Seems like so many stuff surrounding the CIWS, no 100% clear field of fire.

British Army medical personnel numbers drop 23% below operational numbers as medics leave the service due to 'punitive' government tax policies



The Defence Medical Services (DMS) is facing a workforce crisis; the latest available data shows that that are 558 trained medical officers in the Armed Forces when operational capacity should be at 723, a 23 per cent shortfall.

Armed forces doctors are being driven away by government policy that is penalising experienced doctors with exorbitant and unexpected tax bills on their pensions.

As with their colleagues in the NHS, these valuable medical professionals are having to reduce their working hours or considering ending their careers early as they are effectively punished for working tirelessly to care for patients.

While tax reform is the long-term solution to this problem, the BMA is also pressing for flexibilities to be introduced into the NHS and armed forces' pension scheme, to give public servants the same freedom to avoid these punitive taxes that is enjoyed by workers in the private sector.

Restrictions which came into effect in 2016 mean doctors who earn more than £110,000 a year enter a 'taper zone' which triggers big tax bills.

This can reduce the annual allowance – the tax-free amount workers can contribute to their pension – to £10,000 for those earning £210,000.

These impacts of the punitive pension taxation scheme, exacerbated as they are for armed forces' doctors, are now the most commonly cited cause for armed forces doctors to leave the service prematurely

Indeed, in a document seen by the armed forces committee, within some key specialities, every consultant has indicated an intention to resign from service within the next 12 months.

If this situation is allowed to continue, loss of key specialities will mean that MoD will be unable to deploy a military hospital abroad.

This in turn would mean that MoD would be unable to deploy troops abroad for whatever reason the country may need.

3 Malaysian representatives chosen to attend premier US military academies




Muhammad Aniq Hilman Haslimi, Grace Sian Ern Hui, and Mateshan Varma Subramaniam, all 19, have been appointed to pursue their studies and prepare to become military officers at three prestigious United States service academies.

Chosen to represent Malaysia after undergoing a rigorous selection process, they left for the US on June 17 and 18.

The students previously completed their foundation studies at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM).

Aniq, who was accepted to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, said: “I chose the armed forces instead of going commercial as I wanted to do something different. And I opted to go into the navy as I heard that the navy produces better pilots than the air force.”

Grace Sian Ern Hui, who hails from Ampang, says she feels honoured to be the second Malaysian female cadet ever to study at a US service academy.

Sian aspires to be a fighter jet pilot upon graduation from the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Mateshan, who is originally from Ipoh, comes from a military family, with his father and brother having served the country.

“Now I’m going to join one of the best military academies in the world,” said Mateshan, who will attend the US Military Academy in West Point, New York.

Expected to graduate in 2023, the students will be joining the exclusive ranks of 30 Malaysians who have graduated from the American military academies since 1971.

Only 15 international candidates are accepted to each academy annually.

RAF curently has smallest combat aircraft fleet in its history as its beloved Panavia Tornado fleet is retired



The RAF now has the smallest combat fleet in its history having lost nearly half its aircraft in the last twelve years.

Britain's new supersonic F-35 Lightning fighter jets have just completed their first operational missions – rooting out the remnants of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq in 14 sorties over the past ten days.

But following the retirement earlier this year of the last of the Air Force's beloved Tornados, the UK's 17 Lightnings are part of a forward available fleet of just 119 fast attack jets, down 43 per cent from 210 in 2007. The RAF's workhorse, the Tornado, the last of which were retired earlier this year, made up more than 75 per cent of the fleet.

It leaves the air force smaller than at any time since its creation during the First World War.

The RAF said number of aircraft does not equate to capability and it has the jets it needs to meet its commitments.

But military analysts have warned that whatever the sophisticated capabilities of the fourth- and fifth-generation planes of which the fleet is now comprised, 'no aircraft, no matter how capable, can be in more than one place at any time'.

The UK has pledged to buy a total of 138 F-35B Lightnings. But even the first batch, of 48, will not be fully delivered until 2024 at a cost of more than £9bn.

RAF Red Arrows' North American tour promotional tweet blunders as image of Russian fighter plane is used instead



Government officials have made an 'embarrassing blunder' by using an image of a Russian fighter jet on a poster promoting the RAF's famous Red Arrows.

The Department for International Trade has been building excitement about the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team's upcoming visit to the US on Twitter.

But in a post detailing how the BAE Hawk T1 jets can fly at 48,000ft, the department used an outline of a Russian Sukhoi Su-30/33 fighter.

Several military aviation experts were quick to point the mistake out and the DIT later deleted the tweet.

Between August to October the Red Arrows will be performing in shows and events across 18 cities in the US and Canada.