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Storm Shadow

Back-story The RAF describe Storm Shadow as;

This long-range air-launched and conventionally-armed missile equips RAF Tornado GR4 squadrons and saw operational service in 2003 with 617 Squadron during combat in Iraq, prior to entering full service in 2004.

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Harry Black, Gaffer Tape, Duct Tape, Black Nasty, and loads of other names

history There are competing theories for who invented the familiar cloth-backed adhesive tape. The generally accepted version is that in the twenties, a Detroit surgical supplier was providing Johnson and Johnson surgical tape to car dealers for use as masking tape.

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Brimstone Anti Armour Missile

Building on last week's thread on it back-story, this one looks at capabilities Brimstone started out as a fire and forget autonomous killer of Russian tanks. It was designed during the Cold War for a Cold War mission, defending Europe from the massed waves of Warsaw Pact armour. This is now more often referred to as Legacy or Baseline Brimstone

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Brimstone

Its back-story Brimstone is an advanced, rocket-propelled, radar-guided weapon and can seek and destroy armoured targets at long range.

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The Military Load Classification system, or MLC, a British Invention that is now a NATO standard

Its history and current use One of the most obvious questions about any bridge in any context is, 'can my vehicle (or other load) traverse it without damage or collapse'?

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Gabions

Their history and current use The term gabion comes from the Italian word gabbione meaning ‘big cage’, it is a cage filled with rocks or soil to provide protection against enemy fire or in civil engineering

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Sandbags

Their interesting history and uses today Sandbags are not a new invention, their use as a weapon or training aid goes back to medieval times, but arguably, as a field defence they were not widely used until the early 18th century

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Subsea Cables

Their origin story and critical importance Without submarine cables, the Internet, and therefore the world, would look very different than it does today. They are the (nearly) invisible veins and arteries of the modern global economy

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Barbed wire has evolved significantly since its widespread use during the First World War, is either side using it widely in Ukraine?

THREAD There are many variations of concertina tape readily available, and in different coil sizes, including some that are designed to avoid injury (often called tangle tape).

All are very difficult to manually cut (although explosives help)

A good non UK example of this challenge in defining 80% is the US Landing Ship Mediums, they actually use the term affordable in a lot of the materials. Not a million miles off the old RFA Knights class. They have been subject to rigorous requirements setting exercise

But here is the kicker, recent news indicates they will cost $340 to $430 million per ship. And, as we all know that costs only rise, does anyone have confidence in the final outturn being at the low end of that estimate? They have tested ideas out on a civilian vessel (below)

Have been looking at some consistent writing themes of mine since I started Think Defence in February 2009

ONE
The MoDs corporate memory is appalling, records are not kept, the Army spends more time learning about Waterloo than it does about failed programmes like FRES TWO

Standardisation, commonality, resilience, hedging against risk and avoiding niche fleets of anything are a Good Thing TM

How to become well informed on UK defence matters...

Six steps, very simple, if you have the time 1.

Get on Twitter, subscribe to manufacturers, trade punlications, unit accounts, MoD accounts etc. Do the same on LinkedIn and Facebook

A fascine is the simplest of gap-crossing methods, nothing more than a bundle of pipes or sticks. They are as old as my favourite pulling pants but much more effective

A thread

1 They have been used since the early days of warfare, in the published work, a Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons by Francis Grose, published in 1786, he mentions their use a number of times.



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Am quite smitten at the minute with the Flyer 60 and Flyer 72 for Merlin and Chinook internal carriage, and at least 6 per A400M. A common vehicle family for Paras, Marines, and Rangers.

Heresy I know





But with, you know

Let's have a chat about helicopter transportable ultralight transport

1. Why bother?

It is better than walking is as simple as it gets. Of course, there are loads of other reasons, mostly about allowing the area of influence to be much larger than foot (or ski) borne and allowing the helicopter to stand off at a reasonable distance

2.

A quick history lesson on RN aircraft carriers (recent)

For some reason, the RN and MoD were tempted by the illusion that they could afford the conventional variant F-35C.

1/ They threw away years of operational and financial analysis to provide the incoming secretary of state with a bat to beat the previous government with

Look up the parliamentary exchanges if you don't believe me, ministers positively gloated about the change

/2

Piers for Use on Beaches

The US Navy Elevated Causeway System Modular, or ELCAS-M is a fantastic solution for loading and offloading lighters, without having a port.

Somewhat obscure, but that is why I like it!

Thread

1/ Part of the Joint Logistics Over The Shore (JLOTS) capability set, ELCAS-M is actually a British-designed product (file under not many people know that). It is designed to enable the rapid load and offload of stores without entering the surf zone

/2

A lot of security academics who, like most academics, loathe the very idea of BREXIT, see future security threats through that lens. We must concentrate on European security as some sort of penance for leaving the EU. Their bias blinds them to future threats and operating areas They also ignore actual comparative capabilities, basking in the glow of a bygone era, and exuding from every pore the notion that those poor Europeans can't possibly cope with the threat from Russia without the British (reference) Army showing them how its done

A 2 hour long read in summary thread format. Unlike most of my usual content, thought I would have a pop at a proposal for a future British Army.

The post is split into 5 main parts

1/ The introduction asks if British Army leadership acts in a way commensurate with the size and state of the organisation they lead?

2/

The British Army's truck fleet won't last forever, a few thoughts for consideration in a post-2030 future...

1 Extend with MAN (which has modest UK content) or compete for greater UK content and commonality?

Engines; hydrogen, hybrid, battery, or just stay with diesel?

How much is delivered by a PFI, or purchase the lot, or a long-term partnering and replacement programme?

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Future Soldier (Bridge and Pallet Chap) ORBAT

This is achievable, requires no massive uplifts in budget or headcount, CS/CSS are in balance, and it has utility across future scenarios (not just one) I sit on the reality end of the ORBAT spectrum