Category Archives: Royal Air Force

UK prepared to deploy RAF Typhoons to keep strait of Hormuz open after Iran war

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Proposal at heart of offer made during a 30-country two-day meeting jointly organised by France

Britain is prepared to deploy a squadron of RAF Typhoons based in Qatar to patrol over the strait of Hormuz as part of a multinational mission to keep open the strategic waterway once the Iran war comes to an end.

The UK military also offered to deploy mine-hunting drones and specialist divers to help clear the strait mined by Iran – but no decision has been made on whether HMS Dragon or another warship would also be deployed.

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Is it time for the UK to acknowledge the ‘rhetoric to reality gap’ on its military power?

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Forces have been stripped back since the cold war but political stasis is dangerous in the face of growing global threats

• Middle East crisis – live updates

It will have been more than three weeks since the US and Israel first attacked Iran when the first British warship finally arrives off the coast of Cyprus, a belated defensive deployment that has highlighted the lack of military capacity available to the UK.

Nominally, HMS Dragon was one of three destroyers available out of six. In reality the warship has had to be hauled out of dry dock, prepared and then, after launch, tested for several days in the Channel. Its arrival date is still unconfirmed.

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UK preparing aircraft carrier for possible Middle East deployment

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Royal Navy readying HMS Prince of Wales so it can be quickly deployed if decision made to mobilise it to region

The UK is preparing an aircraft carrier before a possible deployment to the Middle East, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Royal Navy workers in Portsmouth are readying HMS Prince of Wales, the navy’s flagship, meaning it could be deployed more quickly if a decision is made to mobilise it to the region.

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Cyprus raises doubts about future of British bases on island after drone strike

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Foreign minister wants ‘conversation’ about closing UK military sites following lack of warning of impending attack on RAF Akrotiri

Cyprus’s foreign minister has said there are “questions” about the future of the UK’s military bases on the island after the drone strike last Sunday.

The attack on RAF Akrotiri, suspected to have been launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon, caused minimal damage and did not result in casualties.

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Britain sends RAF specialists to help Belgium combat disruptive drones

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Incursions halted flights at Brussels and Liège airports last week with Russia said to be the most likely culprit

Britain is deploying Royal Air Force specialists to help Belgium counter drone threats to the country’s airports after disruptive sightings last week that some politicians blamed on Russia.

Sir Richard Knighton, the head of the UK’s armed forces, said the British military would provide “our people, our equipment” to help Belgium, though he was careful to say “we don’t yet know” the origin of the drones seen last week.

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Palestine Action expected to be banned after vandalism of planes at RAF base

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Home secretary plans to proscribe group that broke into Brize Norton, effectively branding it a terrorist organisation

The pro-Palestine group that broke into RAF Brize Norton sparking a major security review is expected to be banned by the government next week in a move which will anger campaigners.

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is planning to proscribe Palestine Action, effectively branding it a terrorist organisation.

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UK launches Yemen airstrikes, joining US campaign against Houthi rebels

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RAF jets target buildings used to make drones, officials say, in Britain’s first involvement since Trump took office

British fighter jets joined their US counterparts in airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels overnight, the first military action authorised by the Labour government and the first UK participation in an aggressive American bombing campaign against the group.

RAF Typhoons, refuelled by Voyager air tankers, targeted a cluster of buildings 15 miles south of the capital, Sana’a, which the UK said were used by the Houthis to manufacture drones that had targeted shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

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RAF fighters scrambled twice to intercept Russian planes last week

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Incidents over Baltic Sea come after UK’s deployment of six jets to eastern Poland to defend Nato airspace

RAF fighter jets have intercepted two Russian aircraft flying close to Nato airspace over the Baltic Sea.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said two RAF Typhoons were scrambled from Malbork airbase in Poland on Tuesday to intercept a Russian Ilyushin Il-20M “Coot-A” intelligence aircraft.

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John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway, the last Battle of Britain pilot, dies aged 105

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The pilot, whose squadron shot down 90 enemy aircraft in an 11-day period in 1940, called himself the ‘lucky Irishman’

The last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, John “Paddy” Hemingway, has died aged 105.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) said Hemingway, a member of “the Few” who took to the skies during the second world war, died peacefully on Monday.

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Starmer unlikely to unveil plan for rise in defence spending this week, says minister

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Bridget Phillipson calls 2.5% target ‘ambitious’ days before PM meets with Donald Trump in Washington

Keir Starmer is unlikely to set out a plan this week for when the UK will increase its defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, a cabinet minister has indicated.

The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said the target was ambitious, despite Labour previously claiming it would set out a path to meeting the spending goal after the strategic defence review in the spring.

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UFO expert not ruling out Russia or China links to drones seen at RAF bases

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Sightings over three airbases in East Anglia could relate to foreign powers’ concerns about possible nuclear weapons

A British former UFO hunter has said he does not “rule out” recent drone incursions over RAF bases in England being connected to Russia and China and nuclear weapons.

Unidentified drones were spotted in November over three airbases in the east of England that are used by the US air force (USAF).

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Unidentified drones spotted over three UK airbases, US air force confirms

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Unmanned aerial systems seen over RAF bases in Suffolk and Norfolk but US air force does not know if they were hostile

A number of unidentified drones have been spotted over three airbases in Britain, the US air force has confirmed.

“Small unmanned aerial systems” were seen between 20 and 22 November over RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk.

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Houthis say at least 16 killed in UK and US strikes in Yemen

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Rebel group says strikes, aimed at underground facilities and missile launchers, killed and wounded civilians

A joint US and UK air raid on Houthi missile launchers in Yemen has killed 16 people and injured more than 40, according to the Houthi health ministry.

There is no independent way of confirming the death toll, but if accurate it would represent the single largest loss of life since the US and UK started their campaign to degrade the Houthi military in January.

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RAF grounds Spitfire fleet after death of pilot in Battle of Britain air display

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Announcement raises questions about aircraft’s participation in national D-day event in Portsmouth

The RAF has grounded a fleet of Spitfire planes after the death of a pilot over the weekend, raising the prospect of the legendary aircraft being absent from the 80th anniversary of the D-day landings next month.

Sqn Ldr Mark Long – a Typhoon pilot based at RAF Coningsby – was killed in a crash while flying a Spitfire belonging to the Battle of Britain Memorial Fleet as part of a memorial event.

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William and Kate lead tribute to RAF pilot killed in memorial event crash

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Airman died at the scene after second world war-era plane came down near RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire

The Prince and Princess of Wales have led tributes to an RAF pilot who was killed in a Spitfire crash while taking part in a Battle of Britain memorial event.

The airman, who has not yet been named by police, died at the scene from his injuries after the second world war-era plane came down near RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire at about 1.20pm on Saturday.

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Pilot dies in Spitfire crash in field near RAF Coningsby base in Lincolnshire

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Plane was part of RAF Battle of Britain memorial flight, which maintains historic aircraft in airworthy condition

A pilot has died after a Spitfire crashed in a field near an RAF base in Lincolnshire, a Royal Air Force spokesperson has confirmed.

“It is with great sadness that we must confirm the death of an RAF pilot in a tragic accident near RAF Coningsby today,” a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said.

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About 270,000 UK forces records exposed to Chinese hackers

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Payroll data at risk includes names, bank details and addresses of current and former force members, government sources suggest

An 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 January 2018. It was managed by a private contractor, SSCL.

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Rishi Sunak intervened to ensure VIP helicopter contract was not cancelled

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Prime minister – often criticised over fondness for air travel – asked Grant Shapps to act

Rishi Sunak personally intervened to stop the scrapping of a contract providing VIP helicopter transport for himself and senior ministers, it has emerged.

Earlier this year, Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, ended a £40m contract for two private helicopters used by politicians and senior defence staff, which are crewed by RAF personnel and based at the Northolt airbase in west London. The contract was due to come to a close at the end of September.

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WW2 bomber crew’s remains identified 80 years after plane shot down over Netherlands

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Burials can go ahead of men who never returned from bombing mission over Germany in 1943

Eighty years after they were shot down by the Germans over Dutch waters, British airmen Arthur Smart, Raymond Moore and Charles Sprack can be laid to rest after the Dutch defence ministry confirmed their remains had been identified.

Two silver-plated cigarette cases were found with the initials of the 27-year-old flight engineer Smart and 21-year-old wireless operator Moore.

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Top Gun sense of exceptionalism fuelled Red Arrows’ culture of sexism

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Harassment and bullying flourished within the elite display team, enabled by a sense that the rules don’t apply

It was intended to be a hard-hitting review into allegations of sexism, harassment and bullying in the elite Red Arrows display team. The inquiry was concerned that the squadron was “not a safe environment” for women and said it was “highly likely” women would be subject to unlawful harassment.

The report makes a generalised list, ranging from “unwanted physical contact” to unwanted texts of a sexual nature; unsought invitations to engage in sexual activity to a broader attitude of “male sexual entitlement”. But what comes shortly after is a classic case of overzealous Ministry of Defence secrecy.

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