A Dragon on the move

Your weekly dose of defence news, biased opinions and poorly curated content. You’re welcome.

Better late than never? Starmer is under fire, yet again, for putting legal BS before any rational thinking. First, he refused to allow the US to use British airbases; then, he took far too long to decide the Navy's next move. HMS Dragon is finally underway, but the aircraft carriers have been redirected after Trump responded with: “That's OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don't need them any longer. But we will remember.”

This all comes amid renewed attacks on British bases in the region, making Britain’s inability to project power increasingly clear.

Emboldened by recent military successes, “the Donald” is “weighing a daring mission to snatch Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles”, according to the Daily Mail.

The theory is that if the uranium falls into the wrong hands, the consequences could be dire. In reality, this would be a highly complex, multi-tiered operation relying on flawless intelligence.

We shall see.

The Royal Navy has placed an order for a fleet of 20 autonomous vessels. The K3 Scout, manufactured by Fareham-based Kraken Technologies, is predominantly a reconnaissance vessel. However, it boasts a respectable 600kg payload and a rapid top speed of 55 knots. These will sit under the command of the Coastal Forces Squadron and 47 Commando, used primarily for training and development.

A solid purchase in my opinion.

Big events from the past, covered in brief and probably inaccurately.

In 1984, the National Coal Board announced plans to slash UK coal output as a cost-saving measure. Fearing the closure of 20 pits and the loss of 20,000 jobs, the National Union of Mineworkers backed nationwide strikes just two days later, notably proceeding without a national ballot. This sparked a year of intense industrial action led by Arthur Scargill, marked by violent confrontations between flying pickets and police. The strike formally ended on March 3, 1985. Mining struggled on in the UK until December 2015, when the final deep-core mine was closed, thereby closing the door on one of Britain’s oldest industries.

Changing things up? This is where we briefly look at career options from across the civvy world - everything goes here so expect some absolute drivel. Sometimes Forces Assist can help place you, sometimes we can’t. Either way we can offer advice.

Running a big ol’ explainer series on the ‘gram about getting into driving. Good news on ELCAS funding for driving quals.

Bored of asking - they’ll love Despatches and we’ll love them.

Cheers,

Team Forces Assist

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