Tag: Ministry of Defence

The Ministry of Defence will work with veterans’ charities and memorials to host major commemorations on the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings next year.

Veterans of the Normandy campaign will be at the heart of official events on the 80th anniversary of D-Day: 6 June 2024.

They are invited to register with the Royal British Legion to express their interest in attending the commemorations.

The commemorative events will allow communities to come together to pay respect to those who died during the Normandy Landings and remember the sacrifices of those who took part in the operation.

On D-Day, 6 June 1944, the United Kingdom, the United States and their allies launched a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France.

By the end of the day the allies had established a foothold along the French coast to begin their costly advance to liberate northwest Europe, finally achieving victory over the Nazis a year later.

For the first time, the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, Normandy, will host commemorations for a major anniversary of D-Day.

The memorial was part-funded by the UK Government and was inaugurated by President Macron of France and Prime Minister Theresa May during commemorations for the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019.

Events will also take place at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Bayeux War Cemetery in Normandy, the final resting place of 4,144 members of British and Commonwealth service personnel who died during the Normandy Landings.

The Ministry of Defence will also support the traditional anniversary service at Bayeux Cathedral.

Members of the Armed Forces will lead the commemorations in June 2024 as veterans and special guests meet to remember those who gave their lives for the liberation of Europe during the Second World War.

The events will bring the UK and its allies together to remember our shared history as we recommit to working together to protect peace and security today.

Members of the public will be included in a campaign of events, tributes and broadcasts to ensure the whole country can pay respect to the fallen of D-Day.

More information about the commemorations will be announced next year.

The International Fund for Ukraine has today announced a package worth over £100 million for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to provide maintenance and manoeuvre support. In recent weeks, the Ukrainians have made steady process against formidably defended Russian positions.  They are showing that Ukraine has the capability to defeat the Russian invasion if we continue to provide it with the equipment to do so. This package of critical capabilities will support vehicle rehabilitation and battlefield manoeuvre.

The package includes tracks and engines for Armoured Fighting Vehicles; temporary bridges, and heavy equipment transporters for moving Main Battle Tanks; minefield breaching capabilities and portable mine clearance equipment to enable soldiers on foot to cross sections of mine fields and plant equipment for clearing obstacles such as anti-tank ditches.

We are also delighted to announce that all capabilities from the Air Defence Package announced in June are now on contract. The first systems will be delivered by the end of the year and will bolster Ukraine’s ability to protect its critical national infrastructure over the winter months.

The announcement was made today at a meeting of Defence Ministers at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group and has been funded by contributions from the UK, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, and Iceland.

A new package of military support for Ukraine, worth more than £100m, will be announced by the Defence Secretary today. It will help its armed forces clear minefields, maintain its vehicles, and shore up defensive fortifications to protect critical national infrastructure.

The support package, which will be provided using money from the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU), will be jointly announced today by the Defence Secretary and his counterparts from the IFU partner nations at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

It comes as the final contract from the previously announced IFU package of air defence capability was signed, which will see more than £70m of capabilities provided to Ukraine – including the MSI-DS Terrahawk Paladin, a platform which can track and destroy drones and protect critical national infrastructure.

The UK and Denmark launched the IFU in 2022 and the UK engages closely with Ukraine to procure capability that best meets the needs of its armed forces. Since then, five other nations have contributed to the IFU, demonstrating the unity and resolve of allies and partners in supporting Ukraine.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said:

During my recent visit to Kyiv, I assured President Zelenskyy that the UK’s support for Ukraine and their most urgent needs is unwavering.

Today I am proud to announce that the UK, alongside our allies, is delivering on that promise with new contracts to provide Ukraine with critical air defence systems to protect civilians from Putin’s barbaric bombing campaign, and more than £100 million of new equipment pledged to give Ukrainian soldiers what they need to breach Russia’s deadly minefields.

Today, the Defence Secretary attends his first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, where ministers from member countries and Ukraine will discuss the ongoing international response to Putin’s illegal invasion.

It provides an opportunity for the Defence Secretary to raise the UK’s concerns regarding the crisis in Israel and Gaza, the developing situation regarding reported damage to undersea infrastructure between Finland and Estonia, as well as the UK’s recent deployment to Kosovo in support of NATO’s peacekeeping mission.

The announcement comes after the Prime Minister met President Zelenskyy at the European Political Community in Grenada last week. The Ukrainian President has said that air defence is Ukraine’s most critical capability need, and the Terrahawk Paladin will help deliver what Ukraine needs to protect its citizens from Putin’s indiscriminate campaign of missile strikes against civilian targets.

This latest package will also provide crucial equipment to help Ukrainian soldiers cross minefields, bridging capabilities to assist with river and trench crossings, and heavy duty plant vehicles to destroy Russian non-explosive obstacles and help build defensive positions to protect Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, said:

This new package of support is the latest in an unprecedented and sustained effort by 50 nations to give Ukraine the tools it needs to counter Russia’s aggression and recover what it has lost.

This winter, Russia will seek to undermine the morale of the Ukrainian people and divide the international community, but in both cases Putin underestimates the strength and resilience of his opposition. If we stick together, and stay the course, then Russia will continue to lose, Ukraine will prevail and the rules that matter to global security will endure.

Ukraine is now the most mined country on earth, which has provided the biggest obstacle in the path of Ukraine’s counter-offensive this year and mine clearing capabilities will be essential to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in pushing forward.

Equipment from both the air defence package and mobility support package will arrive in the coming months, joining other IFU-funded equipment already in Ukraine, including around 100 uncrewed aerial systems.

The IFU uses financial contributions from international partners to procure priority military assistance for Ukraine. This will ensure the continued supply of military support – lethal and non-lethal – to Ukraine through 2023 and beyond.

To date, £785m has been raised through the IFU following contributions from the UK, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Lithuania.

The IFU has recently expanded to include Lithuania on its Executive Panel, which is now formed by the UK and six other nations which provide oversight and assurance of the Fund, including the endorsement of capability packages.

UK Armed Forces personnel will be better protected on the battlefield through world-leading chemical detection sensors, under an £88 million contract announced today.

Led by Strategic Command alongside a pan-defence team, thousands of personnel across the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force will benefit from wearable personal chemical agent sensors, ensuring they can detect dozens of toxic chemical threats and take immediate action to protect themselves and others.

It will be a first of its kind for UK Armed Forces, as the wearable sensor will be able to detect multiple chemical threats from both vapours and aerosol – different ways in which chemical threats can be dispersed and affect an individual.

Under the contract, UK company Smiths Detection will develop three next-generation chemical sensor products for the MOD, to be operational by 2028. They are:

• Wearable personal chemical agent sensor – a device that continually monitors the environment around the user.
• Survey chemical agent sensor – a portable device to check potentially hazardous areas or surfaces.
• Remote capable, standoff chemical sensor – an enhanced sensor for use in fixed locations.

As new hazards emerge in the future, the equipment can be continually updated and improved, identifying a greater range of chemical threat coverage.

Supporting hundreds of skilled people at Smiths Detection and creating around a dozen new jobs at their Hemel Hempstead site, the contract boosts the Prime Minister’s priority of growing the UK economy. The company sources components and services from numerous UK suppliers, bolstering the UK manufacturing industry, and investing in British production capability.

Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge said:

It’s vital we protect our Service Personnel, and this cutting-edge technology is so important to reduce the threat posed by toxic chemicals across a range of environments globally.

Not only is it an impressive piece of equipment that will be designed and manufactured here in the UK, but the ability for it to be continually developed and improved is exactly how we want Defence procurement to be – deliverable, effective and ambitious.

Smiths Detection President, Roland Carter said:

We’re honoured to have been selected by the UK Ministry of Defence to supply this next-generation technology. Since our business inception, nearly 70 years ago, we have been designing, developing, manufacturing, and servicing chemical sensing technology. This technology protects defence forces, including the UK MoD, and communities from known and emerging threats.

This award is testament to our leading technology and the knowledge, commitment and ingenuity of the people in our organisation who everyday help to make the world a safer place.

Sensing chemical threats is a fundamental part of the UK’s Counter-Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear capability. The contract, placed by the UK MOD’s procurement arm Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) and supported by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), will encompass the development, manufacture, and initial in-service support for the programme.

• First joint US and Australian AUKUS visit to the UK to support development of Australian submarine maintenance workforce.
• AUKUS personnel hosted in Faslane, Scotland.
• Maintenance of rotational submarine force under AUKUS partnership to boost global security.

Representatives from the Australian and US Submarine Support organisations have joined Royal Navy personnel in Faslane for the first time, to watch and understand how to maintain nuclear-powered submarines, which will support future global stability.

Forming an Advance Verification Team (AVT), subject matter experts from all three AUKUS nations have joined British shipyard personnel to develop their understanding of the maintenance and industrial skills required to maintain a nuclear-powered submarine.

Following a similar visit to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in August this year, the AVT learnt about the requirements needed to provide an Australian-based facility that can support both UK and US maintenance activity during a future forward-deployed submarine presence in the region.

Under the AUKUS partnership, the Royal Navy, with its Australian and US counterparts will work together to meet shared threats and uphold stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

This visit marks a tangible step forward for AUKUS delivery, driving knowledge-sharing and development in Australia that will be critical to the success of the programme.

Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge MP said:

The AUKUS partnership is a truly tangible demonstration of our ongoing commitment to global security.

These visits are crucial for teams from all three nations to understand how best to work together as we strike ahead on the AUKUS programme, delivering cutting-edge capability to protect ourselves, and our allies and partners, for decades to come.

Further to understanding how to maintain and support nuclear-powered submarines, the visit sought to build trilateral relationships and communications between the teams who will deliver the submarine rotational force.

Based in Faslane for two weeks, the AVT have spent time understanding and developing the skills needed to take the AUKUS partnership forward. The visit has successfully shown the extent of the similarities and differences between our ways of working, as well as highlighting areas that will best support the development of maintenance capability in Australia.

Rear Admiral Simon Asquith, Director Submarines, said:

This is an exciting moment for AUKUS delivery, marking initial trilateral efforts to ensure Australia can support US and UK submarine presence in Western Australia.

The AVT successfully paved the way for future collaboration from all partner nations and we look forward to this continued close working with both Navies and industry going forward.

The AUKUS partnership is a strategic endeavour that strengthens the three nations’ national security, promoting peace and stability.

Last month, the AUKUS partnership celebrated its two-year anniversary, and earlier this year the three AUKUS nations announced a way forward for the programme, with the first generation of AUKUS nuclear submarines to be built in the UK and Australia, based on the UK’s world-leading submarine design.

Last week, a further £4 billion of investment was announced for the AUKUS partnership. The contracts will progress the programme through the design, prototyping and purchase of main long lead components for the first UK submarines, allowing construction to commence in the coming years and ensure the stability and resilience of our domestic supply chain.

Building on more than 60 years of British expertise in designing, building and operating nuclear-powered submarines, the contracts will support thousands of highly skilled jobs in the UK – a clear demonstration of how the AUKUS programme supports the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy.

The SSN-AUKUS submarines will be the largest, most advanced, and most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy, combining world-leading sensors, design, and weaponry in one vessel.

UK forces will deploy to NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo following a request from NATO. This follows on from the violent attack on Kosovo Police in northern Kosovo on 24th September and increasing tensions in the region.

Following a request from Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and approval by the North Atlantic Council, the UK will deploy around 200 soldiers from 1st Battalion of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment in the coming days to join the 400-strong British contingent already in country as part of an annual exercise. The British Army unit has been assigned to the NATO Commander of the Kosovo Force following a specific request from the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, “SACEUR”, US General Chris Cavoli. This deployment is testament to the leadership and agility of UK defence, this deployment will provide strength and expertise to NATO, as part of our pivotal and unwavering commitment to the alliance.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, said:

The deployment of the 1st Battalion of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment demonstrates the responsiveness of the UK’s Armed Forces. We continue to be a fundamental part of the NATO alliance, sharing our military expertise and strength.

The extension of our support to the Kosovo Force (KFOR) underlines our unwavering commitment to NATO and the security of the Western Balkans region.

Under NATO command, and working alongside other Allied nation forces, the UK forces will be available to conduct operations in accordance with KFOR’s mandate to maintain a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all people of Kosovo .

NATO has been leading a peace-support operation in Kosovo – the Kosovo Force (KFOR) – since June 1999. Troops from the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) are provided by 28 countries. The UK contributes two intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) units, staff officers to the mission Headquarters alongside the SRF commitment, held at 14 days’ readiness. The UK commitment to KFOR was extended in May 2023 when the Minister for Armed Forces James Heappey announced the UK would continue to contribute to the NATO mission until at least 2026.

UK forces have been undertaking a key role in peacekeeping and bolstering security in the region for more than two decades, and alongside its Allies continue to show collective strength in dealing with the complex issues the world faces today.

Background:

• NATO has been leading a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo – the Kosovo Force (KFOR) – since June 1999. KFOR was established when NATO’s 78-day air campaign against Milosevic’s regime, aimed at putting an end to violence in Kosovo, was over.
• KFOR’s original objectives were to deter renewed hostilities, establish a secure environment and ensure public safety and order, demilitarize the Kosovo Liberation Army, support the international humanitarian effort and coordinate with the international civil presence.
• Today, KFOR continues to contribute towards maintaining a safe and secure environment in Kosovo and freedom of movement for all