Items of Defence interest this morning include news that HMS Bulwark arrived back in Italy this morning after rescuing hundreds of migrants this week. The migrants are said to be fleeing Libya. Yesterday the crew of HMS Bulwark helped Italy's coastguard rescue more than 4,000 migrants, the highest number in one day. There is also widespread coverage about Defence spending ahead of the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review and Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Defence Spending
The Daily Mail and The Times report that this country has a proud tradition of engagement in the world, but that this will be threatened if we do not remain serious about defence, and that means being serious about defence spending. The Daily Telegraph, The Sun and Financial Times suggest that the Chancellor has asked for a further £1 billion cut to the MOD budget. While the Express suggests that it is wrong that the Foreign Aid budget has been able to escape cuts while the Defence budget has not.
An MOD Spokesperson made it clear that:
"The Ministry of Defence continuously looks for ways to be more efficient and is on track to deliver over £5 billion of savings since 2010. In the context of the Spending Review and SDSR we are looking at where further efficiencies could be delivered.
"We are confident that we will spend 2% of GDP on defence in this financial year. The Prime Minister has also made clear that there will be an annual 1% real terms increase in spending on defence equipment throughout this parliament."
Maritime Patrol Aircraft
In the Daily Telegraph, a number of retired senior RAF personnel suggest our Carrierswill be at significant risk without procurement of Maritime Patrol Aircraft in the near future. The paper also suggests that the Russians will be free to spy on Trident and have been able to gather intelligence on our nuclear capabilities as a results of Nimrod being scrapped.
In response, an MOD spokesperson said:
"The MOD currently provides maritime surveillance through a combination of layered capabilities including surface ships, submarines, and Merlin, Sentry and C-130 Hercules aircraft. Just last week we announced a new helicopter-borne surveillance system to protect the future Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers. We continue to assess future requirements and options ahead of a decision in the ongoing full Strategic Defence and Security Review."
You can read more about Crowsnest, our new helicopter-bourns surveillance system here.
Iraq
The Times writes that Britain is preparing to send troops with specialist skills to more dangerous parts of Iraq to help the US military train Iraqi forces whoare struggling to make gains against ISIL. They suggest that the prospect of expanding Britain's mission in Iraq was raised at a National Security Council (NSC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday.
In fact, as part of coalition efforts against ISIL, UK personnel are already designing and delivering training to the Iraqi Security Forces which includes counter-IED training. Nearly 800 UK personnel are deployed on operations in the region, helping Iraqis to strengthen and mobilise against ISIL, and we will continue to keep ourcontribution under regular review.
RAF Tornado near miss
The Daily Mail reports that two RAF Tornado jets almost collided as they wereabout to land in Lossiemouth in Moray last November.
The RAF takes all reported Airprox incidents very seriously. Air safety considerations are at the core of all our aviation activity, but no flying is without risk. As the report says, local air traffic training and procedures have been amended following a thorough investigation into this incident.
