Think Defence

The Antonov Transport Aircraft Giants, a look at their past and present

Oleg Antonov Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov was born on the 7th of February 1906 in the village of Troitsa, near Moscow. By 1924, Oleg was designing and building his own gliders and a year later, started studying at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1930. Three years later, he was appointed to the role of Chief Designer at a glider factory in Moscow, and by the time he left, had…

The Increasing Quality of Commercial Satellite Imagery

The recent incident in the Suez Canal involving the container ship Ever Given demonstrated just how fast the quality of commercial satellite imagery is improving. What is now freely available not very long ago would have been the sole preserve of a very small group of national governments. The democratisation and commercialisation of satellite imagery are gaining pace. There are a number of…

A Second Wind for the Lightweight Infantry Mortar

A simple question, was the British Infantry more effective with the 51mm lightweight infantry mortar than it is now, without it? In an age of swarming drones and artificial intelligence it is very easy to lose sight of the basics, in this case, the ability of an infantry platoon commander to produce smoke, illumination and high explosive effects at range and out of the line of sight to support…

A Tentative Return to Blogging

Yes, I know I keep stopping and starting, but this is what happens when you do something for enjoyment and not a job, interest waxes and wanes, real-life steps in and other things happen. Anyway, just a recap on what will be happening in the next few weeks and a look at site changes. ONE; have given the site a haircut, got rid of a load of old posts that weren’t very good, cleaned up the image…

Securing The Nation: Defending an Independent Scotland

In the run up to the independence vote I want to share as much defence related research material, proposals and papers as I can. The latest, Securing The Nation: Defending an Independent Scotland, is from the Scottish Global Forum [browser-shot width=”600″ url=”http://www.scottishglobalforum.net/securing-the-nation-defending-an-independent-scotland.html”%5D

Project Update and a Question

A regular update on the long form projects. One of my intentions with these longer posts is to keep them up to date and relevant by adding content and updating on a regular basis. New content, images and improved formatting on the following; Conflict prevention using low cost air power Complex Weapons Sea Viper Meteor Starstreak GMLRS Exactor/Spike NLOS Javelin NLAW Harebrained Schemes Civilian…

Corporate report: Service Inquiry into the Watchkeeper (WK031) Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) accident at West Wales Airport on 16 October 2014

From the MoD… A Service Inquiry has been carried out into the accident involving the Watchkeeper (WK031) Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) at West Wales Airport on 16 October 2014 . The final report has been published to inform the military Chain of Command and the public of the findings of the inquiry and its recommendations to improve defence safety. from Ministry of Defence – Activity on GOV.UK…

News story: Innovation Initiative to bring future-tech and ideas to the Armed Forces

From the MoD… Surveillance drones inspired by dragonflies, laser weapons, mobile robots that can inspect incidents involving chemical materials, sensors that use gravity to survey underground structures in minutes, and virtual reality helmets to practice calling in simulated air strikes. These are the types of futuristic technology that along with other smart solutions are set to be backed by the…

Terrorist Targets Outside of Active Hostilities – The UK Position?

A guest post from The Remote Control Project As President Barack Obama’s administration releases its once-secret guidance on kill and capture operations against terrorist targets outside areas of active hostilities, the UK must look to improve its own transparency. On Saturday, the Obama administration released a redacted version of its policy on action against terrorist targets outside areas of…

New Project – Persistent Surveillance on the Cheap

In an era where personnel numbers are challenged, threats are everywhere and cycle time between observation and action, especially for high value targets, becoming increasingly compressed, an all seeing eye can provide many advantages in a variety of operational scenarios. The idea of persistent ground based surveillance is not a new one, and anyone that has ever been to a town or city in the UK…

FOI release: FOI responses published by MOD: week commencing 1 August 2016

Ministry of Defence (MOD) Freedom of Information (FOI) responses published during the week commencing 1 August 2016 from Ministry of Defence – Activity on GOV.UK http://ift.tt/2b8FxHq Royal Navy (RN) individuals competent to conduct fitness and swimming tests/assessments including relevant protocols, policies and instructions Ref: Navy FOI 2016/06706PDF, 77.3KB Attachment: 2007DIN07-076 –…

FOI release: FOI responses published by MOD: week commencing 25 July 2016

Ministry of Defence (MOD) Freedom of Information (FOI) responses published during the week commencing 25 July 2016 from Ministry of Defence – Activity on GOV.UK http://ift.tt/2aAq2FT   Number of staff in Finance Job Family (FJF) and salary (as at 30 September 2010), number of staff in Central Legal Services (as at 1 April 2016) and expenditure on advisory consultancy in last 4 years Ref: HOCS FOI…

HL1367 – AWE (Answered)

Baroness Jolly To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the current anticipated outturn costs and in-service dates for (1) Project Mensa, and (2) Project Pegasus, at the Atomic Weapons Establishment. Earl Howe The anticipated outturn costs cannot be provided. The current approved costs and in-service dates for Project Mensa and Project Pegasus are shown below. In-service dates are shown in…

Policy paper: 2015 to 2020 government policy: Military Aid to the Civil Authorities for activities in the UK

The support of the armed forces to civil authorities in the UK is officially termed Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA). This paper shows the policy of the 2015 to 2020 Conservative government. Find out about the current government’s policies. Related information 2010 to 2015 government policy: armed forces support for activities in the UK from Ministry of Defence – Activity on GOV.UK…

Quick Update and Look Forward

The post rate has been pretty slow recently and to be honest, have been thinking how to evolve TD, taking time to read some and gathering research materials. Will be continuing with Parliamentary Questions and news posts but as before, concentrating on the ‘long reads’ This is the official list of things on the to do list for long reads; Airborne Armour Amtracs, DUKW’s and Future Amphibious…