St Crispin’s Day

The Queen came to Larkhill on Thursday & I was lucky enough to see her.

 I was warmed by the number of people from the general public I saw who dressed for the occasion.  I have a restored faith in the public of this country.

Well,  It’ been less than 24 hours since Boris became mayor, and already my car has had the window broken (whilst in SE London) and the Satnav stolen!

UK helicopter industry ‘will die in MoD cuts’  
A £1 billion helicopter project has been “offered up as a sacrifice” for defence cuts as the Ministry of Defence struggles to manage its funding crisis, it was claimed yesterday. 
The termination of the Future Lynx deal would herald the end of major helicopter manufacturing in Britain if Gordon Brown decides to go ahead with the reductions.  But defence sources said it was now “highly likely” that the order for 70 Future Lynx utility helicopters, which were to be bought for the Army and the Royal Navy, will be axed. The decision could lead to the closure of the Westland helicopter plant in Yeovil, Somerset, with the loss of 800 jobs. Douglas Carswell, a Tory MP who has written a paper on scrapping the Lynx deal with the Italian firm Finmeccanica, said: “This is a bad deal and the sooner we get out of it the better. “We could announce, for example, that we would buy the same amount of helicopters from Sikorsky - and still have £580 million to spend addressing funding shortages elsewhere in the Armed Forces.” He added that the Sikorsky Seahawk helicopters would be available within 12 months. The Lynx is not expected in service until 2013. But one programme that defence sources have confirmed is certain to go ahead will be the two aircraft carriers being built for £4 billion in Scottish constituencies with strong Labour Party ties. The issues are expected to come up on Thursday when industry chiefs meet Baroness Taylor, the defence procurement minister.
 

 I must comment that this is an ongoing issue with  military procurement.  We could always buy cheaper from other countries.  Everything from artillery ammunition to helicopters is better purchased from other countries such as the USA due to economies of scale. The problem is that when you need the spares, and the country who manufactures them is at war with you, then, the cupboard is usually bare! Hellfire missiles & Chinook spares were cases in point when the current conflagration blew up.

We need our own arms industry no matter the cost.  What we do need to do is sell our product to lots of others so that our economies of scale can work for us!

Just a note (for Geoff really) to say that I’m in Gibraltar for the next few days (until 28 Apr)

If he’s in ROM then look me up!

 Or look for the disorderly officer in casemates sq!!

Harstad, Norway | Marines in naked rap | The Sun |HomePage|News

 I suggest that the MoD spokesman is sacked immediatly, if he thinks stripping naked, and pissing on each other is “out of character” for Marines, then he’s not got the experience needed for this job.

Marines strip at the drop of a hat!  It’s tradition!

BAE puts HERTI on show in Singapore - UPI.com

What a load of B&llocks!!  I was there when it was trialled, and it nearly crashed!!  It had engine failure on finals!!

BBC NEWS | England | Beds/Bucks/Herts | Coroner attacks MoD over failure
The inquest heard how, before the incident on 11 June, 7 Para soldiers had complained repeatedly about a lack of proper equipment - chiefly standard night vision kits and weaponry.
Mr Walker, assistant coroner for Oxfordshire, said: “They (the soldiers) were defeated not by the terrorists but by the lack of basic equipment.”
He said sending troops into a combat zone without basic kit was “unforgivable and inexcusable” and “a breach of trust between the soldiers and those who govern them”.

He recorded a narrative verdict in which he said Capt Philippson was unlawfully killed.

Yes, bu his own government!  This has got to stop right now.  It’s criminal to have any sort of budget cuts in defence whilst we are going out on these operations.  If there is a squeeze on any budget, then eventually someone at the bottom of the chain says “let’s only take half the night vision goggles we need!”

I’m currently out on Salisbury plain playing a tiny part in the preparation of 16 Air Assault Brigade’s build up training prior to deploying to Afghanistan in March.

How serious do you think this training should be taken?  VERY? Well, just imagine how difficult it is to replicate the real conditions when you A. have ony 2/3 of the vehicles you expect to have out there.  B. You are missing weapons that you will have when you get out there.  C. There is not the available helicopter or air power to replicate what you will have out there?  Why have we not got this?  Because its ALL out there. 

I’m sure that a prime minister said that commanders would get everything they needed????

Here is one of the better bits from Al Murray “The Pub Landlord”

Not PC, but hugely amusing!

BBC NEWS | Education | Three Little Pigs ‘too offensive’

I actually think this article may be a spoof, ‘cos it’s just too ridiculous to be real.

Say it ain’t so BECTA.

Hat tip to Kristee for this.