Thin Pinstriped Line

  The British Army has six core values, which set out how a British soldier should act and conduct themselves. These values include: ·          COURAGE - Doing and saying the right thing not the easy thing ·          DISCIPLINE - Doing things properly and setting the right example ·          RESPECT FOR OTHERS- Treat others as you expect to be treated ·          INTEGRITY - Being honest with yourself and your teammates ·          LOYALTY - Support the army and your teammates SELFLESS COMMITMENT Mates and mission first, me second These are laudable values, and mirrored in the other two services in similar documents. They are rightly seen as a good ‘handrail’ to which all soldiers and professional military personnel should aspire to conduct themselves at all times. Given this...

  It’s been a busy few weeks for the Royal Air Force, with a number of speeches and announcements being made that help give a sense of its future strategy and direction. Everything from simulated training to more drones to dispersal exercises and terabytes of data have been talked about in one way or another. But what does it all mean, and how well prepared is the RAF for the challenges of the next few years? The first item of interest is the move that will see most of the training being done via simulators rather than conventional training aircraft. To some this is a major mistake, while to others it heralds an entirely new range of opportunities. Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright Simulators have long played a vital role in helping train pilots for all eventualities, and in particular the means to simulate events that may not always be safe to exercise for real, or which are particularly hard to simulate in real world conditions (e.g. unusual combinations of mech...

Does the Royal Navy have enough ships to meet the tasks placed on it?  This was a question asked yesterday following suggestions that there was only one operational Type 45 destroyer, and all the rest were “out of action”. Is this criticism accurate, or is there more to this than meets the eye? Warship availability is perennially tricky subject to discuss. There is perhaps a not unreasonable expectation in the eyes of the public that having spent a lot of money on ships, that these ships are in turn ready for action when required, and not be ‘loafing’ in port or ‘broken’. The Type 45 force in particular has been the subject of a lot of attention, particularly over power plant issues. There is a perception that somehow the UK does not have working ships, or enough of them. Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright The challenge is that ships need maintenance, they need repairs, and they work to a complex and carefully planned programme of activity to ensure constant avai...

Hot on the heels of the good news about the deployment of CSG21 comes news that has, in some parts of the media, been characterised as a ‘debacle’. News has emerged that one of the groups Type 45 destroyers (HMS DIAMOND) is unexpectedly alongside for maintenance, while there are reports of an outbreak of COVID onboard some ships in the group. Is this sufficient grounds to describe it as ‘debacle’ though? The Type 45s enjoy an undeserved reputation for being ships with maintenance issues, and one that is increasingly unfair. On entering service some minor issues were experienced, which have been identified and corrected over time. This is the same as any new warship class in history – search through naval records and it would be hard to find examples of a ship class from any nation that didn’t experience some form of challenges. If you read the account by Admiral Woodward (One Hundred Days), he writes at length about his time in command of HMS SHEFFIELD and the problems she experien...

  It has been a big week for the Royal Navy in many different ways. For the first time in many years a Royal Navy aircraft carrier, with fixed wing jets embarked is operating ‘East of Suez’, while major announcements have been made on the upgrading of the Type 45 force. It is a week which has showcased not just the culmination of 20 years of work, but also provides a sneak preview of the next 20 years of capability. The fact that HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and her associated escorts have deployed ‘through the ditch’ and sailed through Suez is an extremely important, and symbolic moment. One of the defining reasons for the cancellation of the ‘CVA-01’ design was a political decision to step away from maintaining a carrier presence ‘East of Suez’ in the 1960s. This decision in turn removed the need for a carrier force in the region, and helped pave the way for the dismantling of the then five strong fleet of aircraft carriers over the next few years. With the disbandment of the Far East...