British Armed Forces Thread

[HMS Astute]

K Coy of 42 Commando Royal Marines deployed to Nahre-e Saraj South, Afganistan in April 2011 and were working independently to 42 Commando Royal Marines who are based in Nadi-e Ali North. However K Coy are not alone as they are attached to the 1 Rifles. Here a troop from K Company on Patrol Base 5 can be seen posing for a group photo before going out in a vehicle patrol. Images taken by LA(Phot) Hillhouse

Images of A Company, 1 Rifles preparing to conduct a Helicopter Assault as part of OPERATION OMID HAFT into the town of Alikosi in Helmand province where they were to take over a local compound in the Taliban strong hold and set up an operational Check Point (CP ZARAWAR).

The exercise demonstrated how vehicles are recovered during Combat Logistic Patrols (CLPs) in the event of breakdown, being bogged down or being disabled by enemy action. CLP's are often a multi-national affair; hence the requirement to recover vehicles is essential. This exercise was an opportunity to demonstrate multi-national procedures and ensure compliance between the different nations.

Operation TOR SHEZADA meaning Black Prince, is being carried out by Combined Force Nad-e Ali (CF NDA) to clear any known insurgents from Sayedebad and involves UK troops and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).

Sgt Martin Downs RAF showing soldiers and marines on operations in Sangin.

Today 8th August, PB (Patrol Base) Paylae was collapsed as part of the hand over to the Americans. Royal Marines of 40 Commando and ANA (Afghan National Army), returned to FOB (Forward Operating Base) Jackson, Sangin.

 

[HMS Astute]

Royal Navy patrol ship contract gives big jobs boost to the Clyde

At least 800 jobs have been protected thanks to a £348 million warship contract to build 3 new patrol ships for the Royal Navy.

The first of the three new vessels are expected to be handed over to the Royal Navy in 2017 with work starting in Autumn.

It is understood that the work (along with the new frigates) will only go ahead in Glasgow if Scotland votes to remain in the union in September due to the UK's strict legislation and policies relating to the construction of warships in foreign nations. As a foreign state, Scotland would not be eligible for warship contracts that the continuing UK chose to place for national security and defence industrial reasons.

The new ships will be based on the River class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and upgraded with a Merlin-capable flightdeck and will be built at BAE's Clyde yards. The move comes to fill a gap in orders after the second carrier and before the Type 26 frigates begin construction.

The OPVs will be used by the Royal Navy to undertake various tasks including border protection roles, including anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, fisheries patrols, and immigration law enforcement.

Royal Navy patrol ship contract gives big jobs boost to the Clyde - UK Defence Journal

 

[HMS Astute]

3D thrills for destroyer crews as HMS Dragon, HMS Dauntless & HMS Duncan join forces

HM Ships Dragon, Dauntless and Duncan linked up off the coast of Plymouth after undergoing rigorous pre-deployment training. "With all six Type 45 Destroyers now in service and delivering on operations across the globe, I believe that the Type 45 has very much come of age," he said proudly. And where were the other three 45s in the flotilla at the time? Well, Diamond and Daring are in their home base undergoing maintenance following the exertions of their second deployments (helping to remove chemical weapons from Syria and a 'world tour' respectively), while HMS Defender is on deployment.

https://navynews.co.uk/archive/news/item/11075

Type 45 continues testing the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) capability.

uilding on the success of a live detect and track experiment performed in the western Pacific under the Type 45 Science and Technology (TSAT) programme, the United Kingdom has committed further funds to explore the potential of BAE Systems' Sampson E/F-band active array multifunction radar (MFR) in a maritime ballistic missile defence (BMD) role.

TSAT, undertaken by the UK Royal Navy (RN) Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring in September 2013 during a global deployment, demonstrated the ability of a modified Sampson MFR to detect and track medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) targets flying representative trajectories. A follow-on Type 45 Experiment Concurrency and Cueing (TECC) event is planned for late 2015.

 

[HMS Astute]

3D trills in HD

 

[HMS Astute]

RAF Chinooks now considered for Iraq aid crisis

British Chinook helicopters could soon join RAF transport planes and Tornado jets operating in Iraq as the UK rapidly escalates its aid mission.

Britain is considering sending Chinook helicopters to Iraq to bolster an aid mission for thousands of desperate refugees fleeing Islamist extremists demanding they convert or die. The heavy lift helicopters would join two RAF C130 Hercules planes already carrying out aid drops and Tornado jets on their way to the region, as Britain rapidly steps up efforts to save a quarter of a million people fleeing fighting in northern Iraq. The proposal was being discussed in a meeting of Government's Cobra emergencies committee on Tuesday afternoon. Defence sources said the helicopters would first fly to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, where the RAF Hercules and Tornado aircraft are deployed for their aid missions. From there, they could be moved on and based nearer Iraq, but sources said there were no plans to station them inside the country.

RAF Chinooks now considered for Iraq crisis - Telegraph

UK deploys Tornado jets in Iraq to assist in Sinjar aid drops

Warplanes carry out surveillance after RAF Hercules crews encounter difficulties safely delivering supplies to refugees

Britain is deploying RAF Tornado jets to provide greater surveillance of northern Iraq after being forced to abort two attempts to drop aid for Yazidi refugees on Mount Sinjar amid fears that the cargo could have injured people on the ground.

Amid growing calls for a recall of parliament to allow Britain to join the US in launching air strikes against forces from the Islamic State (Isis), Downing Street announced an intensification of British involvement with the deployment of the Tornadoes to the region.

Officials made it clear that the Tornadoes, whose actual deployment over Iraq has yet to be agreed by ministers, would be used solely for surveillance to avoid a repeat of Sunday night, when the crew of an RAF C-130 Hercules aircraft had to abort their mission to avoid injuring refugees on the ground.

UK deploys Tornado jets in Iraq to assist in Sinjar aid drops | World news | The Guardian

 

[HMS Astute]

HMS Westminster took part in the 3 phase, 5 day long submarine exercise with part of the UK's Response Force Task Group - RFA Fort Victoria and HMS Illustrious, and also joined forces with American Destroyer USS Bulkeley. The main aims of the exercise were to develop inter-operability and Anti-Submarine Warfare tactics in the challenging sonar environment of the warm and shallow waters of the Gulf region.

BALTOPS aims to enhance multinational maritime capabilities and interoperability, while improving involvement in the larger Baltic region theater security cooperation strategy.The objective of BALTOPS is to promote mutual understanding, confidence and cooperation among forces and personnel of the participating nations. Emphasis will be on the importance of maritime forces in maintaining regional stability. At the same time, the exercise demonstrates the United States' commitment to the security of northern Europe and the Baltic region through coordination of operations among regional countries.

HMS Exeter is shown in the foreground with HMS Illustrious, taking part in Exercise Neptune Warrior.

HMS TIRELESSsurfaces for approximately 3 hours, to drop off members of the Tigress video production company who were onboard filming the crew of HMS TIRELESS for a forth coming documentary about submariners, and a documentary to be shown on the National geographic channel on the impact of global warming on the Polar Ice Cap.

HMS Defender sailed from Portsmouth today (June 2) on her maiden deployment to the Middle East where she will carry out maritime security operations.The Type 45 destroyer will police busy shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean, conducting security and counter piracy operations. Later she will head to the Gulf to contribute to the UK's long-standing commitment to security in the region.

Royal Air Force Typhoons have flown more than 1000 miles from Lincolnshire to Turkey to take part in Exercise Anatolian Eagle (EX AE).

 

[HMS Astute]

Falcon FTX culminates with US/UK air assault mission

Paratroopers from the British Army's B Company, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, 16th Air Assault Brigade return fire as they dismount a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during an air assault mission on Freedom Village on Fort Bragg, N.C., Aug. 11. Both 2-501 PIR and 3 PARA were attached as maneuver elements of Task Force Falcon for the duration of 2BCT's weeklong field training exercise.

Paratroopers from the British Army's B Company, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, 16th Air Assault Brigade and the 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, prepare to engage opposing forces during an air assault mission on Freedom Village on Fort Bragg, N.C., Aug. 11. Both 2-501 PIR and 3 PARA were attached as maneuver elements of Task Force Falcon for the duration of 2BCT's weeklong field training exercise

Paratroopers from the British Army's B Company, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, 16th Air Assault Brigade and the 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, prepare to engage opposition forces during an air assault mission on Freedom Village on Fort Bragg, N.C., Aug. 11. Both 2-501 PIR and 3 PARA were attached as maneuver elements of Task Force Falcon for the duration of 2BCT's weeklong field training exercise.

Paratroopers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, move in to occupy a town for a noncombatant evacuation operation during a field training exercise on Fort Bragg, N.C., Aug. 7. The Falcon Brigade's FTX included multiple scenarios focusing on the evacuation of U. S. and British citizens from a potentially hostile area: a job they could be called upon to do as members of America's Global Response Force. (82nd Airborne Division photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Hull)

 

[HMS Astute]

BAE Taranis Stealth UCAV.

A day in the life film of stealthy unmanned combat vehicle Taranis, the most advanced aircraft ever built in the UK.

 

[HMS Astute]

RAF Air Drops Humanitarian Aid to Mount Sinjar, Iraq for Second Time

The UK has put together a package of Emergency Humanitarian Assistance to get lifesaving aid to tens of thousands of people across northern and cental Iraq who have fled ISIL terrorists.The Royal Air Force Hercules C-130J aircraft from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire England will carry out aid air drops which will include jerry cans filled with clean water, tents and tarpaulins to provide basic shelter and solar lights that can also recharge mobile phones and enable communication.

Footage shows the successful humanitarian aid drop from Royal Air Force Hercules transport aircraft to the displaced people on Mount Sinjar, Iraq last night

 

[HMS Astute]

RAF Deploys Tornado Aircraft to be Ready to Support Humanitarian Oper

The Royal Air Force has sent Tornado aircraft from RAF Marham so they can be ready to support humanitarian operations in Iraq if required.

A small number of aircraft, fitted with state of the art Litening III reconnaissance pods, left Norfolk this afternoon. They will be pre-positioned in Cyprus and available to fly over the crisis area at short notice to provide vital intelligence to assist the delivery of the UK Aid provided by the Department for International Development. So far, three consignments of aid have been delivered to the area by the RAF using Hercules aircraft.

 

[HMS Astute]

East Midlands RFCA Army Cadets visit WWI Battlefields

 

[HMS Astute]

The UK is providing lifesaving aid for thousands of displaced people on Mount Sinjar in Northern Iraq. The UK has put together a package of emergency humanitarian assistance to get lifesaving aid to tens of thousands of people across northern and cental Iraq who have fled ISIL terrorists. The Royal Air Force Hercules C-130J aircraft carried out aid air drops which includes jerry cans filled with clean water, tents and tarpaulins to provide basic shelter and solar lights that can also recharge mobile phones and enable communication.

Army Medical Reserves take part in a combined exercise with the 2nd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. 225(Scottish) Medical Regiment on Exercise LION STAR in Cyprus. 115 members of 225(Sc) Medical Regiment have deployed to Cyprus to build their individual skills before deploying into the field to conduct clinical training and validation. This culminating in a dawn attack of Paralimni village, where they provided intimate Combat medical support to the assaulting troops infantry.

 

[HMS Astute]

Typhoon Aircraft in Diamond Formation

Nimrod flying over North Sea

Typhoon during exercise

Tornado GR4 Flypast

 

[HMS Astute]

Dambusters reunited

Dambusters reunited: Two Second World War Lancaster bombers fly together in skies over Britain for the first time in 50 years

 

[HMS Astute]

The RAF Battle of Britian Memorial Flight, commemorating the Dambuster raid of 65 years ago, when in 1943, 133 men from almost every Allied nation, attacked German dams, and lost 53 men in the process, but cut the Nazi war effort by destroying the dams, and also raised Allied morale. There was also a flypast by two 617squadron Tornados. (617 was the squadron that made the dams raid.)

Break from the landscapes to enjoy the marvellous flypast at Derwent reservoirs today to mark 71 years since the Dambusters' raid.

 

[HMS Astute]

The Royal Navy Vanguard class SSBN, HMS Vigilant, successfully test launches a UGM-133 Trident D5 nuclear submarine-launched ballistic missile. The displacement of Vanguard class submarine is approximately 16,000 tons and it is powered by Rolls-Royce PWR2 nuclear reactors. The Vanguard class has a capacity to carry up to 16 Trident D5 SLBMs. Each Trident D5 is equipped with 48 nuclear warheads and each nuclear warhead is 8 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. These SSBNs are also fitted with 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes for Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes in addition to ICBMs. UK Trident D5's are equipped with UK-produced warheads, designed and manufactured by Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston and Burghfield, UK. Trident D5 or Trident II SLBMs can hit the target from over 7000 miles (11,300 km) range and they can travel up to Mach 24 (18,030 mph, or 29,020 km/h. The Vanguard-class are tasked with providing the UK's nuclear deterrent. This known as a continuous at sea deterrent (CASD) as a fleet of four boats was built to ensure that one submarine will always be on patrol at all times. This ensures that even if Britain suffered a full scale nuclear attack the one Vanguard submarine out on patrol – which would have completely escaped the attack – and could then deliver a devastating response to the nation responsible. This credible assurance is the art of deterrence and means that any nation considering a nuclear attack against the UK would be aware that the UK would retain the ability to retaliate with a nuclear response, regardless of the damage inflicted upon the country.

 

[HMS Astute]

Castlemartin Training Area

Challenger 2 live firing exercise, Wales.

 

[HMS Astute]

Construction of the Queen Elizabeth class super-carriers continue.

F35B Lightning II and HMS Queen Elizabeth

The construction of 2nd carrier will be externally completed this time next year. More sections are being delivered from different parts of the UK.

 

[HMS Astute]

British & American special forces in lightning mission to Mount Sinjar

• US Marines and Special Forces flew in on black hawk helicopters days after Obama promised no boots on the ground
• Also reported SAS soldiers were in the area to 'gather intelligence'
• It is first confirmation that international forces were on Mount Sinjar
• But the US Defense Secretary suggested that there are few refugees left there
• Pentagon says Yazidis are in better condition than previously thought

 

[HMS Astute]

Geil photo collection by Thom Atkinson:

Inventories of war:
Soldiers' kits from 1066 to 2014

1066 huscarl, Battle of Hastings

'The Anglo-Saxon warrior at Hastings is perhaps not so very different from the British "Tommy" in the trenches,' photographer Thom Atkinson says. At the Battle of Hastings, soldiers' choice of weaponary was extensive.


1244 mounted knight, Siege of Jerusalem

Re-enactment groups, collectors, historians and serving soldiers helped photographer Thom Atkinson assemble the components for each shot. 'It was hard to track down knowledgeable people with the correct equipment,' he says. 'The pictures are really the product of their knowledge and experience.'


1415 fighting archer, Battle of Agincourt

Having worked on projects with the Wellcome Trust and the Natural History Museum, photographer Thom Atkinson has turned his focus to what he describes as 'the mythology surrounding Britain's relationship with war'.


1485 Yorkist man-at-arms, Battle of Bosworth

'There's a spoon in every picture,' Atkinson says. 'I think that's wonderful. The requirement of food, and the experience of eating, hasn't changed in 1,000 years. It's the same with warmth, water, protection, entertainment.'


1588 trainband caliverman, Tilbury

The similarities between the kits are as startling as the differences. Notepads become iPads, 18th-century bowls mirror modern mess tins; games such as chess or cards appear regularly.


1645 New Model Army musketeer, Battle of Naseby

Each kit represents the personal equipment carried by a notional common British soldier at a landmark battle over the past millennium. It is a sequence punctuated by Bosworth, Naseby, Waterloo, the Somme, Arnhem and the Falklands – bookended by the Battle of Hastings and Helmand Province.


1709 private sentinel, Battle of Malplaquet

Atkinson says the project, which took him nine months, was an education. 'I've never been a soldier. It's difficult to look in on a subject like this and completely understand it. I wanted it to be about people. Watching everything unfold, I begin to feel that we really are the same creatures with the same fundamental needs.'