Although I am no fan of UK PM Starmer, or the Labour Party, I cannot but feel that he is, given Trump's record of betraying allies & friends, right to keep the UK out of offensive operations against Iran, & stick with purely defensive missions. That this annoys Trump is irrelevant.
‘We don’t have infantry’: Ukraine’s war machine evolves into machine war www.defensenews.com/global/europ...
Recent events show that, in classical terms, the UK is a (de facto) republic and the US is an (elective) monarchy.
The person formerly known as Prince Andrew has been arrested by UK police, regarding the Epstein scandal. Yet in the US, there has still not been a single arrest of a prominent &/or powerful figure. Impunity rules in the US & damage to the country's image is huge. (Epstein engulfs both Dems & GOP.)
If I remember correctly, this is in fact how ship's bridges came into being: as lateral gangways that linked the tops of the paddle boxes in mid-19th century paddle steamers, which provided the necessary view for the Captain to see in all directions and so be able to direct the ship.
The fundamental roots of European, & wider Western, civilisation are Greco-Roman Judeo-Christian. Oddly, many (most?) Americans who like to pontificate upon the subject of Western civilisation seem to forget the Greco-Roman part. Despite the US having a Senate!
It's a fascinating insight into cultural differences that, so far, all the powerful or prominent people who have "gone down in flames" following the latest release of Epstein documents have been in Europe. Of the many rich & prominent Americans mentioned, none yet has suffered any consequences.
A friendly reminder: the UK designed, as well as manufactures, key components for the F-35, including all the ejector seats, & the lift fans on the F-35Bs, among other systems. Without the UK, production of the F-35 halts. So, London can be relaxed about using the F-35, & the 2030s are sorted.
Great to have you posting here, Sir Humphrey!
I don't usually comment on internal politics, but what is going on in the US is certainly discrediting the 2nd Amendment. It obviously doesn't guarantee American freedoms & invoking it would only give a callous admin (regime?) the excuse it is looking for to invoke the Insurrection Act.
Republican Rome was an inspiration for the American republic. But, somehow, over the past ±50 years, America has slid into an Imperial form of govt, disguised until now by the Augustan prudence of its monarchs. But now the US has its first self-indulgent egotistical Emperor & the secret is out!
Venezuela isn't Europe's problem; Greenland & Ukraine are. In this naked power politics era that has suddenly burst upon us, European states have to clearly identify & prioritise core interests. Their silence Venezuela & clear statements on Greenland & support for Kyiv show that they are doing so.
Having said that, there is a very big issue that does require European leaders to make clear unequivocal statements: Greenland. 7 of them have jointly done so, including all the Big 4 (France, Germany, Italy, the UK), & Poland, Spain & Denmark. And the 5 Nordic Foreign Ministers also did so.
The news that the Swedish Armed Forces are going to acquire synthetic aperture radars from Finland's ICEYE is great! This is exactly the kind of concrete programme that shows that European countries are moving to reduce their dependence on the US, that we should look out for, rather than speeches.
Cochrane was effectively the founder of the Chilean Navy, and played a hugely important role in securing the country's independence. The Chilean Navy always has a ship named in his honour.
I have been very struck by the fact that all-but-one of the posts I have seen on this platform about Trump's "Donroe Doctrine", whether pro- or anti-, completely ignores South America, except, sometimes, Colombia. (I could not access the exception, as I am not a subscriber to War on the Rocks.)
I fear Trump is taking himself into a situation in which he'll have to take some form of action regarding Greenland. I hope I am wrong!
I am open to correction, but I believe that in UK service, Trident also has a "sub-strategic" role as well -- perhaps 1 or 2 of the missiles on each SSBN has only 1 or 2 warheads. But it must be noted that it would take many years for the UK to expand its warhead design & production capacity, alas!
Lovely analysis. To me, these "battleships" can only make sense as part of an anti-access/area denial strategy; they are of no use to a global navy. But MAGA isolationists don't need a global navy. I wonder if this is a plan to refocus the USN away from the globe to NW Hemisphere AA/AD.
So, a quick bit of research confirms that France has both optical & sigint spy satellites (3 each, it seems). But no radar satellites. To repeat, the UK has a programme to deploy optical (1 now in orbit) & radar satellites. But will London now accelerate this programme? Let's hope so.
France & the UK have now both said that they stand with Denmark (& Greenland) against Trump's threats. But is there anything they (& others) could do to actively deter a US attack? Could/should they send troops? The numbers need not be great. Even a platoon each would carry heavy political weight.
Those criticising European countries about their muted responses to Trump's Venezuela strike have to remember that by far the top priority for the Europeans is the defence of Ukraine, & that keeping the US onside is still very important for that. Less important than it was, but not yet unneeded.
Trump's strike on Venezuela looks more like a scalping than a decapitation.
9. I hope those who know France, Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, & other countries bettee than I do, will check out defence progs initiated by those countries during & since Trump 1, & whether they increase strategic autonomy wrt the US. But the divorce some hope for may have started years ago.
8. Last month, the UK launched another urgent project, Nightfall, for a national, again 500 km+ range, ballistic missile. And there's the UK-Japan-Italy GCAP 6th gen combat aircraft. All these projects greatly increase the UK's strategic autonomy wrt the US. All but 1 of these started before Trump 2
7. The UK also relied on the US for longer-ranged cruise missiles & for ballistic missiles. At the end of 2024 (end of Biden admin) the UK launched the urgent Project Brakestop, for a national 500 km+ range cruise missile. A long way short of the Tomahawk's range, but longer-ranged than Stormshadow
6. ISTARI will create a spy satellite constellation of both optical (code-named Juno) and radar (Oberon) spy satellites, to be fully operational by 2031. The operational prototype, Tyche, was launched in August last year. ISTARI will free the UK from dependence on US spy satellite data.
5. But in 2018, during Trump 1, & taking advantage of advances in technology that allow high quality satellite imagery for much lower cost than previously, the UK launched a contractor-owned technology demonstrator, Carbonite-2, made by UK company SSTL. Its success led to the ISTARI programme.
4. The rest of this thread focuses on the UK, because I know more about the UK. So, for decades, the UK focused on top of the range communications intelligence (signals, codebreaking, etc.) & human intelligence, & left spy satellites to the US (except for a solitary abortive programme in the 1980s).
3. Already, we have forgotten just how alarming Trump's 1st administration had been. The Biden admin did not restore confidence in the US. Wrt the Ukraine-Russia War, Biden was frustratingly, even alarmingly, timid. He delayed key initiatives until London & Paris disregarded him & just did them.
