Steve McNeil

@thinkdefence Will that boat go on a plane ?

The future of mine countermeasures

@ManfromMosman @Osinttechnical Henry just kaiser is a multi purpose ship carrying fuel and stores. She can supply jet fuel water and palletised stores.

@Osinttechnical It’s a nuclear powered aircraft carrier. It does not need and cannot be refueled at sea. The photo shows a supply support ship, NOT an Oiler.

The USS Abraham Lincoln refuels from the oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser in the North Arabian Sea, conducting an underway replenishment in between Iran strike missions last week.

@NavyLookout @docks_uk 432k per boat ?!

.@docks_uk has won £84M In- Service Support Contract to maintain a total of 194 RN, RFA and MoD Police boats, Passenger Transfer Boats, RIBs and Vahana workboats at their sites in Gosport, Cremyll and South Shields.

@nicholadrummond Maybe good to replace batch 1 rivers ? We need greater scale. Would be good to have type 26 type 31 then this is think it would be a good force mix

Babcock's Arrowhead 120 is a scaled-down version of the UK's Type 31 frigate (which is based on the Arrowhead 140 design). The AH120 is one of several designs being proposed for Sweden's light frigate programme. While it is a tidy little design, the cost per warship is expected to be $1.1 to $1.6 billion.

@Gabriel64869839 They are air portable then ? On a c17?

12 Royal Artillery going to Cyprus. STORMER of course fires the exact same missiles RAPID SENTRY does. And indeed has 8 missiles ready to fire instead of 4.

@pegge49 @NavyLookout @HMSDragon @FOST @RFATideforce Seems about right speed home about average 12 knots?

@NavyLookout @HMSDragon @FOST @RFATideforce Presumably they did that RAS on 18th, with Tideforce leaving not long after, to be able to cover the 1400 odd miles from the Western Med to arrive at on the 23rd Faslane.

.@HMSDragon (now in Crete) conducted @FOST certification and was replenished by @RFATideforce on her way to the Eastern Mediterranean. royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2026/marc…

@twittorix @NavyLookout @HMSDuncan @HMSPWLS @AWenham1 The 32k figure would i am sure include the royal marines and fleet air arm

@NavyLookout @HMSDuncan @HMSPWLS @AWenham1 Surely joining the navy means a job with a lot of time off, 32,000 personnel and only 5 or so active ships.

.@HMSDuncan moved onto UHAF yesterday to unload munitions ahead of maintenance period. @HMSPWLS maintenance complete and she is expected to sail soon for a short work up in UK waters. Via @AWenham1

@Jasonsherratt74 @JackRutterrr @UKForcesTracker @dparody @RFATideforce Its a fast fleet replenishment ship. Carries fuel and stores to provide to navy ships at sea

@JackRutterrr @UKForcesTracker @dparody @RFATideforce Right ok what does it do

BREAKING RFA Tideforce unexpectedly entered the Mediterranean Sea this afternoon. (Src: @dparody)

@AWenham1 @HMSPWLS @NavyLookout @WarshipCam @WarshipsIFR @warshipworld @seawaves_mag @UKForcesTracker @UKDefJournal Is this extra bits around the windows for ice up north?

Beware fitting hss appeared on HMS Prince of Wales @HMSPWLS @NavyLookout @WarshipCam @WarshipsIFR @warshipworld @seawaves_mag @UKForcesTracker @UKDefJournal

@militaryhistori Stable door horse bolted springs to mind

Breaking: London announces (belatedly) that HMS Duncan left Portsmouth at 10:00 am this morning for the Eastern Mediterranean. At last! Sailing time to Suez: 6 days at 20 knots.

@thebattler180 @DefenceGeek @MATA_osint @ArmchairAdml @BrianE6B @vcdgf555 @steffanwatkins @TheIntelFrog @FaytuksNetwork Refused over flight of france ?

@DefenceGeek @MATA_osint @ArmchairAdml @BrianE6B @vcdgf555 @steffanwatkins @TheIntelFrog @FaytuksNetwork Fair enough but the long way around

"Reallocating Resources" #FreeIran --- Operation LION & SUN / ROARING LION / EPIC FURY --- This evening, a number of tankers from Moron Airbase (LEMO) in Spain have filed to move to Ramstein Airbase (ETAR) in Germany, suggesting that additional fast-jets currently at RAF Lakenheath may move towards CENTCOM in the coming days. The ones I've identified are: KC-135R "RCH213" 60-0331 #AE07AB KC-135R "RCH295" 60-0362 #AE059D KC-135T "RCH203" 58-0047 #AE0243 KC-135RT "RCH275" 58-0124 #AE04C0 KC-135R "RCH429" 62-3534 #AE068F KC-135R "RCH263" 62-3562 #AE066C KC-135R "?" 61-0313 #AE049B @MATA_osint @thebaldgeek

@AccrueReturns @BurnsideWasTosh Where would the starting band be now ? If it kept pace ?

@BurnsideWasTosh If thresholds had risen in line with CPI, the higher rate band would start around £62,000 today. Instead it’s frozen at £50,270 and now extended to 2031. Huge difference dragging many into the 40% tax bracket they shouldn’t be in.

@BBCSimonJack 23. ?? I thought the requirements were for 49 ???

Exclusive. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will approve deal to buy 23 helicopters from Yeovil based Leonardo supporting 3000 jobs the Italian owned firm warned were at risk. The decision effectively overrules MoD which had “deprioritised” the project. Full story to come.

@osintPk They will continue to replenish key supplies via these flights along with utilising any replenishment ships within the task group ir forward deployed within the med operating area

US Navy logistics in motion. A C-2A Greyhound (RG03) just flew from Rota to Cagliari, a carrier onboard delivery aircraft used to transport personnel, parts, and critical cargo directly to aircraft carriers at sea. This usually means one thing. A carrier strike group like USS Gerald Ford nearby is being actively sustained and prepared for extended operations.

@FTusa284 @DefenceHQ @BritishArmy Is there something off the shelf proven that they could buy and abandon this

Why would BFBS, a news outlet with exceptionally close links to @DefenceHQ and @BritishArmy be broadcasting this unless they've been given a steer...?

@sentdefender Think they need to prep more carriers

Besides the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) already in the Arabian Sea, only one other carrier is deployed right now and could immediately head to the region, that being the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) currently operating in the Caribbean. However, for a number of reasons, one being that the carrier has already been deployed for going on eight months as well as several problems recently aboard the Ford, she will not be going to the Middle East. The only carrier that could deploy anytime soon to the Middle East would be the USS George H.W. Bush, who is currently completing her Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) off the coast of Virginia for a scheduled deployment later this year, with the exercise likely taking roughly two more weeks and then at least two weeks to reach the U.S. Central Command’s Area-of-Responsibility near Iran. The USS George Washington (CVN-73) is available to deploy from Fleet Activities Yokosuka in Japan, however this would leave the Indo-Pacific without an aircraft carrier to counter China.

@jamies172 @wraggi74 @NavyLookout @RFATidespring Yup would imagine she is discharging fuel then refit period

@wraggi74 @NavyLookout @RFATidespring She's been away for 10 months so probably due a long time aside

.@RFATidespring moved from South Yard onto Yonderberry Jetty in Devonport at the weekend. Via: K. Clarke

@GlobeSentinels What else is there left to send ? No sign of any additional aircraft carrier being sent to the region nor additional destroyers to protect the current carrier battle group which seems somewhat small.

The USS Abraham Lincoln has arrived in the Middle East, now operating close to Iran. US and Israeli defensive deployments are fully in place, though no timeline has been given for any strike. Washington still needs time to build meaningful force, though it retains the ability to act immediately if required. The stated aim: a clean, limited operation targeting the current regime.

@Matt_Pinner 20 of course easy.

7 for me!!….I feel confident nobody Has all 20!! How many for you?🤔

@nicholadrummond We need capability and depth along with continually improving and enlarged forces

I don’t know how to say it clearer than this, but we can no longer postpone the regeneration of the UK’s armed forces. We have got to turn on the taps of fresh investment so the capabilities needed can be acquired. Given the long lead-times associated with the manufacture of military hardware, we can’t afford to wait any longer. Otherwise we go to war naked.