Military news

• ‘I’m not profiting from misery. I’m averting more’ – Thales’s UK boss on making missiles for Ukraine

  26-03-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Whether manufacturing drones or printing British blue passports, the defence contractor is flying high in a geopolitically risky climateFor a “ferocious remainer”, Alex Cresswell is remarkably proud of his blue passport. For some, the dark rectangle on his office table is a sad symbol of Britain’s departure from the EU. But while the Thales UK boss describes watching the Brexit squabbles in Westminster from his decade-long posting at the company’s Paris HQ as “excru
  
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• Graffiti-covered door from French revolutionary wars found in Kent

  15-05-2024 08:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Markings include public executions and a sailing ship chiselled into door in 1790s by bored English soldiersA scratched wooden door found by chance at the top of a medieval turret has been revealed to be an “astonishing” graffiti-covered relic from the French revolutionary wars, including an carving that could be a fantasy of Napoleon Bonaparte being hanged.Over 50 individual graffiti carvings were chiselled into the door in the 1790s by bored English soldiers stationed at Dover Cast
  
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• Grant Shapps, the lighthearted defence secretary with a gag for every warhead | John Crace

  14-05-2024 19:43 via theguardian.com
  
  The minister did the media rounds, reassuring the public with his infinite levitas that we were safe from our foesCometh the hour, cometh the man. On Monday, Rishi Sunak had laid out his terrifying vision of the future. The collapse of western civilisation. A world of plague and pestilence. Where nuclear war had become a recreational hazard. The British government reduced to infants. Mewling and puking in their mothers’ arms.Enter the Shappster. Man in tights. Rish!’s very own superh
  
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• UK armed forces being trained to cover possible Border Force summer strikes

  14-05-2024 17:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Soldiers spotted at Home Office facilities in England as results of PCS union’s national ballot expectedMembers of the armed forces are being trained once again to cover for striking Border Force staff at ports and airports, the Guardian has learned.Dozens of uniformed soldiers have been seen at Home Office facilities in south-east England amid concerns that the UK could be about to enter another summer of travel chaos. Continue reading...
  
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• British armed forces personnel trained up in case of Border Force strikes over summer

  14-05-2024 16:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Soldiers spotted at Home Office facilities in England as results of PCS union’s national ballot expectedMembers of the armed forces are being trained once again to cover for striking Border Force staff at ports and airports, the Guardian has learned.Dozens of uniformed soldiers have been seen at Home Office facilities in south-east England amid concerns that the UK could be about to enter another summer of travel chaos. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘Who do you trust to keep you safe?’: Sunak to fight next election on UK’s security

  13-05-2024 14:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Prime minister says in speech he will frame Tories as party of the future, while Labour has negative agendaRishi Sunak has vowed to fight the next election on the UK’s security, attacking Labour and Keir Starmer in a fiercely political speech in which he said: “The choice at the next election is: who do you trust to keep you safe?”The prime minister said in his speech he would frame the Conservatives as the party of the future, but also defended the party’s record over th
  
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• UK given stark warning over ‘very limited’ air defence systems

  12-05-2024 18:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Key defence contractor says UK’s capabilities are ‘negligible’ as a result of long-term under-investmentBritain’s air defence systems are “very limited, to the point of being negligible”, a key defence contractor has claimed, as the Ministry of Defence warned of the gravest risk of attack from the skies in 30 years.Northrop Grumman UK, a leading provider of defence technology to the RAF and Royal Navy, offered its assessment in response to questioni
  
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• UK given stark warning over ‘negligible’ air defence systems

  12-05-2024 18:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Key defence contractor says UK’s capabilities are ‘very limited’ as a result of long-term under-investmentBritain’s air defence systems are “very limited, to the point of being negligible”, a key defence contractor has claimed, as the Ministry of Defence warned of the gravest risk of attack from the skies in 30 years.Northrop Grumman UK, a leading provider of defence technology to the RAF and Royal Navy, offered its assessment in response to questio
  
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• UK armed forces chief urges US to ‘stay strong’ and resist isolationism

  08-05-2024 16:45 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Sticking together’ is vital as world becomes more dangerous, says Adm Sir Tony Radakin on Washington visitBritain’s most senior military commander has called on the US to “stay strong, stick together, and see through” conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as he appealed against future American isolationism on a trip to Washington DC.Adm Sir Tony Radakin said at a conference he believed “the world is undeniably becoming more dangerous” and invoked mem
  
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• About 270,000 UK forces records exposed to Chinese hackers

  07-05-2024 21:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Payroll data at risk includes names, bank details and addresses of current and former force members, government sources suggestAn estimated 270,000 payroll records belonging to nearly all members of Britain’s armed forces have been exposed to Chinese hackers in a breach at a third-party contractor that was discovered a few days ago.The data at risk includes names and bank details for full-time military personnel, part-time reservists, including at least one MP, and veterans who left after
  
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• 270,000 UK forces records thought to have been exposed to Chinese hackers

  07-05-2024 11:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Payroll data at risk includes names, bank details and addresses of current and former force members, government sources suggestAn estimated 270,000 payroll records belonging to nearly all members of Britain’s armed forces have been exposed to Chinese hackers in a breach at a third-party contractor that was discovered a few days ago.The data at risk includes names and bank details and, in a few thousand instances, addresses and national insurance numbers of current and recently departed mem
  
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• Russia threatens UK military and orders nuclear drills after ‘provocation’

  06-05-2024 17:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Vladimir Putin responds to recent statements from David Cameron and Emmanuel Macron over Ukraine warUkraine war – live updatesRussia has threatened to strike British military facilities and ordered its military to hold battlefield nuclear weapons drills in a move the Kremlin described as a response to comments from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, on western troops fighting in Ukraine and from the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, on using British-supplied weapons against Rus
  
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• Former female trainee in Royal Marines says sexual assault was dismissed as ‘high jinks’

  06-05-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Marines ‘want to protect the chain of command’, she says. ‘They don’t want to protect women’When Isabel became a trainee for the Royal Marines band, she thought she was fulfilling a childhood dream. But within a few weeks the 18-year-old found herself subject to what she describes as a sexual assault, an incident that was rapidly dismissed by her commanding officers as “high jinks” – and subsequently felt ostracised to the point where she became su
  
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• Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting to bring photo ID

  02-05-2024 21:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Former PM made the requirement to bring photo ID a stipulation of the Elections Act in 2022Boris Johnson was turned away from his local polling station when trying to cast his vote in Thursday’s elections after forgetting to bring the required photo identity.The former prime minister was initially told by polling station staff he would not be allowed to vote in the police and crime commissioner election in South Oxfordshire without proving his identity. Continue reading...
  
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• Hearings into alleged war crimes by SAS in Afghanistan delayed into 2025

  02-05-2024 19:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Even with extra legal assistance, hearings into suspicious killings of 80 Afghans would be delayed until March 2025Detailed hearings into alleged war crimes committed by SAS soldiers in Afghanistan at a public inquiry are likely to be delayed into 2025, prompting a row between investigators and the Ministry of Defence.A letter, made public on Thursday, from a solicitor to the public inquiry addressed to the MoD complained of unacceptable delays in supplying evidence. The ministry responded by sa
  
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• The right to acquit based on conscience is rooted in Quaker pacifism | Letter

  02-05-2024 19:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Antony Barlow on how his grandfather helped introduce a ‘conscience clause’ against compulsory military service in 1916The report of Trudi Warner’s trial (Judge throws out case against climate activist who held sign on jurors’ rights, 22 April) being thrown out on the basis of jurors having the right to acquit a defendant based on their conscience, relates directly back to the so-called conscience clause introduced by a number of Quakers, including my grandfather, John He
  
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• Kremlin rejects US claims Russia used ‘chemical weapon’ in Ukraine

  02-05-2024 17:23
  
  DefenceTalkThe Kremlin on Thursday rejected allegations by the United States that Russian forces had used a “chemical weapon” in Ukraine and blasted new sanctions targeting Moscow’s key trading partners. The US State Department said Wednesday that Russia used “the chemical weapon chloropicrin” against Ukrainian forces. “As always, such accusations sound completely baseless and unsubstantiated,” Kremlin […]https://www.defencetalk.com/kremlin-reject
  
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• China’s new aircraft carrier conducts first sea trials: state media

  02-05-2024 17:20
  
  DefenceTalkChina’s Fujian aircraft carrier took to the water for maiden sea trials on Wednesday, state media said, a key next step in a vast naval build-up by Beijing as it carves out a more assertive role for itself in the Pacific and beyond. The Fujian is China’s third aircraft carrier after the Liaoning and the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinas-new-aircraft-carrier-conducts-first-sea-trials-state-media-80244/
  
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• Manta Ray UUV moves closer to operational readiness after successful tests

  02-05-2024 17:16
  DefenceTalkIn February and March 2024, the Manta Ray uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) prototype, developed by Northrop Grumman, underwent comprehensive in-water testing off Southern California’s coast. The tests assessed the UUV’s hydrodynamic performance, including submerged operations employing its various propulsion and steering modes such as buoyancy, propellers, and control surfaces. “Our successful, full-scale Manta Ray testing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/manta
  
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• Minister ‘sorry’ as veterans find ID cards not valid for English elections

  02-05-2024 15:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Johnny Mercer says he will ‘do all I can’ to change rules after veteran turned away from polling stationThe veterans minister has apologised to former military personnel who have been prevented from using their veterans ID in order to vote in the local elections in England on Thursday.Downing Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial new rules, which require photo ID in order to vote, to allow veterans’ ID cards on to the list of valid identificati
  
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• Minister ‘sorry’ as veterans find ID card not valid for English elections

  02-05-2024 15:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Johnny Mercer says he will ‘do all I can’ to change rules after veteran turned away from polling stationThe veterans minister has apologised to former military personnel who have been prevented from using their veterans ID in order to vote in the local elections in England on Thursday.Downing Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial new rules, which require photo ID in order to vote, to allow veterans’ ID cards on to the list of valid identificati
  
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• In 1945, I shared Labour’s goal of world peace. Now, aged 95, I’m closer to despair | Letter

  30-04-2024 18:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Frank Jackson is dispirited to see Britain raising military spending and the main parties banging war drums In 1945, when I made my first contribution to the election of a Labour government, the party manifesto Let Us Face the Future looked forward to a “world of progress and peace”. The UN was founded, in the words of its charter, “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. And the UK, as a member of the UN security council, was tasked with the implementati
  
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• Military horses injured galloping across London making progress, army says

  29-04-2024 23:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Quaker and Vida, who were among the animals who got loose, were hurt when they collided with vehicles but have now had surgeryThe two military horses who sustained injuries after colliding with vehicles in London are making progress after surgery, the British army has said.Quaker, a Cavalry black, and a grey horse called Vida were seen galloping through the streets of the capital after being frightened by builders moving rubble last Wednesday. The pair bolted while they were on an extended exerc
  
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• Two army veterans will not be prosecuted over 1971 Troubles deaths

  29-04-2024 21:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Prosecutors say there is not enough evidence to convict the former soldiers for the shooting of a girl, 14, and a man, 41, in DerryTwo British army veterans will not be prosecuted in relation to the deaths of a schoolgirl and unarmed civilian in two separate shooting incidents that took place in Northern Ireland over 50 years ago.Prosecutors said that in both cases – the deaths of Annette McGavigan, 14, and William McGreanery, 41, in Derry in 1971 – the available evidence was insuffi
  
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• Northern Ireland legacy act will harm Britain’s reputation, rights panel warns

  29-04-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Report concludes state sheltered soldiers from prosecution for Troubles-era crimes, as amnesty legislation comes into forceBritain’s reputation will be severely damaged by the Northern Ireland “legacy” act, an international panel of human rights experts has warned while calling for the government to scrap moves to grant conditional amnesties for Troubles-era crimes.The warning is being made as the legislation comes into force on Wednesday, offering soldiers and paramilitaries a
  
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• Keir Starmer needs to have a frank conversation with voters about the price of security | Andrew Rawnsley

  28-04-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  If defence spending has to rise, hard choices will have to be madeI’m not certain who minted the phrase, but it is an excellent one to describe the decade or so that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent implosion of the Soviet Union. The affluent liberal democracies were treated to “a holiday from history”.The west started turning its Cold War swords into ploughshares once its principal ideological and military adversary had departed the scene. The collapse o
  
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• Lancashire town locked down ‘after grenade donated to heritage centre’

  27-04-2024 22:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Emergency services corden off large area of Darwen while army bomb disposal unit removes and destroys grenadeA town centre in Lancashire was placed in lockdown on Saturday, with British army bomb disposal experts forced to remove and destroy a grenade.It is understood that a member of the public had donated items to a heritage centre in Darwen which included the grenade. Continue reading...
  
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• UK weighing sending troops into Gaza to distribute aid

  27-04-2024 20:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Risk-filled mission to escort aid from US-built floating pier into combat zone under consideration in defence ministryBritain’s defence ministry is considering sending troops into Gaza to escort trucks of aid being driven off a giant floating pier built by the US military, a UK defence source has said.The pier is due to be completed next month in the eastern Mediterranean, and then it will be pushed towards the Gaza shore. But the US president, Joe Biden, has pledged that American forces m
  
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• Did five frightened horses bolting through London really mean the end was neigh? | Michael Hogan

  27-04-2024 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  It says a lot about our turbulent times that we’ve started seeking omens in random eventsWoah there, cried the nation. Easy, boy. This week’s most arresting visuals came on Wednesday morning when runaway horses brought central London to a standstill. Five working animals from the Household Cavalry, based at Hyde Park barracks, were on exercise when they were spooked by noises from a building site and dramatically broke loose.The equine escapees caused chaos bolting through the capita
  
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• British army unsure if injured runaway horses will return to duties

  27-04-2024 14:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Vida and Quaker from the Household Cavalry are recovering from surgery after four horses broke loose in LondonThe army has said it is too early to know for sure if two military horses that suffered serious injuries after running loose through London will return to duties.Seven horses and six soldiers from the Household Cavalry were on an extended exercise in Belgravia on Wednesday when the horses were spooked by builders moving rubble. Continue reading...
  
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