The return of the (original) Frigate?

Evening.

As you've probably guessed I've been pressed for time lately, popping in at Think Defence now and again but otherwise detained from writing. Well today I've got a few minutes to spare so I'm going to touch on something that seems quite a popular idea, but I'm not so sure about, that being the idea of smaller ships for the Navy.

The Threats Ahead

In December of last year, Think Defence posted a tongue in cheek piece about the "biggest threats in the next ten years". The post itself may have been a comical stab at the defence industry, but the comments section got going with ideas and theories about the legitimate potential threats that may exist in the the next ten years. And as old TD's trying to stimulate the online defence community to have a discussion about the SDSR due in 2015, I thought I'd weigh in with my own thoughts.

To start the new year, a quick look back

So, 2014 then. And what better way to start the new year than with a slight change of schedule to look back at a post from the past? If that makes sense. It did in my head at any rate.

See I was flicking through some old posts yesterday, just looking back on the year that was 2013, when I came across this old nugget about second hand procurement. In it I referenced the potential sale by Air India of eight of their Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, and so it occurred to me to go and check up on that and see if they'd been sold yet.

Happy New Year!

I have to do this now, for tomorrow I shall be legless by about this time. So Happy New Year to one and all. 

Two points I'd like to make are first; my equal thanks to everyone who has read the blog and left comments this year. Clearly this is what drives blogs like this onwards, and now things have calmed down a little for me away from the blog I should have more time for writing. Secondly, my thanks to other bloggers from around the web such as Think Defence and The Thin Pinstriped Line, both of whom consistently drive a lot of traffic this way, which makes the difference between this being a properly read blog vs. just some madman ranting at a keyboard.

Finally (I guess that makes it three points, so I lied to you earlier) I'd like to give a hint at what my next post is. Think Defence recently did a piece entitled "What will be the biggest threats in the next 10 years?". In the spirit of his effort to coordinate a form of joint blogosphere analysis leading up to the 2015 SDSR, I'll be sharing my mindless ramblings considered thoughts on the future of UK security, and indeed the security of the world.

Yes, I am that mad. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Erm, yes, Merry Christmas.

Joint Strike F**k-Up

Right, back to writing again. At last. And today I'm going to cover a topic that has been a hot button issue for many years, and which I suspect will remain so for many years to come; the F-35.

This is not going to be a long and exhaustive look at the program. This will not be another article to join the many, many (many!), articles and discussions online that go into the minute details of which systems are functioning and which are not, whether the aircraft can fly 500 miles with an internal payload or 550, or how many F-35's it would take to change a lightbulb etc. I just want to sit back and give my thoughts on the program overall.

Update; 13/12/13

Just to let you know, I've spent the last week busy at work trying to salvage something from somebody elses monumental f**k up, which is why I haven't posted. I do have a plan to put up a post this weekend though, so keep an eye out for that.

The Victoria Cross: Bar for the Cross

This is the second part of an occasional series looking back at winners of the Victoria Cross. It seems odd that men who have won such a high award are often barely known today, so this series is designed to bring some of their exploits to light once more and celebrate them, if only on a small scale.

Today we're looking at the three men who reside in a very exclusive sub-group of Victoria Cross winners; those who have been awarded the Victoria Cross twice, for which they are awarded a bar for the ribbon on their cross.

Scotland the Brave

Last week the Scottish Global Forum released its report about the future of defence in an independent Scotland, which you can read here. Think Defence brought the issue up and since then a good debate has been drummed up, which can be found here. It was on my 'to do list' to look at this issue anyway, so I might as well do it now while the debate is simmering nicely.

A review of Army 2020

I don't know about you, but I find it quite instructive to go back and read old books and material at a later date to see what I can glean from them that I might have missed first time round. This is especially the case with military books, be they historical works, personal accounts, or studies of tactics and strategy. Often I find that subtle points - lost on the first reading as you come to grips with all the information being presented - will become apparent on a second or third reading, as your brain is now able to process a lot of the technical information and jargon in a more efficient manner, peeling back these layers to reveal the core points underneath.

There's probably a name for this process already, but personally I refer to it as (if you'll indulge a few words of the dreaded management speak, which I normally avoid) "developed understanding". In line with that I went back and had a read of the Army 2020 report that lays out the structure and purpose of the future British Army organisation.

On first reading I, like many others, was left a bit perplexed at how the numbers were all going to add up and the reasoning behind some of the decisions, like the Reaction Force/Adaptable Force split. Having gone back over it at a more leisurely pace I think it's all a bit clearer now. Indeed, it's actually a pretty good solution for the resources given.

So in todays article, I'm planning to lay out some of the stuff that I've learned. Hopefully this will help others who were as confused as I was when the paper was first released. For those who already have a firm grip of Army 2020, you probably wont learn much from this.