Today’s defence news summary includes the sad deaths of two RAF pilots, a Quick Reaction Alert and a deployment in Somalia.
RAF PILOT DEATHS
The Times, Daily Star and Daily Telegraph report that two "exceptionally talented" RAF student pilots died when their plane crashed into a remote field in Ryedale during a civilian incident. Cameron James Forster, 21, from Sussex, and Ajvir Singh Sandhu, 25, from Essex, were killed as the light aircraft crash landed in a field off Mains Lane, between Castle Howard and the A64, in North Yorkshire. The articles state that it is believed they were planning to perform aerobatic stunts.
The Station Commander at Royal Air Force Linton-on-Ouse, Group Captain Ian Laing, said:
We were very saddened to hear of the deaths of Aj Sandhu and Cam Forster in a civilian flying accident at the weekend. They were both exceptionally talented young men in the prime of their lives. The thoughts of everyone at RAF Linton-on-Ouse are with their family and friends at this difficult time.
INTERPRETERS
The Daily Mail ,Times, Guardian and Daily Telegraph continue to cover the death of an alleged Afghan interpreter Nangyalai Dawoodzai who is reported to have committed suicide after being told he could not claim asylum in the UK.
While the MOD cannot comment on an asylum case, we have previously outlined the Government’s policy in relation to Afghan interpreters in a blog post that can be found here.
RAF QUICK REACTION ALERT
The Daily Telegraph and BBC Breakfast report on last night’s Quick Reaction Alert stating that RAF Typhoon caused a sonic boom in Yorkshire on their way to intercept an unresponsive passenger plane on its way to Newcastle airport.
An RAF spokesperson said yesterday:
Quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft were launched today from RAF Coningsby to identify an unresponsive civilian aircraft. Communications were re-established and the aircraft has been safely landed.
MOD WHITE FLEET
The Daily Mail reports that Babcock has won a £47m contract to manage the fleet of hired or leased vans and cars used by the MOD. It says the new white fleet contract will include short-term hire around the world and is aimed to deliver savings of £100m over six years.
You can read more about this here.
RAPHAEL HOSTEY
The Daily Star briefly reports that a ‘baby-faced Brit Daesh supremo’ named Raphael Hostey has been killed. The article states that he went to Syria with this wife and child in 2013 and had recruited hundreds of jihadi brides. The paper states that his death was reported on social media by Amarnath Amarasingam, a researcher at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.
SYRIA
The Daily Telegraph reports that Sky News claimed last night to have evidence that Daesh was actively colluding with the Syrian government to limit its losses. Documents backed by interviews with Daesh defectors were said to show that the Assad regime’s recapture of Palmyra was actively facilitated by the jihadists, who were allowed to pull out their heavy weapons and withdraw.
C-17
The Daily Mirror reports that Special Forces units have been given the green light to resume covert parachute assaults, the first since Iraq, after a trial using a C-17 came to a successful end. The article states that the C-17 will allow high-altitude, high-opening drops meaning Special Forces can land in near silence at night near targets.
We do not comment on the special forces but an RAF statement on the trial is below
As part of our continuing efforts to develop the maximum tactical use of our platforms, a successful first trial of military freefall parachuting from a RAF C-17 was undertaken on 12 April.
The C-17's ability to fly long distances and land in remote airfields makes this a potentially valuable capability.
However, it would be inappropriate to speculate on future uses as we continue with further trials and development.
SOMALIA
The Guardian reports on the announcement that British troops have arrived in Somalia as part of efforts to tackle the threat from Islamist militants. The article states that the first group of the up to 70 personnel are part of a UN Peacekeeping mission to counter the extremist al-Shabaab group. You can read more about the deployment here.
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