There continues to be widespread broadcast coverage today of the growing tensions in Europe as it is reported more than 10,000 migrants have flooded into Austria. On defence matters, there has also been coverage of today's Battle of Britain commemorations including a service at Westminster Abbey.
HMS ENTERPRISE
The Sunday Times, the Daily Star on Sunday and the Sunday Telegraph report that HMS Enterprise saved the lives of more than 350 migrants in the Mediterranean yesterday. Working as part of a wider EU mission to detect and disrupt people smuggling gangs, HMS Enterprise was tasked to rescue 377 migrants whose lives were at risk. A number of other European ships were also involved in the rescue which saw more than 4000 migrants saved from multiple vessels in at least 20 rescue operations.
The news comes following an announcement earlier this week that the UK is to offer HMS Richmond to support the boarding and seizing of vessels in the southern Mediterranean belonging to the criminal gangs responsible for the crisis. The ship will also stand ready to assist with search and rescue operations.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
Once again, our Royal Navy has rescued a large number of migrants from the Mediterranean.
Our focus remains on smashing the criminal smuggling gangs who are putting innocent lives at risk. HMS Enterprise is well equipped for that task, as is the frigate HMS Richmond, which we have also now offered to the mission.
MI5 INFORMANTS
MI5 is paying Muslim informants for controversial short-term spying missions to help avert terrorist attacks by homegrown Islamist extremists, writes The Observer this morning. The paper reports that individuals across the UK, including in Manchester and London, are being employed on temporary assignments to acquire intelligence on specific targets, according to sources within the Muslim community.
LEE RIGBY
The Sun on Sunday reports that the mother of Fusilier Lee Rigby has won her campaign to have a memorial bearing his name erected near the spot where he was murdered. The newspaper says that council chiefs had turned down Lyn Rigby's calls for a plaque to be placed outside London's Woolwich Barracks in memory of her son and The Express writes that “we must never forget Lee Rigby or the freedoms soldiers like him continue to fight for".
REFUGEE CRISIS
The Sunday Telegraph writes that the head of Europol, Rob Wainright, has warned Europe's migration crisis is creating an "unprecedented wave of criminality" as gangs across the continent converge around the "honeypot" of people-smuggling. The former MI5 officer who now directs Europe's cross-border policing body is reported to have said that opportunists who previously dealt in drugs or racketeering were now reaping the rewards of smuggling migrants.
RAF SQUADRONS
An opinion editorial from Chief of the Air Staff Sir Andrew Pulford appears in the Sunday Telegraph ahead of the 75th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Britain. He writes that “our modern aircraft fleets allow us to project air power rapidly and over large distances”, offering the Government the choices they need in times of crisis.
On a related issue, the Sunday Times reports that the number of RAF fast-jet squadrons is expected to double, amid fears that years of deep cuts have left the RAF too small to tackle the twin threats of ISIL and Russian aggression. The newspaper writes that Defence sources claim RAF senior commanders have made increasing the number of fighter and bomber squadrons from six to 12 a cornerstone of their submission to the Government's forthcoming Strategic Defence and Security Review. The MOD's statement, provided to the Sunday Times, is below.
A MOD spokesperson said:
The size of the combat air fleet of the Royal Air Force is kept under continuous review and, as announced in SDSR 2010, is transitioning toward a modern fleet of upgraded Typhoon and F-35B Lightning II. The overall size of the combat air fleet for the next decade is being considered as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, however, as yet no decisions have been made.
RUSSIAN BOMBER
The Express reports that sources have revealed the pilots in one of the two Russian supersonic bombers that were intercepted near UK skies last week had started the countdown to arm a nuclear bomb. The paper writes that the discovery was made after RAF specialists analysed a four-second signal transmitted from the Tupolev Tu-160 "Blackjack" bombers following Thursday's incursion.
TERRORIST DRONES
Defence and security officials fear that terrorists could fly drones carrying bombs into landmark UK buildings, according to an article in the Sunday Times. The newspaper writes that they have become increasingly alarmed at the proliferation of small drones, available from high street retailers or on the internet for less than £1,000, and the possibility that they could be used to launch terrorist attacks.
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