The activity on the Scottish Devolution front is ramping up, lots of news to digest on the political front but this, the Secretary of State for Defence weighed in with an uncharacteristically forthright response to Alex Sammond and the Scottish National Party. The key themes for the SNP are easy enough to spell out - Scotlandwould not be a member of Nato and [...]
From the SNP’s Election manifesto Instead of cutting £500 million next year from the money Scotland has already earmarked to invest in recovery – at a potential cost of 9,000 jobs – we believe they should find the savings from those things that most Scots don’t want – for example, by scrapping the £5 billion ID card project and the [...]
I know this sounds like the title of some dodgy porn film but this is exactly what is happening with Trident, if we are to believe the papers and other media outlets By pushing Trident into the MoD’s Core Budget the tofu munching, yoghurt knitting class (that would be the Conservatives and Liberal Democrat’s) have effectively pushed us closer to [...]
Perhaps the Treasury are moving the Trident funds into the MoD’s budget, the MoD in effect getting more money but paying for Trident replacement. No, didn’t think that was likely Is a half rice/half chips moment looming where the MoD pay some and so does the Treasury? In the war of words between now and the Comprehensive Spending Review, which, [...]
RUSI have published another paper on the options for the UK’s nuclear deterrent. In the paper, Professor Chalmers assesses four possible options for maintaining both an effective nuclear deterrent and also reducing costs in light of anticipated budget restrictions. The options include: 1. A ‘Normally-CASD’ Submarine Force – Extend the Vanguard-class submarines, delay the start of peak spending on the [...]
Just been watching Liam Fox on the Andrew Marr show in which he asked Liam Fox if the Trident replacement would be in the core budget or not, pretty straightforward question. Were you expecting a straight answer? Here is what he said There has always been an understanding that the budget for the nuclear deterrent came from outside the defence [...]
With news filtering out that the Treasury wants any Trident replacement to be funded from the MoD’s core budget instead of a special reserve, I thought having another look at a cheaper way of doing this is timely. This news is a rumour, it may or may not happen and even if it does, who knows what will be included [...]
A good article from the Guardian At any moment, one of Britain’s four Trident submarines is out there, somewhere, patrolling a continent-sized patch of the Atlantic. When the 160-strong crew slip beneath the waves off Scotland’s west coast, that’s the last anyone sees of them for three months. Powered by a nuclear reactor, the submarines are almost silent and virtually [...]
In all the horse trading that accompanies the Conservative and Liberal Democrats rush to power one wonders if trident appears anywhere on a list of things that cannot be negotiated on? I predict; No decision on a Trident replacement but that it will be included in the forthcoming Strategic Defence and Security Review.
It is obvious that the replacement for the Vanguard class of SSBN submarines and Trident missile is unfinished business for many and it has emerged as a fundamental difference between the parties in the run up to the election. In a letter to The Times a number of former ‘serious people’ have openly questioned the Liberal Democrat approach to defence [...]
The comments on the earlier post about the Liberal Democrat election manifesto got me thinking, are there cheaper alternatives than 4 new boats and a refreshed Trident? Air Launched We all understand that an air launched Tomahawk is unlikely to survive against a modern, integrated air defence system any air launched system would need another delivery missile. The Storm Shadow [...]
So in the last instalment written for Think Defence as part of the FDR series I concentrated on the surface fleet. By comparison the submarine service is easier to discuss, yet more contentious; because I am going to include discussion of the nuclear deterrent. SSN fleet As is well known the the SSN fleet will shrink to 7 with the [...]
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