01 April 2014 by Dean Wingrin - defenceWeb

The South African Air Force (SAAF) has grounded the Hawk trainer fleet following the crash of a jet whilst landing last Thursday.

The BAE Systems Hawk Mk 120 jet trainer, operated by 85 Combat Flying School, was performing a ‘touch and go’ at AFB Makhado when it experienced a control problem.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the control stick ‘locked’ shortly before touch-down, resulting in the aircraft slamming the front wheel onto the runway, bouncing and then hitting the runway again with the front wheel. This resulted in the front wheel breaking off and the Hawk sliding down the runway before coming to a halt.

Neither of the two crew aboard, who deploying the drag chute after the nose-wheel broke off in order to slow the aircraft, were injured.

As the damaged aircraft blocked the runway, other aircraft that were still in the air were forced to land on the taxiway. This was safely accomplished as when the airbase was built in the 1980s, the taxiway was designed to operate as a secondary runway in the event of the main runway being blocked or damaged.

AFB Makhado is situated near the town of Louis Trichardt in Limpopo Province. 85 Combat Flying School is equipped with the remaining 23 Lead-In Fighter Trainer (LIFT) Hawk jets of the 24 delivered as part of the 1999 Strategic Defence Package (SDP).

The other flying squadron operating from the base is 2 Squadron, equipped with the SAAB Gripen fighter.

Although no comment has yet been received from the Air Force or South African National Defence Force (SANDF), it is believed the official Board of Investigation commenced their enquiries on Monday.

New Navy Chief Samuel Hlongwane with previous Navy chief Johannes Mudimu

01 April 2014 by Dean Wingrin - defenceWeb

The South African Navy (SAN) has a new Chief. In a day full of traditional pomp and ceremony, Vice Admiral Johannes Mudimu handed over command to Rear Admiral Mosuwa Samuel Hlongwane on Monday March 31.

Hlongwane will be promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral with effect from April 1.

Mudimu was appointed as Chief of the SAN on March 1, 2005, a post he has held for the past nine years. During this time he played a major role putting the South African Navy in the forefront of several international treaties and programmes. He was instrumental in establishing the Sea Power for Africa initiative and is the outgoing chairman of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS). Furthermore he was a driving force in the SADC Maritime Strategy as well as the tripartite alliance between Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa to curb piracy in the Indian Ocean.

The arrival and integration of all three Type 209 submarines ordered under the 1999 Strategic Defence Package (SDP) occurred under his watch, with other highlights including the 2008 Presidential Fleet Review, the deployment of vessels during the 2010 Soccer World Cup and the anti-piracy patrols currently underway in the Mozambique Channel under Operation Copper. Many other new capabilities and training aids were also introduced into the SAN.

Following a 15 round gun salute and flypast from an Air Force Super Lynx maritime helicopter, the Change of Command Parade was held under sunny skies before invited guests, including Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (Minister of Defence and Military Veterans), General Solly Shoke (Chief of the SANDF), the heads of the other services and the Navy Chiefs of Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria and Tanzania.

On completion of the parade and in accordance with naval tradition, the outgoing Chief of the SAN was pulled from the parade ground on a gun carriage by senior members of staff. The Gun Carriage was pulled to Admiralty House through the main road of Simon’s Town, followed by the Navy Band.

Earlier that morning, Mudimu participated in a sail past of Navy ships in harbour, with the ships' company saluting him for the last time as Chief of the South African Navy.

Speaking to defenceWeb after the parade, Mudimu noted that he had remained as Chief of the SAN longer than international convention. “I think the time has come, I am a believer that change is good,” he said.

Reflecting on the past few years, Mudimu noted that he was of the view that the Navy had done well and were sensitive to all the requirements of the people and that the Navy now reflects the demographics of the country.

“I’m happy with the balance that our Navy has today across the board in terms of the white officers at various levels,” he said. However, he was still battling in attracting more Indians into the lower levels of the Navy.

Mudimu is comfortable that he is leaving the Navy in capable hands. Looking to the future, he says that the issue of sea blindness in Africa is still a factor.

Hlongwane had worked with Mudimu on these challenges and the new Chief of the SAN will be taking the process forward.

“I think V Adm Hlongwane will continue with this theme. African countries, they need a lot of support. They are entirely dependent on the Navy in terms of ensuring that their maritime zones are patrolled and patrolled effectively. So we have achieved a lot in that regard. So I wish they would continue in that.”

Another challenge facing African navies is to increase their capabilities, particularly when exercising with large foreign navies. Mudimu wants to see African navies putting their own ships and submarines to sea, not just embedding crewmembers on the foreign vessels.

“We must have our own assets and in so doing, we’ll ensure the stability and safety of the African continent being in our hands on not in the hands of the other person,” he explained.

Vice Admiral Hlongwane is a man of few words. He did, however, tell defenceWeb that the outgoing Chief “had already laid the grease” and that he will pick up where Mudimu had left and go forward.

He is aware of the enormous responsibilities that come with the new appointment as the Chief of the South African Navy. Although there were many challenges for him and his team, so there were opportunities.

He remarked on the ever increasing dependency on the South African Navy capabilities in support of the SANDF and national interest considerations. “This, he said, “means that we will have to enhance and strengthen our capabilities.”

Hlongwane joined the African National Congress (ANC) and its Military wing Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK) in 1982, working as an underground operative, and left South Africa in September 1984. He completed basic military training in Angola, where he was initially deployed.

He was selected to attend the Naval Course in Azerbaijan (Baku) at the Caspian Naval Red Banner College in August 1986. In November 1991, he successfully completed the Naval Ship Command Course in Navigation.

Having participated in the Joint Military Co-ordinating Committee (JMCC) as a member of the Navy work group in 1993/1994, he integrated into the SANDF and attended the Bridging and orientation courses at South African Naval College and Maritime Warfare School (Combat Orientation Course).

After a number if postings within the SAN, he was appointed as the South African Defence Attache to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Congo from 1 March 2005 until 30 March 2008.

On 1 April 2008 he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral (JG) and appointed Chief of Fleet Staff.

Cabinet has approved Mudimu’s appointment as Chairperson of Armscor, with the final paperwork to be signed soon.

1 April 2014 army-technology.com

Russia has started a partial withdrawal of its soldiers along Ukraine's eastern border, in an apparent attempt to ease a diplomatic standoff with the West over its annexation of Crimea.

Ukraine Main Command Center deputy chief major-general Oleksandr Rozmaznin was quoted by Reuters as saying that the number of soldiers has dropped, but the number cannot be confirmed as the 'exact figure is pretty approximate'.

Ukraine Foreign Ministry spokesman Evhen Perebiynis said Russia is carrying out unfathomable manoeuvres on the borders with Ukraine, including troop withdrawal in some places, while in others they are coming closer.

"Such action cannot fail to cause concern especially since we today do not have a clear explanation from the Russian Federation about the aims of these movements," Perebiynis added.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry said a motorised infantry battalion is being pulled back from a region near Ukraine's eastern border, following the completion of the month-long military exercises.

"The battalion ... has completed its field exercises at the Kadamovsky training grounds in the Rostov region and is beginning its march to its permanent base in the Samara region," the ministry stated.

The German Government claims that the partial withdrawal was informed by the Russian President Vladimir Putin to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone conversation.

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the pull-out would be a welcome preliminary step, and urged Moscow to accelerate the process.

"We also continue to urge Russia to engage in a dialogue with the government in Kiev to de-escalate the situation, while respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Psaki said.

After talks with Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov in Paris, US Secretary of State John Kerry had told that the progress on resolving the crisis in Ukraine depended on a Russian soldier pull-back from Ukraine's borders.

Russia had accumulated approximately 40,000 soldiers near its border with eastern Ukraine, while an additional 25,000 remain inland on alert and prepared to move in, CNN earlier reported citing two unnamed US officials.

Apr. 1, 2014 Defense News (AFP)

March 31, 2014 Strategy Page
 

Europe is facing a growing problem with young Moslem men being recruited by Islamic clergy to go fight alongside (and often against) the Syrian rebels. European intelligence officials believe about 2,000 European Moslems have gone to Syria so far and about ten percent have been killed. More than ten percent have returned and these jihad veterans often seek out new recruits. These jihadis are very effective at attracting new volunteers, although so far only about 10 per 100,000 Moslems have been persuaded to go. As small as that portion is, a far larger percentage (over ten percent) of European Moslems will admit to admiring the goals and methods of Islamic terrorists. Most of those who did go to Syria are now more radicalized than when they left and police fear they may contribute to more Islamic terrorism in Europe. You can’t do much to these men unless they actually commit a crime in Europe, although in some countries it is possible to prosecute them for fighting for an Islamic terrorist organization anywhere. But you have to prove it in court and that is difficult. Nevertheless such prosecutions are underway and most countries monitor returning jihadis, ready to make arrests if any local laws are broken.

Efforts are being made to prevent more men from volunteering, but that is difficult because Moslems have not adapted well in Europe and have a lot more problems doing so than other immigrants. In part this is because European nations have a much harder time accepting and integrating migrants than the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In part that’s because these four nations are largely composed of migrants or descendants of migrants. There are still problems but as the saying goes in the U.S., “we’re all minorities here.” European nations are more touchy about outsiders and citizenship is not automatically conferred on anyone born there. Ancestry counts for much more and it is much more difficult for immigrants, even those who speak the language like natives and have absorbed the local culture. Despite that, most migrants still want to be accepted. Moslem migrants have an additional problem because their religion does not really accept being a religious minority in a nation. Moslem clerics tend to agree that non-Moslems must convert eventually and radical clergy sanction the use of force to make that happen sooner rather than later. To help this along radical clergy depict the non-Moslem majority as inherently hostile to Islam and constantly trying to get Moslems to abandon their religion. In Islamic theology this is not allowed and in some Moslem countries such conversions are forbidden, often under pain of death. This rebellious and militant attitude is particularly popular with many young Moslem men. This sense of victimhood makes it easier for young Moslem men to become criminals. Thus in France, where ten percent of the population is Moslem, over 60 percent of the prison population is Moslem. Thus efforts by parents to keep their children from joining Islamic radial or terrorist organizations tend to fail. The wayward child can justify his criminal ways by referring to Islamic scripture and Islamic clerics who preach acceptance of radical Islam. This has been a problem with Islam, even in Moslem majority nations, for centuries.

What does change the attitudes of some radicalized Moslem men is the reality of Islamic terrorism. Thus the popularity of Islamic radicalism everywhere took a big drop in 2007 when the majority of Sunni Moslems in Iraq turned against it because Islamic terrorism there was killing far more Moslems than non-Moslems. Even al Qaeda leadership noted this development and had tried to get the Islamic terrorists in Iraq to sharply reduce the number of innocent civilians they were killing. Unwilling to do so, al Qaeda was defeated in Iraq and has been rebuilding mainly because Iraqi nationalists insisted that all American troops, including the intelligence and special operations units that so effectively identified and destroyed al Qaeda leaders and specialists, leave the country in 2011. Iraq now wants some of those specialists back, but the U.S. is not eager to return.

In Syria the “Iraq problem” reappeared in 2011 after a civil war began against the secular dictatorship. The Syrian al Qaeda problems reached a crises in June 2013 when the head of al Qaeda (bin Laden successor Ayman al Zawahiri) declared the recent merger of the new (since January) Syrian Jabhat al Nusra (JN) with the decade old Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) unacceptable and ordered the two groups to remain separate. The reason for this was that the merger was announced by ISI without the prior agreement of the JN leadership. The merger formed a third group; Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). That was the problem, as many JN members then left their JN faction to join nearby ones being formed by ISIL. JN leaders saw this as a power grab by ISIL and most of the JN men who left to join ISIL were non-Syrians. Many of these men had worked with ISI before and thought they were joining a more powerful group. But ISIL was apparently just an attempt by ISI (which is having a hard time in Iraq) to grab some glory, recruits, cash and power by poaching JN members. JN appealed to Zawahiri for help and got it.

This dispute escalated in January 2014 when outright war between ISIL and other Islamic terror groups in Syria began. A month later al Qaeda declared ISIL outcasts and sanctioned the war against them. That’s not the first time al Qaeda has had to slap down misbehaving Iraqi Islamic terror groups and won’t be the last. But it’s not a problem unique to Iraq.

One of the major weaknesses of Islamic terror groups is that they often get into vicious and destructive feuds with each other. It should not be surprising as Islamic terrorists are motivated by religion and in particular a personal call from God to serve. Since no two people are going interpret the details of this divine summons the same way, there will be many different interpretations. These are often formed by ethnic differences. This could be seen in Mali, where three different Islamic radical groups (Ansar Dine, MUJAO and AQIM) took control of the northern portion of the country in 2012 until they were run out in early 2013 by a French-led force. Along the way the three groups were often battling each other. The same thing happened in Somalia and elsewhere. Even before the French showed up many members of these groups were disillusioned by all the infighting and simply quit. But the concept of violent jihad (“struggle”) is still popular with many Islamic clerics and young Moslem men.

For centuries the non-Moslem world ignored this problem, at least as long as it remained a dispute just among Moslems. But in the 1970s a new idea arose among radical clergy who began blaming the West for all the backwardness, bad government and general misery in Moslem nations. That’s when al Qaeda decided to take the war to the infidels (non-Moslems). This produced growing violence against Western targets in the 1990s and culminated in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The carnage of those attacks was immensely popular among Moslems, although most Moslem governments condemned it. That was in part because these attacks against infidels were an indirect effort to overthrow Moslem governments that radicals did not believe were Moslem enough. That struggle continues and while many Saudi citizens still send cash and sons to al Qaeda, Saudi Arabia is very much opposed to al Qaeda. 

March 24, 2014 Strategy Page
 

The Colombian Army recently began receiving the 28 Commando wheeled armored vehicles ordered from the United States (for $1.13 million each) in 2013. The Commando is a larger version of the older American M1117 ASVs (Armored Security Vehicles). All of the armored vehicles in the Colombian Army are on wheels, to better control the roads in areas where FARC or drug gangs are active. The army has about 300 armored vehicles, a growing number of them armored hummers. Colombian troops have found the Commando handles most of the bombs and weapons used by the local drug gangs and leftist rebels.

Back in 2009 Colombia bought its first 39 American Commando vehicles, which is officially known as the ICV (Infantry Carrier Variant) of the M1117. The ICV is 61 cm (24 inches) longer than the original ASV, weighs 18 tons, and carries a crew of 3 and 8 passengers. Instead of the turret it has a cupola mounting a 12.7mm machine-gun or 40mm automatic grenade launcher.

The original ASV was, in effect, one of the first MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) to get to Iraq. Originally developed in the 1990s for use by MPs (Military Police) in combat zones, only a few were bought initially. It was found that for 1990s era Balkan peacekeeping, existing armored vehicles were adequate and that in the narrow streets of Balkan towns the ASV was too wide to be very maneuverable. Then came Iraq, and suddenly the ASV was very popular. The army got a lot more because military police like these vehicles a lot. The MPs originally wanted 2,000 ASVs but before Iraq were told they would be lucky to get a hundred. After 2003, the MPs got all they wanted. Colombia noted the ASV success in Iraq and got some of their own.

The basic ASV is a 15 ton 4x4 armored car that is built to handle the kind of combat damage encountered in Iraq. The ASVs are, unlike armored hummers, built from the ground up as armored trucks. Basic ASVs are 6.1 meters (20 feet) long and 2.6 meters (8.5 feet) wide, making them a bit larger than hummers. The ASV is heavy enough to survive most roadside bombs and keep going. The ASV is bullet and RPG proof. The turret is the same one used on the U.S. Marine Corps LAV. When the marines went shopping for armored trucks, however, they passed on the ASV. This is believed to be mainly because most armored trucks have more room inside. The ASV carries a crew of 3, with plenty of room for additional gear but not a lot of people. That's why the stretched ICV version was developed. Iraq has also bought the ICV version.

April 1, 2014 Strategy Page

Although the United States Army still owns 7,000 M1 tanks, less than 20 percent of them are actually in service. That’s the 1,288 M1 tanks in 92 M1 companies with 14 tanks per company. There are no more tank battalions. Instead there are Combined Arms battalions in Heavy Brigades. Each of these battalions have two tank companies (and two infantry companies). Meanwhile the army is continuing its downsizing, going from 16 armored brigades (64 M1 companies) to ten (40 companies). The Army National Guard still has seven armored brigades (28 M1 companies). The reduction will remove 24 M1 companies leaving 952 M1 tanks in service.

Each crew has four men, giving the U.S. 3,808 M1 tank crewmen. The army is hustling to retrain all these tank crews for conventional combat. During the last decade many tank companies were used as infantry or to operate MRAP vehicles. The army is using lots of simulators to retrain the tank crews and this cuts costs a lot. These simulators have become more common since the 1990s and have proved to be very effective in quickly and cheaply teaching useful skills to tank crews. After lots of simulator time, the crews perform very effectively when they take the tanks out and do all the moving and firing under realistic (or even combat) conditions.

All those additional M1 tanks are there if there is a major war. With all the simulators it is easier and quicker to train more crews than it is to build more M1 tanks.

01 avril 2014 Romandie.com (AFP)

KIEV - Le Parlement ukrainien a approuvé mardi la tenue de manoeuvres militaires conjointes avec les pays de l'Otan et de l'Union européenne entre mai et octobre sur son territoire, y compris dans les eaux de la mer Noire.

Le texte a été approuvé par 235 députés, aucun élu n'a voté contre. C'est une bonne occasion pour développer nos forces armées, a déclaré le ministre de la Défense Mikhaïlo Koval.

Le projet de loi avait été déposé le 26 mars par le président par intérim Olexandre Tourtchinov après le rattachement de la Crimée à la Russie. Kiev s'inquiète aussi de la présence importante russe de soldats à sa frontière orientale, qui lui fait craindre une invasion, même si Moscou a affirmé engager un retrait partiel.

En adoptant ce texte, le Parlement autorise l'entrée sur le territoire national de forces étrangères pour sept exercices: Public Order 2014 avec la participation de la police militaire polonaise, Rapid Trident 2014 avec les forces américaines, Safe Sky 2014 avec l'aviation polonaise, Sea Breeze 2014 avec les forces américaines, deux exercices multinationaux Light Avalanche - 2014 et Carpates - 2014, et enfin Sud - 2014 avec les unités d'infanterie de montagne roumaines et moldaves.

Ces manoeuvres, auxquelles doivent participer 7.000 hommes de 17 pays, doivent avoir lieu notamment dans l'Ouest de l'Ukraine mais aussi en mer Noire, à proximité immédiate de la Crimée où est basée la flotte russe.

L'Ukraine, ex-république soviétique, ne fait pas partie de l'Otan mais certaines voix au sein des nouvelles autorités pro-occidentales se sont prononcées pour un rapprochement avec l'organisation atlantique, ce qui est considéré comme une ligne rouge par la Russie.

Grâce aux satellites CERES, la France pourra envoyer en toute indépendance ses avions qui pourront entrer en premier sur un théâtre d'opérations extérieures

01/04/2014 Michel Cabirol – LaTribune.fr

Le programme CERES a pour objectif d'équiper les forces armées d'une capacité de renseignement d'origine électromagnétique (ROEM) spatiale. Trois satellites localiseront et identifieront les signaux émis par les systèmes des forces ennemies (radars, télécoms...)

MOSCOU, 1er avril - RIA Novosti

Soixante-dix-neuf navires de guerre et bâtiments auxiliaires de la Flotte ukrainienne de la mer Noire restent déployés en Crimée et à Sébastopol, a annoncé mardi aux journalistes le commandant en chef des forces navales russes, l'amiral Viktor Tchirkov.  

"A ce jour, des navires de la Flotte ukrainienne de la mer Noire restent déployés dans les eaux territoriales russes, en Crimée et à Sébastopol. Nous avons procédé à une révision, il s'agit de 79 navires, dont 25 de guerre", a expliqué M.Tchirkov avant d'ajouter que ces bateaux seraient prochainement remis à l'Ukraine.  

Peuplée en majorité de russophones, la république autonome de Crimée a proclamé son indépendance vis-à-vis de l'Ukraine et la réunification avec la Russie au terme d'un référendum du 16 mars où 96,7% des habitants de la péninsule ont appuyé cette décision. La Russie et la Crimée ont signé le traité sur le rattachement de la république de Crimée et de la ville de Sébastopol à la Fédération de Russie le 18 mars dernier. 

Vendredi il a été annoncé que suite à l'intégration de la Crimée à la Russie, Moscou entamait le processus de dénonciation d'une série d'accords bilatéraux russo-ukrainiens, notamment sur le partage de la mer Noire.

31.03.2014 par Frederic Lert (FOB)

Pendant encore une petite dizaine de jours, le camp de Caylus, au nord de Montauban, accueille l’exercice Gorgones de la Brigade des Forces Spéciales Terre. Cet exercice de synthèse, qui permet de confirmer les enseignements de l’instruction spécialisée, permet de faire jouer ensemble des éléments du 13^ème RDP, du 1^er RPIMA et du 4^ème RHFS de Pau pour le volet aéromobile, ou encore la CCTFS (Compagnie de Commandement et Transmission des Forces Spéciales) également stationnée à Pau. S’y ajoutent quelques intervenants du COS comme l’escadron de transport Poitou ou le CPA10 pour l’armée de l’Air et d’autres moyens extérieurs au COS, comme le 132^ème bataillon cynophile. Après une première semaine consacrée à quelques entrainements techniques spécifiques, sous la pluie et dans la bonne humeur, les semaines deux et trois, qui débutent ce lundi, permettront de dérouler des thèmes tactiques sur le rude plateau des Causses, avec un PC tactique monté à Caylus. Le thème central de Gorgones 2014 sera « les grandes élongations », toute référence aux opérations dans le Sahel étant tout sauf fortuite. Signe des temps et de l’engagement très fort des Forces Spéciales ces dernières semaines (et ces derniers mois, et ces dernières années…) le 4^ème RHFS n’a par exemple pu envoyer à Caylus que cinq appareils en première semaine : un Tigre, deux Gazelle, un Cougar et un Caracal.

A partir du 12 avril prochain et pendant six jours consécutifs, ce sera au tour de l’exercice Montauban 2014 de se tenir dans le triangle Moissac-Caylus Montauban. En ligne de mire cette fois, l’évaluation des capacités globales de la 11^ème brigade parachutiste. 1600 militaires, 350 véhicules et 19 hélicoptères devraient y participer.

Antonov An-30B

MOSCOU, 31 mars - RIA Novosti

Des inspecteurs polonais survoleront les territoires russe et biélorusse dans le cadre du traité international Ciel ouvert du 31 mars au 5 avril, a annoncé lundi le directeur du Centre national pour la diminution de la menace nucléaire Sergueï Ryjkov.

"Une mission de la Pologne a l'intention d'effectuer un vol d'inspection en Biélorussie et en Russie à bord d'un avion ukrainien Antonov An-30B du 31 mars au 5 avril dans le cadre du Traité international Ciel ouvert", a indiqué M.Ryjkov.

Selon lui, l'avion An-30B n'est pas destiné pour être équipé d'armements, cet avion a été certifié au niveau international, ce qui garantit l'absence de moyens techniques interdits à son bord. Des spécialistes russes participeront au vol d'inspection pour contrôler le respect des paramètres du vol.

Signé le 24 mars 1992 à Helsinki, le Traité Ciel ouvert est appliqué depuis le 1er janvier 2002. Le document vise à accroître la transparence et la confiance entre les Etats signataires dans le domaine des activités militaires et du contrôle des armements. Il instaure un régime de libre survol des territoires des différents Etats parties au Traité.

Le traité a été signé par 34 Etats d'Europe et d'Amérique du Nord, membres de l'Organisation pour la sécurité et la coopération en Europe (OSCE). La Russie y a adhéré le 26 mai 2001.

One of the fundamental changes in SDSR 2010 was to select the F35C over the F35B. The rational for this was that the F35C could also replace the Tornado and cover the RAF’s Future Offensive Air System requirement as well as the Joint Combat Aircraft requirement designed to replace the Harrier. However once it became clear that the cost of converting the aircraft carriers would be in the £ 5 billion pound range the decision was taken to revert back to the B model. However despite the decision to revert back to the B model no decision was taken to replace the Tornado with something else. The F35B will now have to serve as both a Harrier replacement and a Tornado replacement.

Having F35B as a replacement for the Harrier will give us capabilities light years ahead of what we had. Despite the criticisms of the B model in comparison to the Harrier it is a major capability improvement. However as a replacement for the Tornado the F35B does have limitations. I believe there are some relatively simple fixes that the UK can use to overcome the limitations of the B model so that it can serve as an effective replacement for the Tornado.

• Range
• Bomb Bays
• Suppression of Enemy Air Defence
• Conclusion