In the course of my research for the UK Military Bridging series I have used British Pathe quite a bit, it is a fantastic resource for researching almost any subject and not only for UK subjects. One of my favourite clips is one on the Royal Army Service Corps, the forerunner of today’s Royal Logistic Corps. Click here for an [...]
A Chinook helicopter of 1310 Flt, 27 Squadron RAF collects an underslung load to deliver supplies to a Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan. The Chinooks provide a vital link keeping troops on the ground supplied with everything from food and water to ammunition. This image was a winner in the RAF 2011 Photographic Competition. Photographer: Flt Sgt Graham Spark (RAF)
I have been following the unmanned Kaman/Lockheed Martin K-Max since the idea was first mooted, I think it is a sound concept, whether it is affordable is of course another matter. The latest information from the team as it has passed the QRA milestone
California born engineer and inventor Keith W. (Tant) Tantlinger, he was aged 92 and died at home in Escondido, California last week. Although strictly speaking he was not the inventor of the container, instead, he invented the corner casting and twist lock system that enabled them to become a practical commercially viable and revolutionise logistics The New York Times has a [...]
Not sure how I got to the end of this video, mexeflotes, Griffon hovercraft, Faun trackway and a BARV; all in one place Nurse
Its about time we got back to containers but this time I thought a look at how they are moved by a single remarkable piece of equipment would be interesting. In the late nineties the US Army recognised the need to take advantage of civilian containerisation and issued an operational requirements document to which Kalmar, Caterpillar and Liftking Industries responded. [...]
This is an update of an earlier post on logistics software, bought right up to date by yet another report from the National Audit Office that kicks the MoD in the love spuds. It is on a subject that does not quite have the allure of Typhoons but is just, if not, more important. We all rightly froth about major [...]
Scapa Flow is synonymous with the Royal Navy but plans announced recently might see it recognised as the ‘greenest’ container port in the world. This is one of my favourite subjects to write about and one which we and those interested in defence, tend to forget, the subject? Logistics Back to Scapa Flow… Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands could become [...]
With the impending sale of RFA Largs Bay we had an interesting comment on an old post about mexeflotes from an Australian asking if the mexeflotes would be included in the sale. Of course, we don’t know but he also asked who made them. Time for a trip down mexeflote lane. To understand where the mexeflote comes from it is [...]
ISO containers are in widespread use in the world of logistics, as we all know. Whether being used to transport materials inter theatre or from a main operating base to a forward operation base. Wherever containers are used there is the return leg to consider, in a civilian context it is the cost of returning empty containers that is the [...]
With the Army still thinking about a DROPS replacement, wondering what to do with the EPLS UOR after Afghanistan and my ongoing fetish for containers I thought a post on handling systems would be fun. The demographic and cost pressure will mean that all the armed forces are going to have to do with less people so those that remain [...]
In a rare bit of good news the RAF has taken delivery of its 7th and probably final C17 Globemaster transport aircraft. The MoD news piece was clear on the benefits The aircraft, the seventh C-17 acquired by the RAF, is capable of flying non-stop to Afghanistan and can carry up to 138 people, a Chinook helicopter, or up to [...]
There have been a couple of quite interesting Parliamentary questions recently. The first was tabled by Angus Robertson of the SNP, enquiring about moving supplies to Afghanistan by air and the difference between the RAF and chartered civilian aircraft. Angus Robertson (Moray, Scottish National Party) To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the (a) [...]
This is the final post in the series, a look at logistic and support issues. With a reduction in fleet size it is logical that the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is also reduced. Recent announcements have confirmed the following With a smaller surface fleet these requirements are correspondingly lower, and hence we have decided to withdraw from service the Auxiliary Oiler [...]
Hold on you might say, has Think Defence gone off the reservation and started blogging about driveways? With all the depressing SDSR analysis I have decided to drop back into the comfort zone of logistics! As part of my research for an upcoming post on rapid airfield construction I came across a system of rapidly laying block paving. It’s not [...]
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