European Military News & Discussion

[Okabe Rintarou]

Post all news and ramblings of European Armed Forces in this thread.

 

[Okabe Rintarou]

Does anyone have any info on UK's Integrated Defence Review that was supposed to release this week? News was that they were planning to reduce their Army by around 12500 troops to just 70,000 total personnel. Their were rumours that they were retiring ALL tanks and were going to announce a Space Force and a Cyber Force as well.

There was also a report that they were planning to reduce their F-35 buy to just 48 F-35B and put the rest of the money in the Tempest project.

 

[DerBronzeLord]

Does anyone have any info on UK's Integrated Defence Review that was supposed to release this week? News was that they were planning to reduce their Army by around 12500 troops to just 70,000 total personnel. Their were rumours that they were retiring ALL tanks and were going to announce a Space Force and a Cyber Force as well.

There was also a report that they were planning to reduce their F-35 buy to just 48 F-35B and put the rest of the money in the Tempest project.

All tanks retiring is true. "Space" and "Cyber" force is a term used by the Government of the UK to mislead the aam Brit from realising that they can't buy shieet in terms of defence. They already have a cyber force in the form of GCHQ, and they don't have their own missiles, let alone their own anti-Sats. F-35 is also true. However, I have heard that Sweden is considering jumping ship to the Dassault-led European Fighter program.

70,000 personnel is a joke. Bloody Bangladesh has more troops than the UK now.

Btw, can anyone give inputs on their new AC? Isn't it becoming too expensive for them to maintain or something?

 

[IndianHawk]

All tanks retiring is true. "Space" and "Cyber" force is a term used by the Government of the UK to mislead the aam Brit from realising that they can't buy shieet in terms of defence. They already have a cyber force in the form of GCHQ, and they don't have their own missiles, let alone their own anti-Sats. F-35 is also true. However, I have heard that Sweden is considering jumping ship to the Dassault-led European Fighter program.

70,000 personnel is a joke. Bloody Bangladesh has more troops than the UK now.

Btw, can anyone give inputs on their new AC? Isn't it becoming too expensive for them to maintain or something?

They have put so much money in two giant carriers alone that they have no money left for other ships.

They have only 6 destroyrs. Frigate numbers are also decreasing . They can't afford all the f35 they want while puting money in for tempest.

Hence the cuts are coming despite raising military budget.

They will depend on usa to field additional f35 on their carriers when required and will depend on Europeans allies to provide ships for carrier escort if both carriers were to operate simultaneously.

Depends on how brexit economy treats them they might be in the market to sale Prince of wells soon.

They only build it because it was already too expensive to cancel. Sustaining it is another ballgame.

 

[Okabe Rintarou]

They have put so much money in two giant carriers alone that they have no money left for other ships.

They have only 6 destroyrs. Frigate numbers are also decreasing . They can't afford all the f35 they want while puting money in for tempest.

Hence the cuts are coming despite raising military budget.

They will depend on usa to field additional f35 on their carriers when required and will depend on Europeans allies to provide ships for carrier escort if both carriers were to operate simultaneously.

Depends on how brexit economy treats them they might be in the market to sale Prince of wells soon.

They only build it because it was already too expensive to cancel. Sustaining it is another ballgame.

They are building another type of Frigate though. Forgot what it was called.

But the most interesting bit is their Army. Before the cuts it had about 3 Divisions worth of combat formations. And they are cutting about a Division's worth of troops. And no tanks in the country that invented them? B.H. Liddell Hart is turning in his grave. Britain will barely be able to field two Mechanized Infantry Divisions. Funnily enough, that is still twice of what Australia can field.

 

[IndianHawk]

They are building another type of Frigate though. Forgot what it was called.

But the most interesting bit is their Army. Before the cuts it had about 3 Divisions worth of combat formations. And they are cutting about a Division's worth of troops. And no tanks in the country that invented them? B.H. Liddell Hart is turning in his grave. Britain will barely be able to field two Mechanized Infantry Divisions. Funnily enough, that is still twice of what Australia can field.

Type 31 and they have designs for type 32 also . That's all after cutting the numbers of type 26.

Tank and troop reduction was bound to happen. They don't have enough ambiphious platform to carry these tanks anywhere and they are an island. Nobody is going to invade them anytime soon. Russia is too far away and small economy , china has no interest and usa is their ultimate protector.


Even France and Germany have way too low number of tanks. Europe is pretty secure that way. Only some nations bordering russia have some insecurity. Otherwise Europe can pretty much sit out this whole china usa indo Pacific South China thingy.

 

[Rassil Krishnan]

Does anyone have any info on UK's Integrated Defence Review that was supposed to release this week? News was that they were planning to reduce their Army by around 12500 troops to just 70,000 total personnel. Their were rumours that they were retiring ALL tanks and were going to announce a Space Force and a Cyber Force as well.

There was also a report that they were planning to reduce their F-35 buy to just 48 F-35B and put the rest of the money in the Tempest project.

British armed forces for some time was teetering on 3rd tier status.if these review recommendations are fulfilled,it will be definitely in third tier territory.

Only meaty part of their military will be the half a dozen attack subs and the qe carriers but even they have some controversy and issues surrounding them.

Rationale is that since uk is an island and in their eyes there might not be an serious expedition in the future they will have to or want to take part in,they want to concentrate on their navy first and airforce second with army getting the shaft.

 

[Rassil Krishnan]

All tanks retiring is true. "Space" and "Cyber" force is a term used by the Government of the UK to mislead the aam Brit from realising that they can't buy shieet in terms of defence. They already have a cyber force in the form of GCHQ, and they don't have their own missiles, let alone their own anti-Sats. F-35 is also true. However, I have heard that Sweden is considering jumping ship to the Dassault-led European Fighter program.

70,000 personnel is a joke. Bloody Bangladesh has more troops than the UK now.

Btw, can anyone give inputs on their new AC? Isn't it becoming too expensive for them to maintain or something?

There was some issue with the f35 vertical engines were damaging the qe top surface and that they have to do some refit after long operations.

Don't understand the British mentality and decision making though because most of it comes from the issue of aims and lack of will that will make indian establishment look good.this with them having a lot of pedigree in development of weapons tech.tells you what can happen to a country if it becomes woke.priorities and threat perceptions change resulting in different force structure which in turn leads to lower global stature.its going to get worse.

 

[Soldier355]

German UAV Luna NG carrier of kamikaze drones. The German concern Rheinmetall, in cooperation with the Israeli UVision, presented the concept of the latest Luna NG reconnaissance UAV, which is capable of carrying and dropping 8 kamikaze drones on the enemy. The new development was named the Rheinmetall Combat drone, and the kamikaze drones are designated Hero R. The Hero R drones were developed jointly by German and Israeli specialists. So far, it is known that the drone-carrier of drones is capable of operating within a radius of up to 100 kilometers and stay in the air for up to 12 hours.

 

[Soldier355]

Sarissa SRS-1 combat drones of Greece, Hydra-70 rocket launch. The Greek company SAYS Technology showed the launch of the Hydra 70 rocket, from the Sarissa SRS-1X UAS drone it developed. This is the first launch of American unguided missiles from drones. The Hydra-70 aviation missile has a flight range of up to 8 kilometers and is in service with many NATO countries. The missile has been produced for the US Air Force for over 60 years. Greek drones of the Sarisa SRS-1 series are the basis for the drone combat platform, they can carry different weapons. Drones have a payload capacity of up to 25 kilograms, flight time, depending on the load, is up to 20 minutes. Greek drones from SAS Technology will be officially presented at the upcoming DEFEAT international exhibition from May 9 to 11.

 

[Soldier355]

NATO military exercise Northern Forest 2023 in Finland. Military exercises of NATO countries "Northern Forest 2023" are held in Finland. About 8,000 military personnel are involved in the exercises, including more than a thousand soldiers from the United States, Great Britain, Sweden and Norway. The ground forces, the Air Force and the Border Guard forces from Finland will take part in the exercises. During the Northern Forest 2023 exercises, the tasks of coordinating the actions of units from different countries will be worked out, as well as the readiness for effective interaction in the provision of military assistance by the armies of NATO member countries and Sweden will be tested.

 

[Soldier355]

Military equipment of Poland. On August 15, a military parade took place in Poland, which the authorities consider the largest in the history of the country. The parade was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw in 1920, also known as the Miracle on the Vistula. The parade was attended by about two thousand Polish military and NATO countries, as well as 200 units of military equipment. 92 helicopters and planes took to the skies. The parade was attended by armored personnel carriers, artillery pieces, as well as HIMARS MLRS and Patriot air defense systems. Among the tank equipment were presented German tanks Leopard 2, American Abrams and Korean K2. In 2023, Poland will spend $34 billion on defense, giving four percent of national GDP to military spending. According to this indicator, Poland overtakes many countries - members of NATO.

 

[Soldier355]

A Norwegian F-35 landed on a Finnish highway for the first time. On Thursday, September 21st, an important event took place in the history of Norwegian aviation. For the first time, two Norwegian F-35As landed on a highway in Tervo in eastern Finland. The planes landed at around 15:00 Norwegian time after participating in joint exercise Baana 23 with Finnish F-18s. American F-35Bs have landed on highways in the past, but this is the first time the F-35A has done so. Combat aircraft are vulnerable on the ground, so by being able to use small airfields and now highways, we are increasing our survivability in war,” Major General Rolf Volland, commander of the Norwegian Air Force, said in a press release. After the planes landed, they were refueled with the engines running. In March, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark signed an agreement on a joint Nordic Air Force. The future Nordic air defense will consist of more than 200 combat aircraft.