unconfirmed report of isis leader baghdadi captured by syrian and russian army
more to come if confirmed

MoD chiefs plan to disband an armored infantry brigade to cut costs although £380m has been paid to upgrade its Warrior IFVs


A British Army Warrior IFV

Defence bosses have spent millions refurbishing British armored vehicles which as well could be scrapped soon.

At least £381million has been given to Lockheed Martin over six years to overhaul and fit new gun turrets to Britain's ageing fleet of Warriors, which have served in the Gulf, Bosnia and Iraq.

But Ministry of Defence documents forecast the Warrior upgrade is a year behind schedule, with the programme incurring millions in extra costs as a result of delays.

Up to 380 new Warriors were to be upgraded under the original 2016 plans, forming the backbone of two armoured infantry brigades planned as part of a reorganisation of the army.

However, The Times reported last month that one of these brigades could well be disbanded, with hundreds of its fighting vehicles scrapped as part of a drive to cut defence costs.

A review of the overall defence spending programme is also under way, which has led to speculation over cuts to the Royal Marines and the navy's amphibious assault vehicles as well as the Warrior programme.

Labour's Kevan Jones, a former defence minister, said: 'Minsters need to urgently explain how £381 million has already been spent on a vehicle that might now only be deployed in very limited numbers.




The British Army continues its slide downwards.....

lol.. i am not a journalist nor am i a news channel...

well, that's how indonesia took over their land



sad... prolly their aircraft carrier and brexit suck too much juice already

Cockpit screenshot of Indonesian PT Dirgantara new N219 Nurtanio light aircraft.

You seem to trust OPM's propaganda more.

It's a fact that many of their arguments are baseless. But, it is a fact that Papua is better and safer than PNG. Much of PNG is lawless and crime is rampant.

Don't trust me...read travel blogs of foreigners visiting PNG and West Papua....big differences

i dont trust either... i just share their news... from both sides

while i agree papua would be better off in terms of security with indon but on other matters its a different story

If you dont trust either then why putting your own word such as propaganda in your post. This clearly positioned yourself not neutral in this matter and more one sided.

This is what OPM propaganda looks like:



Read more: http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-29/w...-say-un/9001538

This post has been edited by azriel: Nov 13 2017, 03:42 PM

there's no rule to say i cant put my own words and there's no declaration stating i am neutral...

Then so be it.

ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet 2017

Disbanding armoured infantry brigade =/= scrapping Warrior

There will be redistribution of men and vehicles across units because the Army is trying to change from a balanced brigade system to heavy-medium brigade system but its unlikely the Warriors will be scrapped as it is a core unit of the army

Green Beret Discovered SEALs’ Illicit Cash. Then He Was Killed

The story surrounding the slaying of Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar keeps unraveling, starting with the SEALs-turned-suspects’ assertion that the soldier was drunk the night he died.



KEVIN MAURER
SPENCER ACKERMAN
11.12.17 8:00 PM ET
Logan Melgar hadn’t had a drink on June 4.

The Green Beret sergeant’s dry day became a key to unraveling the narrative spun by the elite Navy commandos whom military investigators now suspect killed him, officials familiar with the case said.

Melgar, a staff sergeant in the Army’s 3rd Special Forces Group, was specifically selected for an intelligence operation in the West African nation of Mali. He was well respected by the American Embassy staff and the partner forces there, a former U.S. Africa Command official said. But shortly before he died, Melgar told his wife that he had a bad feeling about two of his partners in that effort, both of whom were members of SEAL Team Six.



Not wanting to say much more, Melgar informed his wife, Michelle, that he’d tell her the full story when he got back home, according to an official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still ongoing.

Now those two Navy SEALs are under investigation for killing Melgar—an investigation, first reported by The New York Times, sending shockwaves throughout the special-operations community. Military experts were hard-pressed to think of another case where elite U.S. troops turned on one another.

This account is based on five members of the special-operations community who were not cleared to speak publicly. Representatives of both U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) declined comment for this story, as the Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has an active investigation into Melgar’s death. NCIS would not comment beyond confirming the investigation is underway.



Dirty Money, Damning Excuse



This post has been edited by Fat & Fluffy: Nov 13 2017, 10:22 PM

That would be true if that is the case, but according to the news report, this is not a simple reorganization/conversion of the brigades, but a major cost-cutting measure. Not that much can be saved by simply disssolving the brigade and folding existing units into the remaining brigades, thus rendering the cost-cutting measure moot. While you remove (a bit) the administration costs, the bulk of the costs, vehicle maintenance and personnel costs still remain.

Not to mention that the modernization process of the 600 Warrior IFVs by Lockheed Martin (started back in 2011) has been delayed so much that millions of pounds of cost overruns has been accumulated on top of the initial costs, further eating into already strained UK defence budget.

EU paves formal integration of European defence forces with signing of PESCO agreement



SUMMARY
Defense and foreign ministers from 23 European Union countries signed up to a plan to establish the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), which will allow countries to cooperate more closely on security operations and building up military capability.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini described the signing of PESCO as a "historic moment in European defense."

The decision to launch PESCO, strongly backed by France and Germany, indicates Europe's move towards self-sufficiency in defense matters instead of relying solely on NATO. The EU, however, also stressed that PESCO is complimentary to NATO, in which 22 of the EU's 28 countries are members.

It's implementation has been expedited by the decision taken by the UK, a long critic of European defence cooperation, to leave the EU and by the urging of the newly elected pro-EU French president Emmanuel Macron. However, the final shape of the PESCO signatories is still undecided, with France favoring integrating a few key nations to oversee overall European defence and Germany favoring as many European participants as possible.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the launch, saying that he saw it as an opportunity to "strengthen the European pillar within NATO." Stoltenberg had previously urged European nations to increase their defense budget.

"I'm a firm believer of stronger European defense, so I welcome PESCO because I believe that it can strengthen European defense, which is good for Europe but also good for NATO," Stoltenberg said.

WHAT IS IT?
Under the scheme, EU member states will be able to develop greater military capabilities, invest in joint projects and increase the readiness of their troops.

Co-operating and harmonising requirements and pool resources in the fields related to defence equipment acquisition, research, funding and utilisation, notably the programs and initiatives of the European Defence Agency (e.g. Code of Conduct on Defence Procurement)

Capacity to supply, either at national level or as a component of multinational force groups, targeted combat units for the missions planned, structured at a tactical level as a battle group, with support elements including transport (airlift, sealift) and logistics, within a period of five to 30 days, in particular in response to requests from the United Nations Organization, and which can be sustained for an initial period of 30 days and be extended up to at least 120 days.

Capable of carrying out in the above timeframes the tasks of joint disarmament operations, humanitarian and rescue tasks, military advice and assistance tasks, conflict prevention and peace-keeping tasks, tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peace-making and post-conflict stabilisation.

Final negotiations are still ongoing, however it is expected a final agreement on the EU defence framework would be signed by December.

MEMBERSHIP
-Participation in PESCO is voluntary for all of the EU's 28 member states
-23 countries have signed up to the plan
-Ireland, Portugal and Malta are still undecided whether or not to join
-Denmark, which has a special opt-out status, is not expected to participate
-The United Kingdom, which is scheduled to leave the EU in 2019, is not part of PESCO either but can still choose to take part in certain aspects even after Brexit - if that participation is of benefit to the entire EU.
-Those who didn't sign initially can still join at a later date and countries not living up to their expected commitments could be kicked out of the group.

N. Korean soldier shot while defecting to S. Korea

A North Korean soldier was shot and injured by his own side Monday while defecting to South Korea at the border truce village of Panmunjom, the South's military said.

The soldier, thought to be low ranking, was shot in the shoulder and elbow and was picked up bleeding on the South side of a portion of the border known as the Joint Security Area (JSA).

It is rare for the North's troops to defect at the truce village, a major tourist attraction bisected by the borderline and the only part of the frontier where forces from the two sides come face-to-face.

"Our military has taken in a North Korean soldier after he crossed from a North Korea post towards our Freedom House," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement, referring to a building on the South side of the village.

A JCS official quoted by Yonhap news agency said the South's soldiers heard a gunshot and then retrieved the unarmed soldier in the mid-afternoon.

He was evacuated to a private hospital by a UN helicopter, the official added, saying the solider had regained consciousness but declining to comment on whether his injuries were life-threatening.

No personal details have been released but the soldier's uniform suggested he was low-ranking, Yonhap said.

Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/20...hwGRWdO0fFzm.99

H&K to supply new HK 416A7 rifles for German ground and naval Special Forces



On the 11 October the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) announced the selection of Heckler & Koch’s HK416A7 for Germany’s Special Forces.

The new rifle will be adopted as the G95 and will replace the older G36Ks currently in service with the Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) and the Kommando Spezialkräfte Marine (KSM). Some new images of the G95 have appeared online thanks to Europäische Sicherheit & Technik, one of Germany’s leading defence technology publications.

From this we know the HK416A7 will have a 14.5 inch barrel and is heavier than its predecessor, the A5, weighing 3.7kg or 8.2lbs. The contract calls for 1,745 rifles and accompanying accessories. From a post on ESUT’s facebook page we now know that these accessories include sound suppressors, slings and a full spares and training package.

Helicopter from 3rd RHC Etain crashes at Bar-le-Duc airfield





SOS;

Indonesian Marine Corps staged military training exercises with BTR-4M.

hence we need to wait for the actual news, because this could be misunderstanding of the reorganisation. Warrior IFV is so few as it is that I find it quite unlikely they will really scrap it.

any idea whether it is designed with a V hull?