The UK’s anti-submarine forces took their skills to the next level during the largest workout in the Mediterranean. For the first time two RAF Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft from CXX Squadron based at RAF Lossiemouth joined the Royal Navy for NATO’s Dynamic Manta, two weeks of cutting-edge tech and training involving seven Allied nations in the vanguard of underwater warfare.…
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UK Launches First P-8A MK54 ASW Torpedo
August 6, 2021 – A drogue parachute slows the descent of a Mk54 lightweight torpedo seconds after it was dropped by the new guardians of the UK’s strategic deterrent. A Poseidon P8 from 120 Squadron dropped the practice weapon into the Moray Firth – the last act in a simulated attack on a submarine. It’s the first time the American-built…
Read MoreNAVAIR Purchases AWACS from RAF for Training Duties
August 4, 2021 – The Airborne Strategic Command, Control, and Communications Program Office (PMA-271) purchased a retired Royal Air Force E-3D for $15 million that will be used as an E-6B Mercury pilot training aircraft. The program office had been looking to acquire a dedicated training aircraft for the fleet to take the strain off using the current mission-capable E-6…
Read MoreBoeing to Support RAF Poseidon Fleet and Train Crews for Next Five Years
July 8, 2021 – Boeing and the UK Ministry of Defence have signed an agreement for Boeing to support the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) fleet of Poseidon MRA1 maritime patrol aircraft and train the crews that operate them. “Our new Poseidon fleet continues to grow from strength to strength and is already defending the UK’s maritime interests at home and…
Read MoreRAF & RN Combine to Deliver Vaccines to Tristan da Cunha
April 29, 2021 – For the first time, the Royal Navy assisted the RAF and Strategic Command in a 6-day operation this month to the isolated South Atlantic island community. An RAF Voyager aircraft made the 8,000 mile trip from RAF Brize Norton to the Falkland Islands, via Dakar in Senegal to refuel, before HMS Forth sailed the 2,000 mile…
Read MoreFS Croix du Sud Destroys British Mark XII Bomb
March 25, 2021 (Google Translation) – On March 22, 2021, sailors from the tripartie mine hunter (CMT) Southern Cross conducted a counter-mining operation in the Brest Gully Front to neutralize a historic English world war II munition. Discovered on February 6, 2021 during the 60th Operation Damier, the ammunition is a British Mark XII bomb with a load weight of…
Read MoreGlobal Britain in a Competitive Age: the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy
Polish Navy Removing Second World War Tallboy Bomb
September 15, 2020 (Google Translation) – Two German sea mines from World War II were destroyed yesterday and today by mine divers from Gdynia in the Gdańsk Bay. Meanwhile, the navy is slowly making its way to remove Tallboy, a gigantic bomb discovered at the bottom of the Świnoujście canal. It is already known that the operation will be carried…
Read MoreScottish home for Poseidon fleet reaches major milestone
July 23, 2020 – Facilities to house the Poseidon MRA Mk1 fleet have been handed over to Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), marking a major milestone in the Poseidon program. DE&S, the MOD’s procurement arm, will take control of the £100 million strategic facility at RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland. Clocking in at over 33,000 square metres, the facility includes a three-bay…
Read More80th Anniversary of HMT Lancastria Tragedy
June 17, 2020 – On this day in 1940, Britain suffered the greatest naval tragedy in its history – a disaster which dwarfs the loss of the Titanic both in scale and horror. On the afternoon of June 17, His Majesty’s Troopship Lancastria was attacked by German bombers off St Nazaire. All day her decks had been filled with British…
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