The Swindon drone-hub is centred on the former Honda automotive plant, itself the site of the Supermarine aircraft factory. New investment has come from Tekever and Stark to build drones, and other SMEs like Neros, Modini, DSEI Flyby and Munin Systems colocated. MOD has established a the largest certified drone warfare testing facility in Europe at Panattoni Park in Swindon to support the site, which employs 200 people to enable businesses to rapidly bring their prototypes to market. bbc.com/news/articles/…

Collaborative Combat Aircraft - the runners and riders.

Boeing MQ-28 Ghostbat. Ghost Bat is Australia's first foray into combat aircraft design for some time and given them a head start in the field. MQ-28 is fielded and in early stages of operational deployment with the RAAF. Like many of the current crop of CCVs, MQ-28 is powered by a 3,600lbs thrust Williams FJ44-4 small turbofan. Boeing Australia is responsible for the airframe and BAE Australia for the uncrewed flight control system, while Saab provides the communications and navigation avionics.

Canada's observer status with GCAP formalises the nation's interest in joining the programme, without making a committment. Canada will be given privileged access to information on the programme and its governance, and opportunities for partnership in manufacturing. For Canada, observer status enables a better appreciation of whether the platform meets RCAF needs and the opportunities for strategic, technological and production participation in the partnership by the Royal Canadian Air Force, academia and aerospace manufacturers.

The new drone progammes in the DIP are interesting -
RAF
1./ StormFighter (loyal wingman CCA)
2./ StormChrome (stand-in EW drone)
3./ StormShroud (ground launched EW drone)
4./ StormFire (long range low-cost attack drone)

StormFighter shown as the BAES low cost CCA concept. StormFighter is described as an 'attack dog' for crewed fighters, and will give Typhoon. F-35 and Tempest crews an attritible stand off capability. The objective is not something that costs 70% of a crewed jet like Mosquito, but a much cheaper platform, procured in mass.

At Jutland the Royal Navy found out it had made the mistake of modernising its technology yet ossifying its leadership culture. While its ships were a quantum leap ahead of Trafalgar, its officers had lost Nelson's surefooted ability to wield them decisively in battle. Andrew Gordon's seminal account, blames this on the risk aversion that evolved over a century of peacetime operations. Ossification spread to tactics, where obsession with Nelsonian 'rate of fire' failed to capitalise on the advantages of long range guns and put ships at risk.

What does a 1,000 ship hybrid navy look like? 20 frigates and destroyers, each with two 1,000 ton Type 91 LUSVs makes an effective surface force of 60 escorts. Aother 40 smaller 350 ton Type 92 'sloops' and Type 93 Chariot UUVS provide an ASW barrier as part of Atlantic Bastion? Hundreds of Helsing SG-1 Fathom wave gliders form the ISR component of the ASW barrier, serviced by contracted support ships. Hundreds more Kraken Scout small USVs patrol the UK'sinfrastructure and choke points in the Gulf, at Gibraltar and the English Channel.

Albert Ball VC, DSO and two bars, MC preferred the Nieuport 17 with his famous bespoke red spinner. Ball's scored most of his victories in the diminutive French fighter. At the time of his death in May 1917 he was Britain's leading ace with 44 kills.
Ball's 56 squadron converted to the more powerful Royal Aircraft Factroy SE5 in April 1917, which he disliked despite having his aircraft specially modified. After some lobbying he was also allowed to keep his Nieuport. Ball was killed in combat with Albatros D Vs of Jasta 11.

The importance of the Meteor was its powerplant, the first British jet engine. Frank Whittle, a working class maths genius with a passion for aviation, was the driving force. Whittle joined the RAF as an apprentice and rose to become a flying instructor and test pilot. For his commission at Cranwell, he wrote a thesis on new directions in aircraft design, proposing a more efficicent direct thrust system for long distance high altitude flight. He sketched out an idea for a combustion chamber fed by a piston engine driven compressor.

In January 1945, four Meteor F 3 jets from 616 Squadron RAF were forward deployed to Melsbroek in Belgium. Forbidden from flying over German territory, it was hoped that they could draw the German Me 262 into combat. The detachment were all painted white as a precaution against misidentification as Gesrman jets. The scheme served as useful winter camoflage in February. By March these had been replaced by seventeen improved F 3s (with Derwent rather than Welland engines) in standard camo.

Are Monty, Ike and the end of Admiralty connected? It was on the fields of Europe that the future of the post-war world was settled in 1944. Twenty short years later Britain had handed over the reins of leadership and a narrative was crafted to explain the transition to the USA. We are perhaps at a new point of inflextion when that era may be coming to a close, and we may have to pick up the reins, or oars, once again. If not to lead the west, to at least to find the fairway. Revisting that narrative, and our place in it, may be a first essential step.

Its worth remembering what the Royal Navy looked like in 1964, the year the Admiralty was abolished and rolled into MOD. There were still three fleets each with a carrier, in the UK, Med and at Singapore, together with task forces in the Gulf, Red Sea and at Hong Kong. The Fleet Air Arm had more fast jets than the RAF has today, and over two hundred helicopters. More than a hundred destroyers and frigates protected these forces. Two more carriers were in refit rotation, and each fleet also had submarine and minesweeper flottilas.

The battles to capture Breville and hold the ridge to secure the western flank of the invasion lodgement were exceptionally fierce, where 6th Airborne and 1st Special Service Brigade fought together, reinforced by elements of 51st Highland Division, to hold off counterattacks.

https://twitter.com/BattlefieldBen/status/2026267055331193174

Ater D-Day the German 346th Division was sent east from Le Havre to reinforce the 711th static infantry division in the salient between the Orne and Dives taken by 6th Airborne on D-Day. 6th Airborne also faced counterattacks by 21st Panzer from the south against Ranville.

Founded by Jack Amery (brother of Julian, a former Cabinet minster under Ted Heath and son of Leo Amery, Colonial Secretary in the 1930s), the British Free Corps was a unit of the SS recruited from British Prisoners of War in Germany. Despite having a Jewish mother, John 'Jack' Amery became strongly influenced by fascism when moving to France in the 1930s, after bankruptcy in England. He fought with the Italian fascist legion in Spain and remained in Vichy France after the armistice in 1940.

The Enfield P14 was the planned replacement for the Lee-Enfield SMLE in 1914. Designed from experience in the Boer War, it was intended to combine perceived advantages of the German Mauser cartridge and acton (greater accuracy and durability) with that of the SMLE (rapid fire). The rifle was adapted from the P12-13 prototypes, which had been designed around the powerful Enfield .276 cartridge. Due to developmental problems with the cartridge and the onset of war in 1914, the rifle was adapted to fire the in-service .303 round as the P14.

Convoys from South Africa, India, Australia and South America to the UK formed up in Freetown's vast natural harbour before proceeding under escort to Gibraltar and Britain. These Defiant target-tugs were used to drill the merchantmen in anti aricraft fire before they departed.

https://twitter.com/Destroye83/status/2006102927723618333

Sloops carried out day-to-day flag waving and policing duties from all of the major colonial ports, and from 1916 had been built with a secondary capability for use as convoy escorts. This included the fitting of depth charge racks and the earliest form of sonar - ASDIC.

Britain is buying Sky Sentinel AI controlled C-UAS turrets for Ukraine. These Ukrainian systems use EW and a 12.7mm Browning M2 HMG and are extremely effective against subsonic drones like Shahed. 10-30 of the $150K turrets are needed to protect a city. militarnyi.com/en/news/sky-se… Sky Sentinel uses 'foreign components' which suggests a UK-UKR collaboration in design and manufacture. AI controlled, they do not require indivdual operatators, but can be integrated with and operated as part of an IAMD systems from remote command posts.

A thread on rapid scaling of the Royal Navy using quick-build autonomous systems:

1SL Gen Gwyn Jenkins has endorsed this approach, following his 'uncrewed where possible' mantra, but understanding that uncrewed will augment rather than replace crewed capabilities. This means building low-cost, attritibel uncrewed systems to the current technology levels, rather than high-risk bleeding edge capabilities. So using proven remote control and AI autonomy on fast-build platforms for escort, ISR, picket dury/outer layers and magazine depth.

The STEN.

In 1940 Britain only porduced the heavy and complex Lanchester SMG, a copy of the 1920s German MP28. The Lanchester was designed for use by naval boarding parties and also issued to the the RAF Regiment. It was made of high quailty materials and expensive to produce. Large numbers of Thompson SMGs were ordered from the United States in 1939, but supply could never meet demand, especially after the US entered the war in 1941. The Thompson was also expensive to produce and relatively complex.

Lets look at the Second Tactical Air Force (2 TAF) and how RAF air support for 21st Army Group was organised and delivered.

2TAF was built on lessons in close air support learned in the Mediterranean with the Desert Air Force (later renamed the First Tactical Air Force). Formed in July 1943, command passed to Arthur Coningham in January 1944, the New Zelander who had led the Desert Air Force from 1941-43 and pioneered the use of forward air control, 'cab ranks' and the rapid construction of forward air strips behind advancing ground forces.

New drone production facilities in the UK.

A quick thread noting some of the new capacity unveilled this year.

1./ Ukrspecsystems, the Ukrainian drone producer opened a new $250 million factory at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, as well as test facilities at the airfield. UKrspecsystems manufactures the PD-2, Shark and mini-Shark ISR UAVs. Shark is likely to be built in the UK for both Ukriane and the British armed forces.

Lets look at the P-51 as an exercise in getting the right kit to the guys quickly.
1./ NA took a risk - they could have made $$ building P-40s, but they wanted more.
2./ They adopted the latest tech - they used NACA's secret R&D sauce to make the P-51 super slippery. ... more slippery than the Bf 109, the Spitfire or the FW 190.
3./ NA were aided by a tight Air Ministry specification, designed around real combat experience against the Luftwaffe.
4./ The engineers were left to get on with it - no SRO changing the specs, 90 days is all it took.