Royal Navy warship seizes £30m of drugs in Middle East
A Royal Navy frigate has seized drugs worth £30 million after stalking the drug-runner's boat for more than 24 hours in the Arabian Sea after the illegal operations were spotted by the warship's drones.
HMS Lancaster deployed its Wildcat helicopter to oversee the operation involving a boarding team from 42 Commando which seized 80 packages of narcotics.
A Royal Navy spokesman said the haul was made up of 1,000kg of heroin, 660kg of hashish, and 6kg of amphetamine, worth an estimated £30 million on UK streets.
He said: 'It's the second bust in three months for the British warship, which is based in Bahrain and is attached to a New Zealand-led international task spread across the Indian Ocean hunting down illegal activity.
'And it's the second time the Royal Navy's new Peregrine drones – mini-helicopters which conduct reconnaissance sorties for hours on end and feed live information back to Lancaster's operations room – have played a vital part in the success.'
Lancaster's commanding officer, Commander Chris Chew, said: 'This is another example of where Lancaster has delivered at range, in isolation, utilising her own organic assets.
'Whether they come in the form of her Wildcat, our uncrewed air system Peregrine, embarked intelligence team or her Royal Marine boarding team, they delivered on operations in support of the Combined Maritime Forces and New Zealand-led Combined Task Force 150.'
Armed forces minister Luke Pollard said: 'I congratulate the crew of HMS Lancaster on this significant seizure, which is keeping dangerous and illegal drugs off our streets.
'This operation highlights the unique role our Royal Navy contributes, working to disrupt criminal operations around the world, keeping us secure at home and strong abroad.'
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Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Five countries win seats on the UN Security Council
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Five countries won seats on the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday in uncontested elections and will start serving two-year terms in January on the U.N.'s most powerful but deeply divided body. The 193-member General Assembly held a secret-ballot vote for the five rotating seats on the 15-member council. Bahrain received 186 votes, Congo 183 votes, Liberia 181 votes, Colombia 180 votes and Latvia 178 votes. This will be the first time on the council for Latvia, which was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union and gained independence again after its collapse in 1991. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže told reporters after the vote her Baltic nation is ready for the responsibility, saying, 'Our historical experience puts us in the position to understand, empathize with, and forge partnerships across every region in the world.' 'We know the value of freedom,' she said. 'We know the fragility of peace and the power of multilateralism to safeguard it.' Braže said Latvia will spare no effort to achieve just and lasting peace in Ukraine and to alleviate suffering in the Middle East, Gaza, Africa and other conflicts around the globe. Bahrain will be the Arab representative on the council, and Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said his country's election to the council for a second time reinforces its determination to be 'a proactive contributor' to international peace and security. 'Our goal is to fortify peace and stability within our region,' Al Zayani said, stressing that resolving the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict is 'the cornerstone for achieving peace in the region.' The immediate requirement, he said, is a ceasefire and massive influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the release of all hostages taken from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and progress toward a two-state solution and 'a viable state of Palestine.' The Security Council is mandated in the U.N. Charter with ensuring international peace and security, but it has failed in the two major conflicts because of the veto power of Russia on Ukraine and the United States, Israel's closest ally, on Gaza. There have been decades of efforts to reform the Security Council to reflect the geopolitical realities of the world in 2025, not of the post-World War II era 80 years ago, when the United Nations was established. But they have all failed. The council still includes five veto-wielding permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — and 10 elected members from the U.N.'s different regional groups. One major failing is the absence of a permanent seat for Africa or Latin America and the Caribbean. Under its current rules, five new council members are elected every year. In January, the newly elected countries will replace Algeria, Guyana, South Korea, Sierra Leone and Slovenia. Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner of Congo, which will be serving its third term on the council, told the council its election not only reflects confidence in her country, 'it is also a reflection of Africa's unity and its rightful place in shaping the global peace and security agenda.' Asked about the ongoing fighting by armed groups in the country's mineral-rich east, she said Congo will bring to the council the knowledge of dealing with decades of conflict, the challenges of U.N. peacekeeping operations and protecting civilians, and 'the convergence between conflict, natural resources, and environmental changes.' Liberia's Deputy Foreign Minister Deweh Gray, whose country was last on the council in 1961, said her country has 'an unwavering resolve to make a difference for all' and to tackle the formidable challenges facing the world including conflict, inequality and climate change, 'to name a few.' 'Liberia's vote is a vote for Africa,' she said, 'and we shall ensure that we follow the African common position.' Colombia's U.N. Ambassador Leonor Zalabata urged all countries to unite and 'keep working together in harmony with nature to preserve what we have and build peace in the world.' And she said, 'We invite you all to keep working in the path of human rights.' ___
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Royal Navy To Arm Its Carriers With Long-Range Missiles
The United Kingdom has outlined plans for its future carrier air wing, which should include drones and undisclosed long-range missiles that would be launched from its deck, alongside the F-35B stealth fighters that currently go aboard its two flattops. While there have been ongoing efforts to trial drones aboard the two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, the long-range weapons, and the broader effort stressing the combination of 'high and low' capabilities in the future carrier air wing are new developments. What are described as 'the first European hybrid air wings' are laid out in brief in the latest Strategic Defense Review, published yesterday by the U.K. Ministry of Defense. 'The Royal Navy must continue to move towards a more powerful but cheaper and simpler fleet, developing a 'high-low' mix of equipment and weapons that exploits autonomy and digital integration,' the review states. 'Carrier strike is already at the cutting edge of NATO capability, but much more rapid progress is needed in its evolution into 'hybrid' carrier air wings, whereby crewed combat aircraft (F-35B) are complemented by autonomous collaborative platforms in the air, and expendable, single-use drones. Plans for the hybrid carrier air wings should also include long-range precision missiles capable of being fired from the carrier deck.' That the F-35B remains the cornerstone of the carrier air wing's strike capability is no surprise. The Queen Elizabeth class carriers were tailored for operations involving the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) jet, although there remain questions about exactly how many of these aircraft the United Kingdom will procure. In the past, the U.K. government said it planned to buy 138 F-35Bs. So far, however, firm orders have only been placed for 48. Meanwhile, the previous Conservative government confirmed it was negotiating to buy another 27 for delivery by 2033. Most analysts consider that many more than 48 F-35Bs would be required to meet the ambition of 24 jets available for the baseline Carrier Strike mission, across both ships. Considering training and other demands, a figure of 60-70 jets is generally thought to be reasonable. In the meantime, U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs are being relied upon to make up the required aircraft numbers during carrier cruises. The review concludes only that 'More F-35s will be required over the next decade.' However, it doesn't put any final number on the Joint Strike Fighter buy. Moreover, it suggests that the future Lightning force could comprise a mix of conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) F-35As and F-35Bs. The F-35A, of course, is unable to operate from aircraft carriers, but such a mix could be adopted 'according to military requirements to provide greater value for money.' The F-35A is not currently operated by the United Kingdom. The F-35A is less expensive than the F-35B and, apart from STOVL, is more capable, boasting superior range and payload. The F-35A is also a 9G-capable jet, while the F-35B is cleared for 7.5G. Some commentators have taken the reference to a potential U.K. F-35A buy as evidence of plans to join the NATO nuclear sharing arrangement, under which these aircraft are provided with U.S.-owned B61-12 tactical nuclear bombs. However, the review doesn't mention this possibility, or any plans to field tactical nuclear weapons. Should the United Kingdom choose to buy F-35As, it might even threaten the future of the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), the future air combat initiative at the heart of which is the Tempest crewed stealth fighter. Regardless of its impact on that, it would leave the Royal Navy struggling to meet its Carrier Strike demands. With that in mind, it would likely have to rely much more heavily on drones and long-range weapons. In regard to these, the review outlines 'autonomous collaborative platforms in the air [and] single-use drones' as part of the hybrid carrier air wing of the future. The Royal Navy has, for some time now, been looking at ways to integrate drones into its future carrier air wing. Back in 2023, the Royal Navy revealed details of its intention to fit its two carriers with assisted launch systems and recovery gear, enabling operations by a variety of fixed-wing uncrewed aircraft and, potentially, also conventional takeoff and landing crewed types. 'We are looking to move from STOVL to STOL, then to STOBAR [short takeoff but arrested recovery], and then to CATOBAR [catapult assisted takeoff but arrested recovery],' Col. Phil Kelly, the Royal Navy's Head of Carrier Strike and Maritime Aviation, told the Combined Naval Event conference in 2023. ' We are looking at a demonstrable progression that spreads out the financial cost and incrementally improves capability.' Even before this, there had been indications that the service wanted to at least explore adding different drones to its future carrier air wing. The United Kingdom is not alone in this, with China and Turkey, most notably, also increasingly putting drones aboard big-deck amphibious warfare vessels and other non-conventional-takeoff-and-landing aircraft carriers. The Royal Navy kicked off the project with tests of the General Atomics Mojave short takeoff and landing (STOL), drone aboard the carrier HMS Prince of Wales in late 2023, as you can read about here. The Mojave's impressive STOL capabilities mean that no launch and recovery systems were required for these tests. The 'cat and trap' plan for drone operations aboard U.K. carriers is known as Project Ark Royal (named after the Royal Navy's last aircraft carrier that was capable of CATOBAR operations). If realized, the project will see the Queen Elizabeth class carriers start to operate drones able to undertake a variety of missions and then increasingly heavier, complex, and higher performance ones. Later on, full CATOBAR capability could also add fixed-wing crewed aircraft, too. After the Mojave trials, the next phase of Project Ark Royal aims to install some kind of recovery system on the Queen Elizabeth design, allowing operations by larger fixed-wing drones. Uncrewed aircraft in this category are an aspiration that the Royal Navy is already working toward under Project Vixen, which you can read more about here. Finally, the Queen Elizabeth class design is planned to be reworked with catapult launch gear, allowing the warships 'to operate the heaviest aircraft you can imagine,' in the words of Col. Kelly. That would include larger, high-performance drones, but potentially also crewed fixed-wing aircraft, which would be a very significant development for the Queen Elizabeth class. As it stands, the carriers are unable to operate fixed-wing airborne early warning aircraft or airborne tankers, putting limits on their offensive operations. In the future, these functions could potentially be taken on by a catapult-launched fixed-wing aircraft, whether crewed or uncrewed. A replacement for the carrier air wing's airborne early warning capability will become especially urgent, with plans to retire the current Merlin Crowsnest helicopter, which currently fulfills this role, at the end of 2029. According to previous reports, the Royal Navy has already been looking at different catapult launch solutions, including the U.S.-developed Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), the introduction of which has been far from trouble-free, as well as the U.K.-developed Electro Magnetic Kinetic Induction Technology demonstrator. Finding room for complex launch and recovery systems, as well as fielding the manpower to maintain and operate them, will be a challenge no matter how much extra space the vessels have to accommodate them. As we have explored in the past, there are many more technological hurdles for the Royal Navy to overcome, beyond the launch and recovery systems. It will also need to develop control stations, datalinks, unique procedures, and much more to ensure the drones can be safely and effectively integrated within the carrier air group, for example. Even working out the intricacies of deck handling and flow integration involving drones combined with crewed fixed-wing jets and helicopters will be a considerable effort. The Queen Elizabeth class has a notably wide deck, but there's no angled landing area, which would enable simultaneous launch and recovery operations. Also unclear is to what degree drones could operate from the carriers' existing takeoff ramps, which are required to make the maximum use of the STOVL F-35B. Ultimately, however, the Royal Navy might look to a loyal-wingman-type drone, of the kind that the U.S. Navy is working on under its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. These uncrewed aircraft will be highly autonomous but still designed primarily to work closely together with crewed platforms, at least initially. In the past, the U.S. Navy has said it wants to have uncrewed platforms make up the majority of its future carrier air wings, with up to 60 percent of all aircraft on each flattop being pilotless in the coming decade or two. The kinds of ambitions the U.S. Navy has for its CCAs would certainly seem to tally with the aspiration to field 'autonomous collaborative platforms' aboard the U.K. carriers. Last year, General Atomics presented a vision for how a new uncrewed aircraft, a carrier-capable member of its Gambit drone family, could fit into a future air wing aboard the Queen Elizabeth class carriers. A rendering, shown below, featured a catapult-equipped HMS Prince of Wales with a Gambit-series drone ready to launch. The rendering also depicts an air wing that includes carrier-capable MQ-9B drones fitted with a STOL kit, a separate concept that General Atomics unveiled in 2022, as well as F-35Bs. 'We first started thinking of this as a carrier-capable version of Gambit 2, our air-to-air UCAV [uncrewed combat air vehicle] variant, so that's what is reflected on the Farnborough booth graphics,' C. Mark Brinkley, a General Atomics spokesman, told TWZ at the time. 'Lately, we've been thinking of it as a new concept we're calling Gambit 5, designed for carrier launch and recovery, but weapons delivery need not be a primary requirement. It could be ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] focused, like Gambit 1, or even some hybrid.' Other options for the Royal Navy might include a version of the U.S. Navy's MQ-25 Stingray, which is initially being developed for aerial refueling, but which could potentially be adapted for other missions, including surveillance and electronic warfare, and even strike. As well as the MQ-25, the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, a loyal-wingman-type drone designed by Boeing's Australian subsidiary, seems to have attracted some official interest in the United Kingdom. In February, Rear Adm. James Parkin, Director Develop for the Royal Navy, gave a presentation that included a slide with a Boeing rendering showing a variant or derivative of the MQ-28 with a visible tailhook landing on a Queen Elizabeth class carrier. .@RoyalNavy briefing on future unmanned rotary capabilities at #IMHelicon, but note the carrier landing MQ-28 Ghost Bat… #drone #drones — Gareth Jennings (@GarethJennings3) February 21, 2023 Outside of larger drones (and potentially even CTOL crewed aircraft), the review also sees a place for 'single-use drones' aboard the carriers. Already, the Royal Navy has conducted trials involving smaller, jet-powered drones, with the QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+, best known as a target drone, being launched from HMS Prince of Wales in 2021. An adaptation of this, or a similar drone, could fulfill this role. The Banshee can be launched using a portable catapult from the deck of the carrier, and — provided it's not expended — it can be recovered via parachute and land in the water after completing its mission. The Royal Navy's experiments with smaller carrier-based drones are being carried out under Project Vampire, which specifies the use study of 'lightweight, fixed-wing carrier-borne crewless autonomous systems,' for which the twin-jet-engine-powered Banshee provides a useful surrogate. Operational drones in this class could provide the carrier air wing with important new vectors for carrying out missions, including strike, electronic warfare, and surveillance. Notably, after its appearance on the Prince of Wales, an operationalized version of the Banshee appeared in combat in Ukraine, as you can read about here. Most intriguingly, the hybrid air wing should, 'eventually,' also feature 'long-range missiles capable of being fired from the carrier deck,' the report recommends. The explicit mention of a missile (rather than a drone) suggests that the Royal Navy is looking at the option of launching a cruise missile from the carrier, perhaps even a hypersonic weapon. A ballistic missile is also a possibility, albeit less likely. Currently, only the Russian Navy operates a carrier with provision to launch its own cruise missiles, something you can read about in depth here. However, in recent years, there have been questions about whether the P-700 missile tubes on the Admiral Kuznetsov were still active, let alone whether they were filled with live rounds of the anti-ship missiles. This is more or less academic now, anyway, with the Admiral Kuznetsov out of operational service since mid-2022 and little sign that this will change anytime soon. While the Admiral Kuznetsov was outfitted with cruise missiles to maximize the offensive weapons that could be directed against U.S. Navy Carrier Battle Groups and high-value convoys, the Royal Navy would likely be looking to add an additional land-attack capability to its carriers. On the other hand, a dual-use missile could also be a possibility, especially with a resurgence of interest in anti-surface warfare. Long-range cruise missiles would also not have to be stowed in below-decks launchers, as in the Admiral Kuznetsov, which would require significant changes to the internal layout of the boat, but could instead be fired from the flight deck using a truck, trailer, or container-based launcher. Currently, the Royal Navy uses conventionally armed Tomahawk cruise missiles to arm its Astute class nuclear-powered attack submarines. However, it also plans to provide a Tomahawk capability on its forthcoming Type 26 and Type 31 frigates, via the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS). The current Type 45 destroyer also has the potential to be retrofitted with a Tomahawk capability. The Tomahawk has a range of around 1,000 miles with a 1,000-pound unitary warhead. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is increasingly looking at new long-range strike weapons, notably a 'deep precision strike' weapon with a range of over 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) that it is pursuing with Germany. While details of the missile are yet to be finalized, it could well be developed with the option to be fired from carrier decks as well as ground launchers. New heights in military cooperation – Defence Ministers Healey & Pistorius agreed: develop 2,000km Deep Precision Strike Capability joint procurement of Sting Ray torpedoes for P-8 Poseidon aircraft strategic land systems partnership continue BOXER co-operation — German Embassy London (@GermanEmbassy) May 16, 2025 Whatever happens, there's no doubt that these plans for the so-called hybrid air wings are full of technological challenges. Not only will it be complex to introduce these new capabilities on vessels that were not originally designed for them, but it will be a very costly endeavor. Coming at a time when there are many competing high-profile U.K. defense programs, it remains unclear how realistic these aspirations are, from a fiscal perspective. Contact the author: thomas@
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘We have no plans to attack Britain,' say Russia's London diplomats as defence review lays out Putin threats
Russia's embassy in London said on Tuesday that Moscow had no intention of attacking Britain after the UK's Strategic Defence Review highlighted a series of threats from Vladimir Putin's regime. The SDR mentions Russia 33 times and tells of the 'immediate and pressing threat' posed by it. In an introduction to the 144-page document, Sir Keir Starmer stressed: 'In this new era for defence and security, when Russia is waging war on our continent and probing our defences at home, we must meet the danger head on.' The SDR emphasised: 'Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine makes unequivocally clear its willingness to use force to achieve its goals, as well as its intent to re-establish spheres of influence in its near-abroad and disrupt the international order to the UK and its allies' disadvantage. 'While the Ukraine conflict has temporarily degraded Russian conventional land forces, the overall modernisation and expansion of its armed forces means it will pose an enduring threat in key areas such as space, cyberspace, information operations, undersea warfare, and chemical and biological weapons.' Defence Secretary John Healey has warned that Britain's military is coming under daily cyber attacks from Russia, as well as other countries. But the Russian Embassy in London rejected the claims against the Putin regime of aggression, criticising what it described as "a fresh salvo of anti-Russian rhetoric". In a statement, it said: 'Russia poses no threat to the United Kingdom and its people. 'We harbour no aggressive intentions and have no plans to attack Britain. We are not interested in doing so, nor do we need to.' However, the statement will be treated with scepticism in Whitehall and at Westminster given the repeated denials that Russia was planning to invade Ukraine, before doing so in February 2022. Mr Healey has told how laser weapons will be installed on Royal Navy ships within two years to protect the UK against a missile attack by Russia, or other aggressor. The Cabinet minister has also warned of the threat of a biological attack on Britain's streets by Russia, following the poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok in Salisbury in March 2018. They both survived but Dawn Burgess, 44, died after also coming into contact with the nerve agent. British prosecutors identified two Russians who they said were operating under aliases, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, who they believe tried to murder the Skripals with the military-grade nerve agent. Relations between Russia and Britain are at their lowest level since the Cold War. They deteriorated further after Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The UK has led moves to arm Ukraine, first with anti-tank weapons, then Challenger II tanks and Storm Shadow long-range missiles. China's embassy in London also criticised Britain's defence review, saying that the document deliberately misrepresented Beijing's defence policy to justify British military expansion. The SDR had described China as "a sophisticated and persistent challenge", citing its rapid military modernisation, including an expanded nuclear arsenal, and saying Beijing was likely using espionage and cyberattacks, and stealing intellectual property. The review, which included 62 recommendations, proposed sweeping changes, including a greater focus on new technology including drones, laser weapons to protect the UK, artificial intelligence, as well as more nuclear-powered submarines, but the Government has been accused of not guaranteeing sufficient funding.
