now though, we don’t know what will, or will not, happen as part of the IR. Anything circulating is a leak or outright speculation or some valiant last ditch effort to protect vested interests. It is certain that there will be changes to equipment levels, and it seems likely that some kit will be taken out of service.   But at the risk of stating the obvious, nothing is certain until it is officially announced – prior to this point it is all speculation, guesses and rumours. The bigger question that needs to be asked, and which perhap...

  There is interesting news this week in both Australia and Canada over their major naval procurement programmes. Both countries are committed to buying locally manufactured Type 26 frigates for their future surface ships force, while Australia is also buying 12 French designed diesel submarines. In both cases there have been media articles in the last week over the programmes and concerns. In Canada, the challenge has been that the cost has grown to a total of $77bn for 15 escorts. There has been cost growth from an originally scheduled $14bn many years ago, and the first of class will not now be delivered until 2031. This has led to suggestions in some media quarters that Canada could do things faster and more cheaply if it simply bought an off the shelf foreign design now and got on with things. Meanwhile in Australia there is an element of brinksmanship going on over the trade offs required for the submarine construction programme, with the Australians expecting at least 60...