baldbof
LE
Cough...errr...three.
Sky News: "Defence chiefs predict peril..."
- Thread starter Zhopa
- Start date
LE
Cough...errr...three.
Drlligaf
LE
The other V bomber airfields were, Finningley, Cottesmore, Marham and Marham. None of those are in Lincolnshire.
And the Ruskies still never found Lincolnshire anyway. Neither did a lot of other people.
baldbof
LE
Coningsby is the oft forgotten V-base in Lincolnshire. Quite easy to ignore the county when hammering up and down the A1, which will also take you past another V-base at Wittering.
Yokel
LE
Back to the grey zone:
Royal Marine commandos on mission to disrupt and confuse
Small groups of Royal Marine commandos will be deployed on covert missions overseas to operate in the “grey zone” between peace and war where they can disrupt enemy activity.
Lieutenant Colonel Simon Rogers, commanding officer of 40 Commando, said that they would carry out “special operations” in sensitive places where a conventional deployment would increase political risk.
Commandos will take on the role of special forces so that the “highest end troops” are free to focus on the most demanding operations, he said.
Tasks could include deception operations where commandos send fake electronic transmissions to confuse adversaries, or missions to disrupt online systems and deceive enemy forces by making them think UK troops are positioned elsewhere.
Rogers told a conference at the Royal United Services Institute think tank that special operations referred to normal activity in unusual or sensitive places where sending large numbers of troops would cause problems for the government.
He said “special operations are now no longer the preserve of special forces” and that under the Future Commando Force programme the Marines would take on some of their roles to “ease the burden”.
What is more, terrorist threats and hostile state activity are overlapping and they are on a global scale,” he added, noting that the Future Commando Force programme needed to increase the Marines’ ability and capacity to operate in a “sub-threshold” space, a type of warfare where armed clashes are avoided.
By stopping the adversary operating in that area between peace and war, this could in turn prevent such activities leading to all-out conflict. Rogers added that the UK needed to ensure there was a “cost to malign activity below the threshold of conflict”.
Vice Admiral Jerry Kyd, fleet commander of the navy, told the conference that the military needed to recognise that the UK’s adversaries sought to win battles without having to take part in a conventional war.
That meant troops needed to be more proactive but still able to fight in a full-blown conflict. “When deterrence fails, we go to a shooting war very quickly indeed”, he said.
Royal Marine commandos on mission to disrupt and confuse
Small groups of Royal Marine commandos will be deployed on covert missions overseas to operate in the “grey zone” between peace and war where they can disrupt enemy activity.
Lieutenant Colonel Simon Rogers, commanding officer of 40 Commando, said that they would carry out “special operations” in sensitive places where a conventional deployment would increase political risk.
Commandos will take on the role of special forces so that the “highest end troops” are free to focus on the most demanding operations, he said.
Tasks could include deception operations where commandos send fake electronic transmissions to confuse adversaries, or missions to disrupt online systems and deceive enemy forces by making them think UK troops are positioned elsewhere.
Rogers told a conference at the Royal United Services Institute think tank that special operations referred to normal activity in unusual or sensitive places where sending large numbers of troops would cause problems for the government.
He said “special operations are now no longer the preserve of special forces” and that under the Future Commando Force programme the Marines would take on some of their roles to “ease the burden”.
What is more, terrorist threats and hostile state activity are overlapping and they are on a global scale,” he added, noting that the Future Commando Force programme needed to increase the Marines’ ability and capacity to operate in a “sub-threshold” space, a type of warfare where armed clashes are avoided.
By stopping the adversary operating in that area between peace and war, this could in turn prevent such activities leading to all-out conflict. Rogers added that the UK needed to ensure there was a “cost to malign activity below the threshold of conflict”.
Vice Admiral Jerry Kyd, fleet commander of the navy, told the conference that the military needed to recognise that the UK’s adversaries sought to win battles without having to take part in a conventional war.
That meant troops needed to be more proactive but still able to fight in a full-blown conflict. “When deterrence fails, we go to a shooting war very quickly indeed”, he said.
Yokel
LE
Not sure why that got a funny.
There was talk of basing small numbers of Royal Marines (a troop?) aboard the new offshore patrol vessels that are going to be forward deployed. However they do not not have an embarked aircraft or real firepower.
I suspect that part of responding to grey zone threats will be things like presence and demonstrating will. Nature abhors a vacuum.
There was talk of basing small numbers of Royal Marines (a troop?) aboard the new offshore patrol vessels that are going to be forward deployed. However they do not not have an embarked aircraft or real firepower.
I suspect that part of responding to grey zone threats will be things like presence and demonstrating will. Nature abhors a vacuum.
ExREME.TECH
LE
Waddington?Coningsby is the oft forgotten V-base in Lincolnshire. Quite easy to ignore the county when hammering up and down the A1, which will also take you past another V-base at Wittering.
One of my houses was very nearby and the air thingy in the wall was the size of an old speaker with layers of charcoal
QRK2
LE
Lieutenant Colonel Simon Rogers, commanding officer of 40 Commando, said that they would carry out “special operations” in sensitive places where a conventional deployment would increase political risk.
Commandos will take on the role of special forces so that the “highest end troops” are free to focus on the most demanding operations, he said.
Yokel
LE
This article from the Times of Israel talks about the maritime grey zone:
The damage suffered by the Helios Ray is consistent with an attack using a limpet mine, easily attained explosive devices affixed magnetically to ships by combat divers or combat engineers on small boats. They are placed just above or below the waterline, and are meant to knock ships out of action temporarily, not to sink them.
Limpet mines were seemingly used in a series of attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman in mid-2019. On May 12, 2019, four ships in the Port of Fujairah were sabotaged by attackers using the mines. A month later, a Japanese and a Norwegian oil tanker were both attacked with suspected limpet mines. The US and others blamed the attacks on Iran, which denied any involvement.
“The problem with the limpet mine is that almost anyone can acquire and use one,” said Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “If you fire an anti-ship missile, you can detect exactly who fired it and the exact platform that fired it.”
Limpet mines, however, are not clearly traceable.
An attack that makes attribution difficult “creates ambiguity that serves Iran’s interests,” said Cordesman. “If you can use gray zone operations to achieve your objectives without escalating to more serious conflict, these kinds of operations offer you advantages and a level of security that higher intensity combat doesn’t. And Iran has practiced a very wide range of attacks.”
“Gray zone operations” are coercive, ambiguous actions taken by actors trying to upend the regional order while staying below the threshold that would justify a military response by stronger parties. NATO militaries have increasingly recognized them as a challenge.
Experts believe the gray zone approach is a central component of Iran’s national security strategy. Deniable attacks on civilian shipping fit into Iran’s broader, asymmetric naval strategy.
The damage suffered by the Helios Ray is consistent with an attack using a limpet mine, easily attained explosive devices affixed magnetically to ships by combat divers or combat engineers on small boats. They are placed just above or below the waterline, and are meant to knock ships out of action temporarily, not to sink them.
Limpet mines were seemingly used in a series of attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman in mid-2019. On May 12, 2019, four ships in the Port of Fujairah were sabotaged by attackers using the mines. A month later, a Japanese and a Norwegian oil tanker were both attacked with suspected limpet mines. The US and others blamed the attacks on Iran, which denied any involvement.
“The problem with the limpet mine is that almost anyone can acquire and use one,” said Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “If you fire an anti-ship missile, you can detect exactly who fired it and the exact platform that fired it.”
Limpet mines, however, are not clearly traceable.
An attack that makes attribution difficult “creates ambiguity that serves Iran’s interests,” said Cordesman. “If you can use gray zone operations to achieve your objectives without escalating to more serious conflict, these kinds of operations offer you advantages and a level of security that higher intensity combat doesn’t. And Iran has practiced a very wide range of attacks.”
“Gray zone operations” are coercive, ambiguous actions taken by actors trying to upend the regional order while staying below the threshold that would justify a military response by stronger parties. NATO militaries have increasingly recognized them as a challenge.
Experts believe the gray zone approach is a central component of Iran’s national security strategy. Deniable attacks on civilian shipping fit into Iran’s broader, asymmetric naval strategy.
Boumer
LE
I need to re-read this a few times, and whilst I am very careful to disagree with someone who knows more than me; the politcal risk of convenional deployment is obviated by "special operations" sounds an interesting doctrine to me.
Catching a bunch of chaps cutting around somewhere where we shouldn't be has always been a bit of an issue; and whilst I get "Covert Action" is seen as an easy cure, I am not quite sure it is quite the attractive thing to politicians that it is made out to be.
An academic (in the nicest way) treatment of the subject
Disrupt and Deny
British leaders use spies and Special Forces to interfere in the affairs of others discreetly and deniably. Since 1945, MI6 has spread mi...
www.goodreads.com
But the friction between political departments is brought up multiple times.
QRK2
LE
An academic (in the nicest way) treatment of the subject
Disrupt and Deny
British leaders use spies and Special Forces to interfere in the affairs of others discreetly and deniably. Since 1945, MI6 has spread mi...www.goodreads.com
But the friction between political departments is brought up multiple times.
If you don't wish to buy the book:
Yokel
LE
I need to re-read this a few times, and whilst I am very careful to disagree with someone who knows more than me; the politcal risk of convenional deployment is obviated by "special operations" sounds an interesting doctrine to me.
Catching a bunch of chaps cutting around somewhere where we shouldn't be has always been a bit of an issue; and whilst I get "Covert Action" is seen as an easy cure, I am not quite sure it is quite the attractive thing to politicians that it is made out to be.
An academic (in the nicest way) treatment of the subject
Disrupt and Deny
British leaders use spies and Special Forces to interfere in the affairs of others discreetly and deniably. Since 1945, MI6 has spread mi...www.goodreads.com
But the friction between political departments is brought up multiple times.
What are the political views and agenda of the author? In the grey zone era, just having a presence somewhere should be seen as significant. Nature abhors a vacuum.
What does 'special operations' actually mean?
Last edited:
Boumer
LE
Rory Cormac - The University of Nottingham
www.nottingham.ac.uk
He was a guest at the National Army Museum not long ago. Talk is above, I am grateful to @QRK2
Disrupt and Deny: Britain's Secret Operations since 1945 | National Army Museum
Join Rory Cormac live online as he discusses the secret world of spies, special forces and British foreign policy since 1945.
Book is in paperback, I quite enjoyed it FWIW.
