Latest news with #LukePollard
South Wales Guardian
9 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Royal Navy warship seizes £30m of drugs in Middle East
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.'
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
Elite Royal Marines pose with £30m worth of seized illegal drugs after storming smuggler's dhow
ELITE Royal Marines stormed a smuggler's dhow and seized £30 million worth of drugs, it has been revealed. Commandos boarded the vessel under the gaze of a 2 Elite Royal Marines stormed a smuggler's dhow and seized £30 million worth of drugs, it has been revealed 2 Commandos boarded the vessel under the gaze of a Royal Marine sniper who circled overhead in a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter The troops found 80 bags of illegal drugs including a tonne of heroin. The Navy said: 'The haul came to 1,000kg heroin, 660kg hashish, and 6kg of amphetamine – worth an estimated £30m on UK streets.' The crew of the frigate The warship remained hidden beyond the horizon for over 24 hours before closing in on the dhow and scrambling its boarding teams in fast attack boats and launching the Wildcat helicopter. Read More on UK News The Navy said it 'pounced on a drug runner in the Middle East' during the daring High Seas mission. It said: 'After secretly shadowing the suspect through the Arabian Sea for more than 24 hours, frigate HMS Lancaster struck by sea and air to bring the dhow's voyage to a halt. 'Under the watchful gaze of a Royal Marines sniper circling overhead in the frigate's Wildcat helicopter, the boarding team of 42 Commando closed on the vessel in a pincer movement.' Commander Chris Chew, the ship's captain, said: 'This is another example of where Lancaster has delivered at range, in isolation, utilising her own organic assets.' Most read in The Sun Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard hailed the 200 strong crew for a 'significant seizure, which is keeping dangerous and illegal drugs off our streets'. Oliver Harvey investigates the use of a drug smuggling submarine's journey from South America to Spain The warship was serving as part of a taskforce led by New Zealand's Navy to 'disrupt criminal and terrorist organizations' by seizing drugs, guns and illicit goods at sea. Commodore Rodger Ward, the Kiwi commander, hailed the 'tenacity, training and professionalism' of the Royal Navy.
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
Elite Royal Marines pose with £30m worth of seized illegal drugs after storming smuggler's dhow
The troops found 80 bags of illegal drugs including a tonne of heroin 'SIGNIFICANT SEIZURE' Elite Royal Marines pose with £30m worth of seized illegal drugs after storming smuggler's dhow ELITE Royal Marines stormed a smuggler's dhow and seized £30 million worth of drugs, it has been revealed. Commandos boarded the vessel under the gaze of a Royal Marine sniper who circled overhead in a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter. Advertisement 2 Elite Royal Marines stormed a smuggler's dhow and seized £30 million worth of drugs, it has been revealed 2 Commandos boarded the vessel under the gaze of a Royal Marine sniper who circled overhead in a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter The troops found 80 bags of illegal drugs including a tonne of heroin. The Navy said: 'The haul came to 1,000kg heroin, 660kg hashish, and 6kg of amphetamine – worth an estimated £30m on UK streets.' The crew of the frigate HMS Lancaster had tracked the dhow with Peregrine spy drones – mini helicopters – as it crossed the Arabian Gulf towards Africa. The warship remained hidden beyond the horizon for over 24 hours before closing in on the dhow and scrambling its boarding teams in fast attack boats and launching the Wildcat helicopter. Advertisement The Navy said it 'pounced on a drug runner in the Middle East' during the daring High Seas mission. It said: 'After secretly shadowing the suspect through the Arabian Sea for more than 24 hours, frigate HMS Lancaster struck by sea and air to bring the dhow's voyage to a halt. 'Under the watchful gaze of a Royal Marines sniper circling overhead in the frigate's Wildcat helicopter, the boarding team of 42 Commando closed on the vessel in a pincer movement.' Commander Chris Chew, the ship's captain, said: 'This is another example of where Lancaster has delivered at range, in isolation, utilising her own organic assets.' Advertisement Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard hailed the 200 strong crew for a 'significant seizure, which is keeping dangerous and illegal drugs off our streets'. Oliver Harvey investigates the use of a drug smuggling submarine's journey from South America to Spain The warship was serving as part of a taskforce led by New Zealand's Navy to 'disrupt criminal and terrorist organizations' by seizing drugs, guns and illicit goods at sea. Commodore Rodger Ward, the Kiwi commander, hailed the 'tenacity, training and professionalism' of the Royal Navy. Opium poppies are farmed in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan processed into heroin and shipped across the Arabian Gulf for transit into Europe.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Drones in Ukraine show the way Western militaries are run is 'outdated,' UK warns
The war in Ukraine shows that the way Western militaries are run is outdated, a UK minister warned. Drones evolve so fast that "we have to fundamentally challenge our assumptions," Luke Pollard said. He was speaking at a summit of more than 100 drone companies, military officials, and ministers. The war in Ukraine has shown that the way Western militaries are run is "outdated" because of how fast battlefield tech like drones evolves, a defence minister has warned. Luke Pollard, the UK's armed forces minister, said Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion showed "the way we have run our militaries, the way we have run our defense, is outdated. And that is the case across the NATO alliance." Pollard said that drones had "shifted the tectonic plates of warfare," and the speed of their innovation showed how much faster procurement and innovation have to happen. Drone tech "iterates every two to three weeks on the front line" with a "fundamentally different" model, Pollard said Wednesday, adding, "That means we have to fundamentally challenge our assumptions about how we procure." He said that NATO militaries "build and procure really expensive high-end bits of kit. And it will take you five, 10 years: five years to run a procurement challenge, another 10 years to build it." "If we allow ourselves to be stuck in old-world thinking, we will not be providing the tech that Ukraine needs, we will not be providing the security that we need," Pollard added. Pollard was speaking at the Drone Summit, which brought together drone companies, military officials, and government ministers in Latvia, a NATO member bordering Russia. Drones have played a bigger role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine than in any other conflict in history, and have upended many traditional fighting rules by taking the place of some artillery and infantry. Cheap drones have also destroyed pieces of weaponry that are worth millions, like tanks and air defenses. Oleksandr Yabchanka, the head of the robotic systems for Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, which operates ground drones, told Business Insider in March: "What was up to date and relevant half a year ago is not up to date and relevant anymore." Pollard was echoing previous warnings that the West needs to change its approach to weaponry to fight an adversary like Russia. Military officials and warfare experts have warned that the West must amass a larger volume of cheaper weaponry and shift its focus away from fewer pieces of more advanced and expensive kit. In January, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte gave a similar warning, saying, "speed is of the essence, not perfection." Officials also questioned the value of some high-value weaponry in the face of drones. US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said earlier this month that the US can't keep developing and buying expensive weaponry that can be destroyed by far cheaper drones. Pollard told the summit that, with drones, there must be a change "that is built into all our procurements that says what we can buy and build and scale faster than we have done before." He said this change would be harder for larger companies, but there needs to be a startup-style culture for companies to "not go along with the guide rails and the rules of the game but to innovate based on what is working." Pollard said that, while a coalition of 18 countries had delivered tens of thousands of drones to Ukraine, the war shows how much more needs to be done. "Big numbers need sustainable supply chains that can scale up when wartime demand requires it. Our industrial bases across Europe, across the globe, must become as agile as the systems we seek to produce with our people as skilled as the operators who deploy them on the frontline of Ukraine," he said. The gathering saw repeated warnings that the West's work is not enough. Ruben Brekelmans, the Netherlands' defense minister, told the summit that, in much of Europe, "We are quite fast at developing drones, but we are not producing drones on a massive scale. And I think that's a step that we need to take." He added Ukraine's allies had to work together to achieve "mass production quite quickly, because Ukraine needs it. We need it as well." Many European countries have warned that they could be attacked next, and supply Ukraine not only to keep Russia's war machine occupied, but to test battlefield tech. Russia still has a large military, and it has kept some of its advanced equipment out of Ukraine and unscathed from the war. Many current and former Western military officials also warn that Russia's war machine is far more spun up than Western ones. "Russia has surpassed us technologically. And more dangerously, it has surpassed us in terms of speed and scale," Valerii Churkin, Ukraine's deputy defense minister, said at the summit. "The enemy moves faster than we do," he added. Churkin urged more collaboration, telling his country's European allies, "Ukraine is not just a recipient of aid. We are your test." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
a day ago
- Politics
- Business Insider
Drones in Ukraine show the way Western militaries are run is 'outdated,' UK warns
The war in Ukraine has shown that the way Western militaries are run is "outdated" because of how fast battlefield tech like drones evolves, a defence minister has warned. Luke Pollard, the UK's armed forces minister, said Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion showed "the way we have run our militaries, the way we have run our defense, is outdated. And that is the case across the NATO alliance." Pollard said that drones had "shifted the tectonic plates of warfare," and the speed of their innovation showed how much faster procurement and innovation have to happen. Drone tech "iterates every two to three weeks on the front line" with a "fundamentally different" model, Pollard said Wednesday, adding, "That means we have to fundamentally challenge our assumptions about how we procure." He said that NATO militaries "build and procure really expensive high-end bits of kit. And it will take you five, 10 years: five years to run a procurement challenge, another 10 years to build it." "If we allow ourselves to be stuck in old-world thinking, we will not be providing the tech that Ukraine needs, we will not be providing the security that we need," Pollard added. Pollard was speaking at the Drone Summit, which brought together drone companies, military officials, and government ministers in Latvia, a NATO member bordering Russia. Drones have played a bigger role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine than in any other conflict in history, and have upended many traditional fighting rules by taking the place of some artillery and infantry. Cheap drones have also , like tanks and air defenses. Oleksandr Yabchanka, the head of the robotic systems for Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, which operates ground drones, told Business Insider in March: "What was up to date and relevant half a year ago is not up to date and relevant anymore." Pollard was echoing previous warnings that the West needs to change its approach to weaponry to fight an adversary like Russia. Military officials and warfare experts have warned that the West must amass a larger volume of cheaper weaponry and shift its focus away from fewer pieces of more advanced and expensive kit. In January, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte gave a similar warning, saying, "speed is of the essence, not perfection." Officials also questioned the value of some high-value weaponry in the face of drones. US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said earlier this month that the US can't keep developing and buying expensive weaponry that can be destroyed by far cheaper drones. New rules Pollard told the summit that, with drones, there must be a change "that is built into all our procurements that says what we can buy and build and scale faster than we have done before." He said this change would be harder for larger companies, but there needs to be a startup-style culture for companies to "not go along with the guide rails and the rules of the game but to innovate based on what is working." Pollard said that, while a coalition of 18 countries had delivered tens of thousands of drones to Ukraine, the war shows how much more needs to be done. "Big numbers need sustainable supply chains that can scale up when wartime demand requires it. Our industrial bases across Europe, across the globe, must become as agile as the systems we seek to produce with our people as skilled as the operators who deploy them on the frontline of Ukraine," he said. Stark warnings The gathering saw repeated warnings that the West's work is not enough. Ruben Brekelmans, the Netherlands' defense minister, told the summit that, in much of Europe, "We are quite fast at developing drones, but we are not producing drones on a massive scale. And I think that's a step that we need to take." He added Ukraine's allies had to work together to achieve "mass production quite quickly, because Ukraine needs it. We need it as well." Many European countries have warned that they could be attacked next, and supply Ukraine not only to keep Russia's war machine occupied, but to test battlefield tech. Russia still has a large military, and it has kept some of its advanced equipment out of Ukraine and unscathed from the war. Many current and former Western military officials also warn that Russia's war machine is far more spun up than Western ones. "Russia has surpassed us technologically. And more dangerously, it has surpassed us in terms of speed and scale," Valerii Churkin, Ukraine's deputy defense minister, said at the summit. "The enemy moves faster than we do," he added. Churkin urged more collaboration, telling his country's European allies, "Ukraine is not just a recipient of aid. We are your test."
