Military Resettlement, Business, Training & Recruitment
Brimstone missiles are carried by RAF Tornado aircraft in Afghanistan and were also used on operations over Libya. Defence Equipment Minister Philip Dunne agreed the contract and has just returned from a visit to Helmand where he met RAF personnel who use the weapon
At Évreux-Fauville Air Base near Paris the aircraft will be loaded with armoured vehicles and other military equipment for transport to the Malian capital, Bamako. French forces are assisting the Malian government to contain rebel and extremist groups in the north of the country.
On Saturday, 12 January, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, spoke to President François Hollande of France about how the UK can support French military assistance being provided to the Malian government to contain rebel and extremist groups in the north of the country. As a result of this, the UK has offered, at French request, 2 transport aircraft to help quickly transport foreign troops and equipment to the West African country.
The Minister of State for the Armed Forces , Andrew Robathan, and the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology , Philip Dunne, visited personnel in Afghanistan to witness first-hand the progress being made in mentoring Afghan forces to take on their own security challenges. During their visit, they also met with International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) and Afghan military commanders as well as Afghanistan’s Ministers for Defence and Interior in the capital Kabul
Flight 217 of 815 Naval Air Squadron is currently deployed on board the French frigate FLF Surcouf as part of Operation Atalanta, the EU ’s counter-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa. The Lynx was sent ahead by the French warship to find the suspected pirates after the USS Halyburton, operating as part of NATO ’s Operation Ocean Shield , received a distress call from a merchant vessel reporting she was under attack from 6 men armed with rocket-propelled grenades. Boarding teams approach a suspected pirate vessel as Flight 217’s Lynx helicopter hovers above [Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2013] Although the MSC Jasmine, sailing 260 miles off the Somali coast, managed to repel the attack themselves, a German EU maritime patrol aircraft was scrambled to track the suspect vessel, which was by then towing another boat with several more men on board.
25 volunteers from the Plymouth-based frigate’s company headed to the village of Kigamboni while their ship was berthed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The sailors helped to install windows and doors in the community centre building, repaired fencing, and built ‘hugle beds’, which will be used to grow vegetables in dry conditions.
BAE Systems released a statement confirming that the deal is worth some £2.5 billion and equips the Sultan’s Armed Forces with the most sophisticated aircraft on the market today.