Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

MoD confirm plans for 19 frigates and destroyers

In a recent exchange in Parliament, concerns regarding the size of the Royal Navy’s future escort fleet arose.
Yet, an omission in this dialogue has brought forward more questions than answers.

See - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/mod-con ... BaJxFhXHeU

Issues addressed post F-35B Lightning incident

The Ministry of Defence has provided clarity on the measures taken in response to the Service Inquiry into the loss of the F-35B Lightning ZM152 (BK-18) of 617 Squadron in November 2021.

The aircraft was embarked on HMS Queen Elizabeth when the unfortunate incident occurred.

According to the inquiry’s findings, there were concerns about the 617 Squadron as it “was under strength, morale was low, there were insufficient Quality Assurance checks being conducted at Marham and general readiness for FORTIS was lower than COMUKCSG had been led to believe.”

In an official response, Baroness Goldie, Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, commented on the corrective actions taken. “As a direct result of the lessons identified during and post Operation FORTIS, embarked engineering workforce levels were significantly increased, in recognition of the additional workload and fatigue associated with embarked operations.”

She further highlighted that since the incident, “RAF Marham has been subject to two external third-party audits, with the most recent concluding that previously identified shortfalls had been resolved, or that appropriate corrective action plans were in place.”

To ensure continued adherence to quality and safety standards, “the unit maintains a full internal quality audit programme with regular continuous-improvement events and independent engineering standard evaluations.”

Baroness Goldie stressed that they are continually monitoring and optimising the readiness for embarked operations, ensuring that any issues are addressed in regular “Carrier Strike multi-disciplinary meetings.”

Source UKDJ

Two retired Royal Navy minehunters will contribute to NATO’s mission supporting global security in the Black Sea with the Romanian Navy.

Sandown-class Mine Counter Measure Vessels, HMS Blyth and HMS Pembroke, have been sold to Romania, one of the UK’s NATO allies, by the Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA), which disposes of vehicles and equipment no longer needed by UK Armed Forces.

On behalf of Navy Command, the Ships Support team at Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) have been working with Babcock to refurbish the minehunters before they are transferred to their new owners.

The Royal Navy will provide individual operator and maintainer training via Navy International Defence Training (IDT), and collective training via Fleet Operational Sea Training (FOST).

Continues at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... broke-sold

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Unleashing the power of diversity
Our people are at the heart of the Naval Service capability and are paramount to delivering operational effectiveness. Our leaders harness the unique and diverse contribution of every member in their team. We empower all our people, by respecting and valuing what makes them different.
Encouraging and promoting differences in our backgrounds and experience makes us a healthier and stronger fighting force. Our operational effectiveness is delivered by the right mix of capable and motivated people that reflect the breadth of society we exist to defend, now and in the future.
Continues at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-people ... -inclusion

Sir Humphrey ofpinstripedline coments:
"Royal Navy makes reasonable effort to ensure personnel are treated with basic inclusivity and respect.
Unsurprisingly 'Alan 'did I tell you I was First Sea Lord' West is upset."
See - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/0 ... privilege/

Pelican wrote: ↑Sat Sep 30, 2023 4:00 pm DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Unleashing the power of diversity
Our people are at the heart of the Naval Service capability and are paramount to delivering operational effectiveness. Our leaders harness the unique and diverse contribution of every member in their team. We empower all our people, by respecting and valuing what makes them different.
Encouraging and promoting differences in our backgrounds and experience makes us a healthier and stronger fighting force. Our operational effectiveness is delivered by the right mix of capable and motivated people that reflect the breadth of society we exist to defend, now and in the future.
Continues at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-people ... -inclusion

Sir Humphrey ofpinstripedline coments:
"Royal Navy makes reasonable effort to ensure personnel are treated with basic inclusivity and respect.
Unsurprisingly 'Alan 'did I tell you I was First Sea Lord' West is upset."
See - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/0 ... privilege/

Had Diversity & Inclusion been ordered earlier

Navy Lookout

MOD Defence Infrastructure Organisation has submitted plans to Govt of Gibraltar for harbour dredging and the redevelopment of infrastructure at South Mole to support visiting warships and to allow QEC class aircraft carriers to come alongside.

See and scroll down at - https://twitter.com/key2med

New £88 million sensing equipment to protect UK Armed Forces

New technology with capability to detect, identify and monitor the presence of toxic industrial chemicals and chemical warfare agents to be operational by 2028.

See - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new- ... med-forces

Harland & Wolff Dry Dock, Abercorn Basin, Belfast in 1895.

The Status of the British Fleet

In this snapshot of the Royal Navy and RFA’s current fleet status, we see the status of individual ships and what they’re up to.

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/the-sta ... ish-fleet/

Killing submarines by drone

In the recent REPMUS exercise held in Portugal, a BAE Systems / Malloy Aeronautics T-600 UAS was used to launch an inert training variant Mod 2 Sting Ray torpedo. Here we look at the background and the future potential of delivering anti-submarine torpedos by uncrewed aerial systems.

Background ~ Continues at - https://www.navylookout.com/killing-sub ... -by-drone/