First confirmation that the German defence committee has approved the procurement of (among other things) #Bundeswehr Type 212CD #submarines w Norway, five P-8A Poseidon MPA from US via FMS, two new oilers and three SIGINT hulls to replace Type 704 and Type 423 respectively.
Worth noting here that these projects need to pass both the defence and the budget committees. So technically speaking individual efforts could still get canned. That being said it would be a relatively remarkable statement of disarray for the present government if it happens.
More info on all the relevant procurements due, a record 27 individual listings and individual volumes in Euros. As Wiegold writes, budget committee can also enact conditions that need a second pass approval down the road (may be relevant eg for FCAS).
The Russian speaker from corvette 363 Pavel Derzhavin in this radio traffic is referring to coastal warning 235, which relates to a missile and gunnery exercise as outlined below.
So unless I am mistaken, whatever the escalation of warnings was (fair bit of misunderstanding/miscommunication going on in traffic), original motivation seems to indeed have been matter of an ongoing exercise, not so much territorial transgressions, perceived or actual. 🤷♂️
To clarify the time code used above, the exercise concludes June 30 at 2100 hours, and the warning ceases to be in effect from 2200 hours. Not on June 21st, as one might read it.
Remarkable report (TBC I suppose) by RIA claiming Russian guard ship fired warning shots and a Su-24 dropped four OFAB-250 HE bombs to warn away British destroyer claimed to have intruded 3 km into "Russian territory" near Cape Fiolet, Crimea.
Right, so since I got a bottle of Australian white going through my system, its just as well I capitalise on that & do a drunk movie review. Its "The Chronicles Of Riddick", a film I have a love-hate-relationship with. Excellent visuals & one liners, but atrocious plot & casting.
Mute this thread if movie reviews, drunk or sober, bother you. Thanks, with a cherry on top.
This btw is the Directors cut of the film. So there's like 15 minutes of extra footage explaining to us all the bad choices David Twohy made in producing a sequel to PITCH BLACK, that clearly looked at Lord Of The Rings and then just ran through three lines of cocaine.
Defence budget 2021 for #Bundeswehr has passed budget committee, rising by 120 million Euros to 46.93 billion Euros. While in itself not terrible, its also not great news about GER genuinely spending on needed materiel recapitalization. Source on news:
As per AKK's recent speech outlining her spending priorities, it was made clear that without substantial increases balance of existing funding will serve to fill deficits in basic equipment & supply issues (ammo, personal gear etc).
So for now big materiel spending will be limited to T1 Eurofighter replacement and the Eurodrone, for which, interestingly, there is still no new contract required to move program along.
Well... German frigate Hamburg was engaged in cooperative boarding of a Turkish flagged cargo ship in Med, in support of Libyan arms embargo. After the Turkish government objected to boarding, inspection was aborted & team returned to their ship. 🤷♂️
Haenel surprisingly wins German #Bundeswehr assault rifle competition against favorite Heckler&Koch, with its Mk556 AR15-architecture based product. No official confirmation yet but supposedly rifle matches spec and is cheaper than HK offering. Image Hk433 top, Mk556 below.
Haenel has a long history, but faced many changes due to hailing from Suhl, Thuringia in East Germany. Company re-established itself with production locally in 2008, but belongs to the Merkel Group (no relation to the Chancellor), which itself is owned by UAE-based Caracal Int.
A very interesting decision to be sure, with all sorts of ramifications, potentially overall very positive for GER small arms presence. Still, a protest by HK seems at least likely.