Today’s Defence related coverage includes reporting on RAF Typhoons intercepting Russian aircraft as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission and UK gifting to Kurdish fighters in Iraq.
Baltic Air Policing
RAF Typhoons have intercepted Russian military aircraft for the second time in a week while on NATO Baltic Air Policing duties writes the The Sun and Daily Mirror, after being reported widely online yesterday - including by The Telegraph, Daily Mail and Daily Star.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
For the second time in a week, the RAF have been on hand to respond to Russian activity at a moment’s notice. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we will continue to secure the Baltic skies on behalf of NATO and our allies.
Read more about the interception here.
Kurdish Peshmerga
A story runs in The Telegraph claiming British machine guns donated to the Kurdish Peshmerga fighting are not being fired because of a shortage of ammunition, according to Peshmerga military leaders. The article claims the weapons have been out of action since last year, and says that ammunition the MOD announced would be donated has not yet arrived.
An MOD Spokesperson said:
We’ve committed to give over £1 million of ammunition to the Peshmerga and this will be delivered soon. It builds on the vital support we are already providing: We’ve trained more than 3,600 Peshmerga troops, carried out hundreds of strikes to support their ground assaults and have gifted crucial equipment.
This latest gifting will see around 480,000 rounds of 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun ammunition and 250,000 rounds of 7.62 sniper ammunition gifted to the Peshmerga this summer. This follows the 50 tonnes of non-lethal support, 40 heavy machine guns, nearly half a million rounds of ammunition and £600,000 worth of military equipment that we have already provided We have also gifted 1000 counter-IED VALLON detectors to ISF (including Kurdish Fighters) and have delivered over 300 tonnes of weapons and ammunition on behalf of other GC nations.
The Queen tribute
The front page of the Daily Express as well as several other papers report that the Queen shed a tear as she honoured some of the nation's war heroes at the National Memorial Arboretum. Articles are carried in The Telegraph, The Times, Daily Mail, Daily Star and Daily Mirror.
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