The number of Russian naval vessels passing close to the UK has climbed steadily in the last 10 years Although most of this activity is lawful and benign, the RN always deploys vessels to closely monitor these movements in the UK area of interest. Here we summarise this activity, its purpose and messaging.
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With a no-deal Brexit looking a distinct possibility, conflict over fishing rights looks likely to create a complex enforcement challenge for the Royal Navy’s fishery protection vessels. More
More details are emerging about the operation on 25th October to free the crew of the MV Nave Andromeda in the face of violent stowaways. Here will examine the incident and the role played by the Royal Navy in protecting commercial shipping and the waters of UK.
After declaring a “major incident” the Home Secretary has formally requested assistance from the MoD to deal with a growing number of migrants attempting to enter the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats. More
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 15 University Royal Navy Units (URNU) provide an opportunity for students to go sea and to broaden their naval understanding. Against a background of constrained funding for the navy, there are some who perceive this as an indulgence of limited value because the URNU does not exist for primarily for recruitment or operational purposes. Here we examine the real value and wider benefits the units offer.
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The axing of the troubled Nimrod MRA4 project in 2010 SDSR has left Britain unable to properly patrol its waters and left a serious gap in anti-submarine capability. In 2015 the government tacitly admitted its mistake and announced the plan to purchase nine Poseidon P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) from Boeing in the United States. In the first part of this article we will look at the programme and infrastructure behind its introduction into service, and the aircraft itself.
John Dunbar argues a re-branded Royal Navy Home Fleet would be understood both politically and publicly and would provide a much stronger basis to argue for the necessary resources to bolster protection of UK waters and economic interests.
In spite of frequent claims that the Royal Navy is “barely able to defend its own waters”, two of its escorts are shadowing the largest group of Russian warships to pass near to the UK since the end of the Cold War. Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov sailed from the Northern Fleet base of Severomorsk on Saturday accompanied by seven other surface ships and probably at least one submarine.
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