29th May 2025 at 12:07pm

HMS Dragon, HMS Hurworth and HMS Ledbury have been involved in a five-day operation to track Russian naval activity near British waters.

Royal Navy warships and helicopters have once again been called on to monitor Russian activity around the UK – the second such operation this month.

Portsmouth-based HMS Dragon shadowed the Russian intelligence-gathering ship Yuri Ivanov as it lingered off the coast of the Outer Hebrides following Nato’s Formidable Shield exercise.

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The Type 45 destroyer launched a Merlin helicopter to gather further information before the Russian vessel turned north for home in the Arctic.

Meanwhile, in the English Channel, HMS Ledbury, HMS Hurworth and a Merlin Mk2 from 814 Naval Air Squadron tracked the Russian corvette Stoikiy and two merchant ships, Sparta IV and General Skobelev, as they returned from the Mediterranean and transited east through the Channel.

HMS Hurworth kept close watch on the group, supported by Nato aircraft and warships, until it exited the North Sea.

Lieutenant Commander James Bradshaw, Commanding Officer of HMS Hurworth, said: “Monitoring activity on the seas and seabed around the UK is one of the core roles of the Royal Navy’s 2nd Mine-Countermeasures Squadron.

“This operation was all in a day’s work for the ship’s company who have shown great professionalism.

“We have kept a constant watch to ensure the security and integrity of the UK’s critical sea lanes.”

The operation involved support from Nato aircraft and ships, with the Merlin helicopter from RNAS Culdrose tracking the Russian group during the eastbound transit.

It comes just three weeks after HMS Tyne was activated to monitor similar activity, and follows Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s recent commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP.

“Driving the ship close to the Russian vessels has been a new experience for me as a helmsman,” Able Seaman Mine Warfare Wayne Slater, from HMS Hurworth, said. 

“Everything has been safe and professional but we’re all trained to make sure we can respond to any aggression or incident whenever non-allied warships are operating near UK waters.”

29th May 2025 at 10:59am

Main battle tanks like the Challenger 2 rely on a combination of firepower, mobility and protection – all of which a potential enemy is well aware.

To slow down or halt the advance, the enemy can create anti-tank ditches and lay minefields – and even if the tanks avoid the mines they can end up being channelled into a kill zone where they can be targeted by artillery.

And that’s where the British Army’s Trojan armoured engineer vehicle comes in.

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This vehicle is designed to open routes through complex battlefield obstacles and clear a path through minefields.

The Trojan Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers is a combat engineering vehicle that was designed as a replacement for the Chieftain AVRE – the ChAVRE.

The Trojan is based on the chassis of the Challenger 2 it’s designed to support, and is powered by the same Perkins CV12 diesel engine.

Its standard equipment includes a dozer blade, mine plough and an excavator arm, and a mine-marking system can also be fitted.

It can also carry fascines – a bundle of pipes that are dropped into a ditch, filling the gap so it can then be driven over.

The Trojan can also tow a trailer-mounted, rocket-propelled, mine-clearing system.

Although it has no turret – the Trojan is not a tank – all this dedicated kit gives it a combat weight of 62.5 tonnes, but it can nevertheless achieve a top speed of 59km/h.

Improved visibility is achieved by incorporating direct and indirect vision devices with low-light, image-intensifying and thermal imaging capabilities. It also has a CBRN protection system.

Because it can free up an armoured advance, the Trojan is considered a high-value target. It has some means of protection, being armed with the 7.62mm belt-fed L7A2 GPMG.

But it relies on the very vehicle it’s there to support – the Challenger 2 – to protect it against threats such as enemy armour.

While it was designed for the battlefield, the Trojan has the flexibility to support a wide range of operations, including humanitarian missions.

Jonathan Moynihan – 29th May 2025 at 11:27am

Carrier Strike Group 25 has sailed through the Suez Canal as it continues its onward journey to Australia, the Royal Navy has confirmed.

Defence Secretary John Healey revealed that they had “gameplanned situations” in case the carrier strike group had to deal with an attack from the Iranian-backed Houthis, according to the Telegraph.

The UK resumed strikes on Houthi drone facilities ahead of the £3bn aircraft carrier’s passage through the canal.

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“The Carrier Strike Group is in a high-risk area,” Mr Healey said during his visit to MOD Corsham, the UK’s military cyber headquarters.

“We know that, they know that, they are fully trained for that, and they are as well prepared and well protected as they can be, physically, militarily, and digitally, and in cyber.”

He added that “it will be a really dangerous high-risk passage”.

The CSG did not contain RFA Tidespring, as the tanker will travel south around the Cape of Good Hope before rejoining the vessels in the Indian Ocean.

It comes after the personnel enjoyed some rest and recuperation in Souda Bay in Crete following Exercise Med Strike.

The CSG partnered with an Italian carrier strike group, led by flagship ITS Cavour, to take part in Exercise Med Strike.

The exercise involved 21 warships, three submarines, 41 fast jets, 19 helicopters, 10 patrol aircraft and 8,000 personnel.

UK and Italian F-35B Lightning jets flew day and night, while warships and submarines from both countries trained together, practising anti-submarine tactics.

The training was also a test of air defence skills, including dealing with aerial drone attacks.

There are 12 countries participating in the CSG deployment, known as Operation Highmast, which will last eight months and cover more than 30,000 miles.

The CSG will conduct further large-scale exercises with allies in the Middle East, Japan and Australia.

Over 4,500 British military personnel are involved, including nearly 600 RAF, 900 soldiers, and 2,500 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines.

For more reports about Carrier Strike Group 25, click here.