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TOP STORY THIS WEEK

Sunken WW2 ship threatens Sheerness

No one has ever been to Sheerness, but people do live there

Right, this is an interesting one. Is a ship from WWII that sank in 1944 actually a serious risk to British coastal defences? Well, it turns out loads of people think so.

The SS Montgomery sank during the height of the Second World War near Sheerness, going down with thousands of tonnes of high explosives. Experts now believe the wreck (and the remaining 1,400 tonnes of explosives still onboard) could be a prime target for drone attacks, with potentially devastating consequences. There is even talk of a tsunami.

IN OTHER NEWS

AJAX is YOUR FAULT

“STOP! STOP! STOP! We’ve got to tighten the tracks”

We’ve had government ministers, we’ve had the head of the Army, we’ve had the manufacturers - but the Army now has a new fall-guy for the AJAX programme: General Reilly.

The General said a series of randomly selected words to explain things: "Clearly, we had a situation where the platform wasn't operated and maintained within the specification it should have been, and that led to the incident. We know now, because we've done all of the research, that within that, if it is operated within those standards and within those specifications, it is safe.”

It turns out one of the recommendations is to tighten the tracks. Every. Time. You. Stop.

£6.3bn. Why aren’t heads rolling over this?

Curtains for INTERFLEX?

Doing this slightly less in Ukraine it turns out.

In a blow for the British Army, rumours suggest the battle-hardened and technologically adept Ukrainian military no longer sees the value in having its soldiers trained in Herrick-era tactics on Salisbury Plain. Shock.

While the British Army and government argue over who can innovate more slowly, the Ukrainians have steadily developed one of the deadliest armed forces on the planet and no longer feel Western training packages are fit for purpose.

IN THE MEDIA

Podcast: Last Man Standing

Last Man Standing is all good, but series one is particularly hard hitting. Following Anthony Loyd and his research into the fate of kidnapped journalist John Cantlie, episode 4 gives you a no holds barred account of the realities of kidnap. Bleak.

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

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

24th March 1999: NATO bombing of Yugoslavia begins

After years of trouble in the region, NATO decided to launch a sustained air campaign against Yugoslavia, marking its first major combat operation without explicit UN approval.

Designed to stop Serbian forces in Kosovo, the strikes ended up running for 78 days, relying heavily on precision air power to force a political outcome without a ground invasion. Although lasting far longer than expected, it proved a turning point in modern warfare - highlighting the reach of Western air dominance, but simultaneously raised questions about intervention in foreign warfare.

Fun fact: the UK still has an enduring presence in Kosovo under Op ELGIN.

JOB SPOTLIGHT

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.

Fixed Term Contracts. PHWOAR.

Get excited by contract do you? Absolute filth. Anyway - get on the ‘gram and start watching our things.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Get your mucker to sign up for this…

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

Cheers,

Team Forces Assist

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