Today’s defence news covers Syria peace talks in Munich and Maritime patrol aircraft.
Syria
The Times, Telegraph and Guardian report that troops loyal to President Assad and backed by Russian warplanes were ready to cut off rebel defenders in Aleppo last night as doubts grew over whether a truce negotiated by world powers would hold.
Daesh
The Guardian online writes that the director of US National Intelligence has warned that Daesh would like to use chemical weapons in an attack on America.
Maritime Patrol Aircraft
The Independent reports that Britain had to rely on US, Canadian, French and German aircraft to protect its territorial waters more than 20 times last year, with the Royal Navy’s reliance on its NATO allies far greater than previously thought. The paper states that the Royal Navy no longer possess maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) designed to track suspected submarines off British waters and the Ministry of Defence has regularly been forced to call in NATO aircraft in the last two years.
An MOD spokesperson said:
The Nimrod programme was scrapped because it was 11 years late, £800M over budget, and no planes had been delivered. We are buying planes that work and are providing maritime surveillance by working closely with our allies until they arrive. The future of Defence in Scotland is bright; by 2020 Scotland will be home to all of the Royal Navy’s submarines, one of the Army’s engagement and resilience Infantry Brigades, one of three RAF fast jet main operating bases and the new P8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol aircraft.
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