A Royal Air Force jet. (Photo: Reuters)
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) has revealed that the UK Royal Air Force hit several Islamic State fighters north of Bayji in Iraq over the weekend.
The UK’s defense ministry said in a statement on Saturday that despite the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Royal Air Force aircraft have continued “regular armed reconnaissance missions to support the enduring work of the Iraqi security forces to prevent any resurgence of the [ISIS] terrorist movement within their country.”
On Jan. 24, a coalition surveillance aircraft located some Islamic State fighters “based in two caves some 10 miles north of Bayji,” according to the statement. In response, two British Typhoon FGR4s were tasked to strike them.
Cobham Aviation Services becomes Draken Europe
28 January 2021
by Gareth Jennings
Draken International has rebranded its recently acquired Cobham Group Aviation Services UK business, changing the name of the UK-based aviation training provider to Draken Europe.
Having been sold to Draken International in September 2020, Cobham Aviation Services has been rebranded Draken Europe. (Draken International)
The change, announced by the company on 28 January, has been made to differentiate the business from the Draken US branch of Draken International, and comes four months after the Aviation Services UK business was divested by Cobham Group on 25 September 2020. Cobham, which was itself acquired by US private equity firm Advent International in January 2020, declined to comment at the time to
UK orders Dismounted Joint Fires Integrators from Elbit
22 January 2021
by Samuel Cranny-Evans & Nicholas Fiorenza
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded Elbit Systems UK (ESUK) a GBP102 million (USD139 million) contract for Dismounted Joint Fires Integrators (D-JFIs) for the British armed forces, the ministry and company announced on 21 January.
The UK MoD has awarded ESUK a contract for D-JFI for the British armed forces. The photo shows a forward observer using a handheld display to examine the footage relayed by the optical system. (Elbit)
The D-JFIs, which will be delivered over a five-year period, will be deployed by British joint terminal attack controllers and fire-support teams, providing them with a dismounted sensor and networked battle management system (BMS) that will be used to acquire targets and then generate and communicate target information to the relevant units for engagement, ESUK said in a press release.
defenceWeb
Written by defenceWeb -
Somali soldiers graduating from a UK-led course.
The British Army has trained its 500th Somali soldier in the essential infantry skills they need to combat armed groups and ensure security and stability in the country, the United Kingdom has announced.
The latest batch of 113 troops marked the end of their training with a ceremony in Baidoa, Somalia, on 31 December 2020.
The eight-week Company Collective Training course is designed to prepare officers and soldiers from the Somali National Army (SNA) to conduct security operations in the country’s South West State, countering the threat from Al-Shabaab and other jihadist and criminal organisations, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. The 26-man British training team from 2nd Battalion, Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment taught students skills including marksmanship, patrolling, medical aid and counter improvised explosive device (IED) techniques.