With an increasing amount of the UK’s military systems now dependent on space technology, it can today be announced that RAF Air Command has assumed responsibility for command and control of UK military space operations to defend the UK’s interests in space.

The Defence Secretary has also confirmed his intention to boost the 500 personnel currently working in the UK defence space sector by a fifth over the next five years, taking the total to over 600.

The new Strategy, expected in the summer, will set out plans to protect UK operations against emerging space-based threats such as jamming of civilian satellites used for broadcasters and satellite navigation to support military capabilities

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

We must make sure we are primed and ready to deter and counter the intensifying threats to our everyday life that are emerging in space. That’s why today I’m announcing the RAF is taking the lead in this area and why we plan to increase the number of personnel covering space.

Satellite technology is not just a crucial tool for our Armed Forces but vital to our way of life, whether that be access to our mobile phones, the internet or television. It is essential we protect our interests and assets from potential adversaries who seek to cause major disruption and do us harm.

Britain is a world leader in the space industry and our defence scientists and military personnel have played a central role in the development of the EU’s Galileo satellite programme alongside British companies, so it is important we also review our contribution and how we plan for alternative systems in this crucial area.

As part of the EU’s Galileo programme, UK companies have led the way in developing innovative satellite technology. The UK has contributed €1.4bn (£1.2bn) in funding to the programme and provided vital ground infrastructure in the Falklands and the Ascension Islands. Participation in Galileo with the appropriate level of access and involvement remains our preferred option, however we are working on alternative options, and as part of this the MOD will work with the UK Space Agency to explore opportunities for UK companies.

Speaking at the conference, Defence Minister Guto Bebb said:

Space is a vital part our economy, with an industry worth £14 billion a year. With the launch of this Strategy, we are setting our aspirations much higher, to ensure that our industry continues to benefit from this growth in satellite technology. We are investing millions into Britain’s most innovative companies to help us launch forward in the space domain.

Speaking at the conference, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hiller said:

I am determined to ensure that the RAF’s leadership of military space operations transforms our ability to address the growing threats and hazards. In doing this, it is essential that we work jointly across Defence and with partners cross Government and internationally.

Satellites and space-based services provide communications, imagery, precision targeting and friendly force tracking for the Armed Forces. As the reliance on satellites continues to grow, any disruption could lead to severe consequences, whether by natural or man-made hazards, or intentional threats from hostile states. The Defence Space Strategy will examine how we can work with our allies across NATO and the five-eyes partnership to protect and defend our mutual space interests.

The Defence Space Conference is taking place from 21-22 May 2018 at 8 Northumberland Avenue, London, WC2N 5BY

Click here for the
MOD defence space strategy headlines
(PDF, 776KB, 2 pages)

Today 250 members of the Armed Forces are on parade in Windsor to help celebrate the Royal Wedding of HRH Prince Henry of Wales and Ms Meghan Markle.

The Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force are all providing ceremonial support to mark the occasion.
Units that hold a special relationship with Prince Harry were chosen at the request of Kensington Palace. Some of the troops performing ceremonial duties today served alongside Prince Harry during his ten years in the Army.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

I am proud that so many servicemen and women from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force will take part in the ceremonial aspects of the Royal couple’s wedding day.

For the whole country this is a joyous occasion and the presence of our troops reminds our nation and the entire world of the special and unique relationship between our Armed Forces and the Royal family.

Captain William Calder, who commanded a Half Company of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps lining the streets during the carriage procession, said:

It’s an honour for us to be on parade in Windsor today, helping the man we knew as Captain Wales celebrate an important day for him and his family. I hope the ceremonies we take part in today will help the whole country celebrate this happy occasion.

From 9.30am this morning, the Band of the Irish Guards entertained crowds as they gathered to watch events unfold around Windsor.

The State Trumpeters of the Band of the Household Cavalry then played fanfares in St George’s Chapel to mark the arrival of HM The Queen and Ms Meghan Markle ahead of the wedding service.

Members of the Household Cavalry lined the steps of St George’s Chapel as the guests left the wedding service. After the service, a Travelling Escort of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment accompanied the bride and groom during the carriage procession through Windsor.

The streets inside Windsor Castle were lined by servicemen and women from Royal Navy Small Ships and Diving, 30 Commando IX Group the Royal Marines, The 1st Battalion Irish Guards, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, and personnel from RAF Honington.

Prince Harry joined the Army in 2005 and was commissioned as an Officer in 2006 after training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He joined The Blues and Royals, one of two regiments in the Household Cavalry, in April 2006. Prince Harry served in the Army for ten years, undertaking two tours of Afghanistan and rising to the rank of Captain.

Both Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle have shown their continued support for serving Armed Forces personnel and veterans in their benevolent work, most recently in their support of the Invictus Games Foundation.

Building on previous LOGNET events and following the National Security Capability Review (NSCR) the next LOGNET event seeks to compliment the activity ongoing within the Modernising Defence Programme (MDP). Defence Logistics sees the opportunity to use LOGNET to develop thinking and activity influencing outcomes and future work as the department develops its next iteration of strategic direction.

Aim of LOGNET 18-1

The aim of LOGNET 18-1 is to update the network on the topics which are being investigated for development and to discuss in more detail some of the topics. It is then to enable the opportunity for industrial partners to consider the challenges faced, giving the opportunity for proposals to be brought back to Defence Logistics personnel within the linked 18-2 event.

LOGNET 18-1 content

The agenda for LOGNET 18-1: ‘Evolving Defence Logistics’ on 7 and 8 June 2018 will provide an update on Defence logistics challenges and opportunities. It will also progress from previous LOGNET work which has brought Defence Logistic focus to these areas:

• Rapid information infrastructure deployment
• Human/Computer Interface
• Reducing dependency demand, operational cost and logistics footprint on deployments
• Condition Based Maintenance/Predictive Maintenance & Monitoring Systems
• Space (Saving) Food Concept focussing on less transport mass, full nourishment
• Smarter Power Distribution
• Real-time monitoring, reporting and management of the condition of precious stock
• Battlefield Water Generation
• Battlefield Manufacturing (Additive Manufacturing)
• Automation, Robots, Drones and Remote Controlled (Hardware)
• Artificial Intelligence for logistics
• Quicker/Smart Contract Writing (Software)
• Mobile/Agile Warehousing
• Augmented Reality for training and surrogate expert repairs
• Codification and item data

LOGNET 18-1 will be held at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel at Heathrow Airport. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Parking at the hotel is free.

If your organisation is connected to the logistics and engineering support sector and you
would like to engage with the Defence Logistics community, please feel welcome to sign up here

Please sign up here.

An industry response event (LOGNET 18-2) is planned for 9 – 10 October 2018 where the industry will have the opportunity to showcase its solutions.

The Ministry of Justice granted a Licence to exhume and, a team of archaeologists from leading archaeology and heritage practice Wessex Archaeology, excavated 14 graves in March of this year.

Most, if not all, of the people buried were laid to rest wearing hob-nailed shoes or boots. One individual was buried with a spindlewhorl and another with a single coin. The coin (a nummus) was minted during the reign of the Emperor Flavius Valens between 364 and 378 AD and is likely to have been issued from Trier, London or Arles.

The small section of ditch, discovered during the excavation of the graves, is approximately 800 years earlier than the Romano-British cemetery and belongs to the Middle Iron Age (approximately 500 to 400 BC). It is entirely possible that the ditch once enclosed a settlement exploiting a prominent slope close to fertile soils.

Despite years of remodelling and redevelopment of the barracks, the graves survived reasonably well. They were located in a prominent position overlooking a gently sloping, south facing valley. The post excavation analysis phase has only just begun but already, there are tales to tell.

Cut through solid chalk, the graves were aligned either north south or west east and most contained one burial each. The individuals appear to have been buried in coffins or in plank-lined graves and, like many other cemeteries of a similar date, there were few grave goods. Wessex Archaeology has been engaged in major excavations on behalf of the Army Basing Programme (ABP) for a number of years and were commissioned by Lovell Partnerships to support their work in preparation of the land for the development of new family accommodation for Army personnel relocating to Wiltshire in 2019 from bases in Germany and within the UK.

The site of the former Corunna Barracks will see the construction of 242 new army family homes under the Army Basing Programme on behalf of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO). The development also includes land for a new primary school and community facility, public open space, play areas, landscaping, internal roads and associated infrastructure.

Corunna Barracks had its origins in the huge construction programme to build vehicle depots to maintain and store the military vehicles that replaced horse transport. Corunna Barracks played a vital role during Operation Bolero as a Central Vehicle Depot on the arrival of United States forces in Britain preparing for the invasion of occupied Europe in 1944.

The vehicle depot was closed in 1997 and was used for a time by the Medical Supplies Agency before its most recent use in support of major exercises on Salisbury Plain prior to deployments to Afghanistan. Project Manager Si Cleggett said:

We are in the embryonic stages of our investigations and will be in a position to offer more detail soon. The chance survival of this small group of late Romano-British burials will enhance our understanding of the area in the waning years of the Roman occupation. There are few records of Roman find-spots in and around Ludgershall but one of the Roman villas recorded at Shoddesdon Grange, Thruxton, Ragged Appleshaw and Redenham may have served as the administrative focus of large farming estates possibly including the Ludgershall area.

I often hear how mesmerised American tourists are by our incredibly rich heritage − I have recently wondered just how amazed American World War II troops drinking coffee in their canteen would have been to know their boots were only half a metre above the remains of people who lived there in the last days of Roman Britain!

Major General Richard Wardlaw OBE, the senior Army officer responsible for the Army Basing Programme, said:

The scale of the archaeology found at our ABP sites has been truly amazing, ranging from an insight into life 1,000 years before Stonehenge right up to World War 1 training tunnels and World War 2 artefacts. These latest finds shine a light into yet another era in the history of this part of Wiltshire and we are all keen to know the conclusions of Wessex Archaeology’s investigations.

Armed Forces Minister Mark Lancaster visited Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan and other NATO warships in the Black Sea on a visit to Georgia this week. During the two-day trip (16-18 May) the Minister also discussed regional defence and security issues with Georgian government officials.

HMS Duncan is the flagship of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 which is currently on deployment to the Black Seas alongside warships from eight other NATO nations, providing a tangible demonstration of the UK’s commitment to Black Sea security and Georgia’s aspirations for NATO and EU integration. The British Commander of the NATO Maritime Group, Commodore Mike Utley, and HMS Duncan’s Captain, Commander Eleanor Stacks, welcomed the Minister aboard where he was given a tour of the ship and met with the Ship’s Company.

Armed Forces Minister Mark Lancaster said:

Our security and defence relationship with Georgia is more vital now than ever. In the face of changing threats, it is essential that we work together with friendly nations that share our interests and values.

HMS Duncan’s Commanding Officer Commander Eleanor Stacks said:

Showing the Minister for the Armed Forces around the ship and him meeting personnel embarked was a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate the work we do as part of a NATO deployment and the impact we have as within the alliance’s collective defence measures.

Mark Lancaster thanked the personnel on board and acknowledged the sacrifice they make being away from their families whilst in support of the Alliance. The previous week, HMS Duncan had conducted a joint exercise with an RAF Typhoon, based in Romania as part of NATO’s enhanced Air Policing mission, and two Romanian Air Force MIG21s, designed to test the reaction and agility of NATO forces in a crisis scenario.

In addition to discussing regional defence and security issues with officials from the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defence, the visit provided an opportunity for the Minister to thank the Georgian Government and people for their support following the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury in March. Georgia was among 28 nations to expel Russian diplomats following the incident, standing shoulder to shoulder with the international community’s condemnation of the horrific attack.