Airbus building new satellite system for Armed Forces
A new military satellite system costing £127m is being designed and built in the UK.Airbus said the contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) could create about 200 skilled jobs at Stevenage in Hertfordshire, and Portsmouth.The satellite system, named Oberon, is expected to launch in 2027 and will be able to capture images on the ground in the daytime and at night.Maj Gen Paul Tedman, commander of UK Space Command, said: "This will enable and enhance UK and allied military operations around the world."
The project is part of the MoD's plan to deliver a constellation of satellites by 2031.Oberon will be able to capture imagery in any weather condition by using synthetic aperture radar technology, Airbus says.Ben Bridge, airbus defence and space UK chairman, said: "Once in orbit, these spacecraft will play a vital role in keeping our Armed Forces safe around the world."
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Daily Record
4 hours ago
- Daily Record
Keir Starmer's defence expansion plan 'will bring tens of billions of investment into Scotland'
Military intelligence experts say thousands of jobs will be created as billions are ploughed into key Scots locations. Keir Starmer's massive defence expansion plan will mean tens of billions of investment in Scotland's economy, leading military intelligence experts have told the Sunday Mail. Thousands of jobs will be created north of the border after the Prime Minister travelled to Glasgow last week to announce the largest sustained increase in MoD spending since the Cold War in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR). One of the authors of the report, Fiona Hill, yesterday warned Russia is already 'at war' with the UK, and said America is no longer a reliable ally against Vladimir Putin. And to counter the threat Philip Ingram, a former senior intelligence and security officer in the British Army, has told the Sunday Mail Scotland will need to play a leading role in an 'always on' ship building drive on the River Clyde, upgraded nuclear capability at Faslane, and a massive RAF expansion at Lossiemouth. He revealed billions will also need to be invested with established Scottish tech companies to develop drones, satellites, battlefield communications systems, missiles and guidance systems over the next decade. Ingram said: 'This is the first review in recent history that has been about increasing capability rather than cutting it and there is also pressure now coming from NATO not to just increase defence budgets to 2.5per cent of GDP, but to go to 3.5per cent and even higher. 'To put that in number terms our current defence budget is around £65.6billion. If we even go up to three per cent that takes you to £85billion and 3.5per cent takes you to just short of £100billion. 'Given Scotland's established military ship building, the fact that it is already the base for our nuclear fleet, and Scotland's position in supporting our defence industry generally, this will definitely mean tens of billions of pounds of new money going into the Scottish economy. 'It is going to mean thousands of new jobs for the civilian labour market in very high tech industries and that will stimulate a lot more requirements for people coming through Scottish universities and schools with technology and engineering skills. 'It also means much more money coming into supply chain industries right down to the burger vans because there are more people going to work with more money in their pockets who will be spending it in local communities. 'In town and cities where the high street is suffering this can stimulate a turn around. This is why the Chancellor Rachel Reeves is saying that investing in defence will underpin her strategy for growth. 'You are effectively taking taxpayers' money and instead of spending it overseas you are spending it on British manufacturing and that money is filtering through into the service industry and local communities. 'Companies for example working with drones or novel materials or new ways of communicating - and there are a lot of these companies in Scotland and Scottish Universities are focussing on this - there is big money coming, it is win win.' Keir Starmer launched the SDR alongside Defence Secretary John Healey at BAE Systems in Govan, Glasgow, last week. He promised to implement all of its 62 recommendations which included multi-billion pound expnasions of the Army, Navy and Air Force, new nuclear submarines, more soldiers, new weapons and equipment. Scotland was described as a 'linchpin', with generations of skilled workers to benefit from apprenticeships, jobs and rewarding careers in defence as spending increases to 3.5per cent of GDP in the next parliament. Ingram added: 'It is definitely not wrong to see this as tens of billions coming into Scotland. They way things are going with the international community it is not unrealistic at all. 'America, who traditionally supply a lot of defence equipment, has effectively shot itself in the foot because the UK and everyone else has been until now been buying from America because they had the capacity and it was cheaper to rely on them. 'But Trump has at the same time as pressurising people to increase defence capacity also turned around and said we might not support you if it came to war, we may not supply you if you are not in Donald Trump's good books. 'That was a Gerald Ratner moment, like saying all my jewellery is s**t, so there is now an opportunity for us to not only to manufacture our own defence equipment but to also start taking over parts of the global market. 'The UK is already the second biggest defence exporter in the world and we can quite easily build on that, and a big slice of that pie would go to Scotland.' As part of the SDR commitment the UK Government will spend around £11billion on front line kit and build at least six new munitians factories with Scotland a likely base for some of the investment given its established weapons companies. Around 7000 long range weapons will be built and the UK's aircraft carriers are to become 'hybrid air wings' housing drones, jets and long-range weapons. A hybrid Royal Navy that uses aircraft, drones, warships, submarines to patrol the north Atlantic around Scotland and beyond will be created as part of a military which will become '10-times more lethal' according to ministers. New F-35 jets, Typhoon jets and autonomous aircraft will be commissioned alongside expanded warship building operations. Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said: 'From Faslane to Lossiemouth, the importance of Scotland to our defence capabilities cannot be overstated; it provides vigilance and protection for everyone across the UK. 'With threats increasing, the SDR is clear on the need to move to warfighting readiness to boost deterrence and to grow our defence industry across the country. 'Scotland will be a linchpin in making Britain safer, with more generations of skilled Scottish workers benefiting from apprenticeships, jobs and rewarding careers in defence.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 'Why defence announcement in legendary Govan shipyards felt personal for me' by Joani Reid, MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven and grand-daughter of legendary ship-building trade unionist Jimmy Reid Why does a political party like Labour exist? It's simple: to ensure that the wealth generated by working people, from electronic communication to shipbuilding and defence, is shared fairly and that the jobs created allow everyone to live decent, dignified lives. Our communities famously fought to keep the Upper Clyde shipyards open because they understood the dignity that hard, well-paid jobs brought to working people and their families. The UCS work-in wasn't about ideology but respect and survival. Tory ministers couldn't grasp why working people wouldn't quietly accept their jobs were surplus to requirements, and why they fought back against the devastating reality that closure would bring to their families and communities. This came into sharp focus for me this week as I stood in those same Govan shipyards at the launch of Labour's Strategic Defence Review. It felt personal. Here was Labour returning to Govan—not with empty promises but with real investment, real jobs, and a real future. For the first time in decades, government ministers came to announce billions in investment for Scotland, not just crumbs from an ever-shrinking cake. This investment will deliver thousands of high-quality, skilled jobs for our young people. But new defence industries don't appear overnight. To grow our industrial base, we need active government support and substantial investment in skills and infrastructure. Yet, incredibly, the SNP blocked a £2.5 million grant for a specialist welding centre in Glasgow last week due to their misguided opposition to defence-related spending. John Swinney's opposition is disgraceful. If he agrees Scotland needs armed forces, what exactly does he expect them to be armed with—paper darts? Investment isn't only about industry; it's also about properly caring for those who serve our country. The deplorable state of our defence estate urgently needs addressing. During my recent visit to Faslane, I saw condemned buildings riddled with unsafe concrete and personnel accommodation infected with legionnaires' disease—a regular occurrence, I'm told, due to outdated infrastructure. Service personnel described the poor conditions they endure daily, conditions that undermine morale and weaken our readiness. This shocking neglect from the SNP government and previous Tory administrations must end. The SNP must drop its ideological boycott of Faslane and ensure Scotland fully benefits from defence-related investments. Nobody wants conflict, but conflict may still find us. Putin's invasion of Ukraine shows that war in Europe isn't confined to the history books. It's a stark reminder that we live in unpredictable times, requiring vigilance and readiness. We must maximise our deterrent power and capacity to prevail in any potential conflict, whether on land, sea, air, or cyberspace. Protecting our way of life, values, and people demands this preparedness. Scotland must be at the heart of this renewal. Our people have always volunteered bravely for the front lines; now we must also lead in building advanced industries to counter the threats of the 21st century. Scottish innovation and ingenuity can position us as global leaders in cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, and green defence technologies. Achieving this demands coordinated effort, targeted investment, and genuine commitment from our government. I'm immensely proud of our marine engineering heritage at Govan and Rosyth. But let's not overlook our broader industrial strength: manufacturing in Scotland is 60% higher in real terms than at the turn of the century. With world-class universities, skilled workers, and a robust industrial legacy, the foundations for becoming a global defence engineering powerhouse already exist—we just need to strengthen them further. Sixty years ago, strength in the shipyards meant muscle power—tough jobs for tough people. Today, it's about skills in chemistry, physics, maths, and cutting-edge technology. The Duke of Wellington once claimed the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. The next battles will be won in our high schools, colleges, and universities. Let's position Scotland at the forefront, leading the charge for jobs and opportunity. Our children deserve nothing less.
Telegraph
19 hours ago
- Telegraph
The British military base preparing for war in space
In a fake village in Buckinghamshire, several members of Space Command are huddled around a computer screen watching a foreign missile approach to a Ministry of Defence communications satellite. It is just an exercise, but it is a scenario that is increasingly worrying military chiefs, who fear space is now the most important theatre of war. Modern life is largely space-based, with satellites controlling everything from EasyJet flight plans to Amazon deliveries and army advances. Taking out satellites would cripple society. Russia took down the country's satellite communications just hours before it began the land invasion. China and Russia have also both tested anti-satellite missiles, while Moscow is allegedly developing a programme to arm some of its satellites with nuclear warheads, meaning it could destroy enemy networks while in orbit. In recognition of this new orbital battlefield, Space Command was established at RAF High Wycombe in 2021, to 'protect and defend' UK interests in space, and is now home to the UK Space Operations Centre, which was officially opened by government ministers this week. The RAF base is the former headquarters of Bomber Command, a military unit responsible for strategic bombing during the Second World War. With its winding streets, faux church towers and manor house office blocks, was designed to look like a quintessential Home Counties village, should the Luftwaffe be passing over. The Bomber Command logo 'Strike Hard, Strike Sure' has been replaced with Space Command's 'Ad Stellas Usque' – Latin for 'up to the stars'. Where Bomber Harris's team had its eyes fixed firmly on the ground, Space Command's gaze is now turned skywards. Maria Eagle, minister for defence procurement, who helped open the operations centre this week, said: 'From a national security point of view, space is a contested and congested and competitive domain, and we need to make sure, as our adversaries advance their capabilities, that we're able to deal with what that throws up.' She added: 'It's an extension of the more earthbound worries that we've got. The usual kind of things that you worry about on Earth, it's just extended upwards, because that's now a domain that is as important as land, sea or air to the potential of war-fighting or defending national security. 'The National Space Operations Centre does vital work in monitoring and protecting our interests. It's a recognition of the fact that our adversaries are active there, and we need to know what's going on.' Although the United States performed the first anti-satellite tests in 1959, space warfare has largely been consigned to Hollywood and science fiction until recently. Fears began to ramp up in January 2007, when China shot down one of its own ageing weather satellites with a ballistic missile creating a cloud of space junk, which is still causing problems. In November 2021, Russia conducted its own direct-ascent anti-satellite test, destroying the Soviet intelligence satellite Kosmos-1408, and generating a debris field that forced astronauts on the International Space Station to take shelter. However it is not just anti-satellite missiles that are causing concern. According to the latest Space Threat Assessment, from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, nations are developing evermore elaborate space weapons. These weapons include electro-magnetic pulses, microwaves and lasers to fry electronics, dazzlers to blind optical sensors, and grapplers to latch on to satellites and pull them out of orbit. China, Russia, Iran and North Korea all have the capability of jamming and hijacking satellite signals and launching cyber attacks. A 10-second delay in Google Chrome loading may seem like a domestic internet glitch, but bad actors could also be behind it, Space Command has warned. 'Counter-space arsenal' Space Command is particularly worried about China, which in the past year has launched increasingly advanced and highly-manoeuvrable satellites for purposes that remain unclear. CSIS believes Beijing may be creating a ' formidable on-orbit counter-space arsenal ' and that manoeuvrability testing is allowing Chinese operators to develop 'tactics and procedures that can be used for space war-fighting'. US Space force commanders have also warned that Chinese satellites have been spotted 'dogfighting' in space, moving within less than a mile of each other. 'China continues to develop and field a broad set of counter-space capabilities,' a member of Space Command told The Telegraph. 'It's certainly one of the more capable adversaries. Space is no longer a sanctuary, it's a space of contest. It's the modern battlefield.' Russia's Luch satellites have also been spotted stalking European communications and broadcast satellites, moving close to their orbits for reasons not fully understood. Space Command fears they are probing the systems to find out how best to disrupt signals. Although Russia continues to deny it is developing an orbital nuclear anti-satellite weapon – which would breach the 1967 Outer Space Treaty – US intelligence suggests otherwise. Chris Bryant, minister of state for data protection and telecoms, said: 'There's a lot of stuff up there now … and the risks from deliberate bad actors, in particular from Russia and China, and the havoc that could be created either deliberately or accidentally, is quite significant. 'So we need to monitor as closely as we possibly can, 24/7, everything that is going on up there so that we can avert accidental damage, and we can also potentially deter other more deliberate, harmful activity.' Space Command currently employs more than 600 staff, roughly 70 per cent of whom are from the Royal Air Force with the remaining 30 per cent from the Army and Navy, plus a handful of civilians. Not only is it monitoring the sky for threats from foreign powers but it is also keeping an eye out for falling space debris, asteroids, and coronal mass ejections from the Sun which could wipe out power grids and satellites. When a threat is spotted, the team can contact satellite providers to warn them to reposition their spacecraft, or advise them to power down until a powerful jet of plasma has passed through. It also informs the government and the security services on the orbital movements of foreign powers. Space Command also launched its first military satellite last year, named Tyche, which can capture daytime images and videos of the Earth's surface for surveillance, intelligence gathering and military operations. It is part of the Government's £968 million Istari programme which will see more satellites launched by 2031 to create a surveillance constellation. Mr Bryant added: 'Lots of people think 'space' and joke about Star Trek and the final frontier, but actually the truth is you couldn't spend a single day of your life these days in the UK without some kind of engagement with space. 'The havoc that could be created, which might be military havoc, or it might be entirely civil havoc, could be very significant.'
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Pictures reveal secrets of former RAF Neatishead Cold War base
Pictures have revealed the interior of a former Cold War radar station believed to be the country's longest Neatishead in Norfolk was downgraded from an RAF station 20 years ago but is still a military air defence radar of the remaining site, including a nuclear bunker, was sold off to tech entrepreneur William Sachiti, who opened its doors to the media."I've owned this place for about three years, and no, I've actually not explored a lot of it," he admitted. "I think there's about 40% of the bunker I haven't seen yet but what I have done is made sure I've got in touch with people that used to work here to make sure the place is kept alive enough as we slowly refurbish it and bring it back to life."Originally a World War II base, the site was an important part of Britain's air defences during the Cold War. Mr Sachiti said he was using the site to develop technology aimed at covering mobile "notspots" - areas with poor or non-existent phone or data it has emerged that last month the defence secretary issued a High Court writ against Mr Sachiti and his company, Academy of details are not currently available, but Mr Sachiti said: "This is unrelated to any of our current or previous with the MOD, and unrelated to any radar tech which was recently announced."There was a minor dispute which was resolved but I cannot comment on the details."The Ministry of Defence has been asked for comment. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
