BAE Systems supply and integrate many of the combat systems currently in service with the RN. Working closely with the navy, the company is funding ‘Project Dragonfly’, a £20 million investment in new technologies to ensure the warships of the future harness the rapid developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
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This website has been covering the challenges faced by the Royal Navy since 2007 but it is hard to remember a time when there were so many positive developments in such a short period. There are still fundamental weaknesses in the fleet but there is now a little more substance in the claim that we have a ‘growing Royal Navy’.
The second phase of the F-35 test flying programme (DT-2) has exceeded expectations and was completed on 18th November, well ahead of schedule.
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Earlier this week our embattled Prime Minister, speaking at the Lord Mayor’s banquet in the capital announced the 8th and final Type 26 frigate will bear the name HMS London. The government may be desperate for some good news stories, but this is scraping the bottom of the PR barrel. The MoD is unable to say when she will be ordered or even approximately which year she will be in service. Projecting from the current glacial rate of construction, this ship could be at least 18 years away from joining the fleet.More
2017 was an especially bad year for fatal naval accidents. Then last week the Norwegian frigate KNM Helge Ingstad collided with an oil tanker and is was run onto rocks in a vain attempt to prevent her sinking. There have always been serious accidents involving warships and submarines during peacetime operations but with the advent of modern navigation technologies, there is some surprise that these incidents keep happening. Here we look briefly at the circumstances of some of the accidents and what might be learned from them.More
With good reason, it is the stoic soldiers who faced the mud and slaughter of the trenches who come to mind when we think of First World War. The scale of fighting, suffering and dying on the battlefields of France was a magnitude greater than the conflict at sea, but the sacrifice of sailors and the critical role of the navy should not be forgotten.
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Remembrance is a time for reflection on our history and the sacrifice of others. It is intended to bring us together in a mood of reflection and reconciliation. Two divisive and misguided views threaten to undermine this period of commemoration. ‘Poppy fascism’ has been a recent source of controversy with celebrities unfairly targeted for not wearing a poppy. At the other end of the spectrum, the ‘white poppy’ movement has been gaining influence.More
In March 2014 the MoD admitted there was a minor concern about the integrity of the nuclear reactors which power Vanguard class submarines. As a precaution, HMS Vanguard currently in refit at Devonport has been given a second new reactor core. This week the government quietly announced that technical assessments have now concluded this procedure will not be necessary for the other three boats. More
Unable to follow up their success building OPVs for export, and with no other orders forthcoming, last week Babcock made the sad announcement that the Appledore shipyard will close in March 2019. Here we examine the background and potential impacts of this decision.
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