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Prepared for War?: Is the UK’s air defence ready for conflict?

  • May 2, 2024



Prepared for War?: Is the UK’s air defence ready for conflict?

putting Britain’s Cold War air defenses to the test the missiles are ready to go the radar locks on an enemy aircraft got free to fire now you press the firing button you’ll hear the Boost blast as it flies overhead there you go next thing you’ll see is the Warhead going off that’s the target disappearing and you killed it wow this Royal Air Force veteran talks through the simulated missile Strike the Blood Hound system is a mum piece now you can see it’s got Rolls-Royce engines but these weapons once gave the UK World beating air defenses what sort of message was that sending to the Soviet Union don’t come knocking when the Cold War ended though so too did Britain’s fast iron air defenses like the blood hound and this old operations room Frozen in time at the air defense Museum in Norwich but with new threats on the horizon veterans say the UK is looking vulnerable if hundreds and hundreds of drones and cruise missiles were to come in I don’t think we could safely take out all of them and how does that make you feel it’s I don’t think about it I really don’t I’m glad I did my time back then and not now with a growing need to rebuild the UK’s air defenses we’ve mapped out some of our most critical sites let’s start with the national government in London and the three regional administrations then there’s the UK’s spy agencies and Military Intelligence so far so iable but what if you add Army Navy and Air Force bases then throw in ports what about airports there’s also train stations and not forgetting power stations even wind farms the infrastructure that needs protecting is vast and this is only a snapshot contrast the scale of the challenge with what the UK actually has to defend its Skies the RAF is equipped with a mere nine Frontline fighter squadrons that compares with 30 towards the end of the Cold War as for the Royal Navy it has six type 45 destroyers capable of shooting down ballistic missiles but only three of these warships are currently operational including one that’s in the Middle East while on land the UK has around six groundbased air defense systems called Sky saber that can take out Jets and missiles but at least two of these weapons probably more are also deployed overseas fixing the gaps will mean a huge new investment to cover this whole area but failing to act would be even more costly if the UK were to find itself at War Russia’s assaults on Ukraine and Iran’s barrage against Israel have Illustrated the importance of air defense prompting calls for a British version of the Israeli Iron Dome but that system is designed to destroy short range Rockets not the more realistic threat to this country of long range missiles it’s very easy to us to go down the route as some politicians are made about buying Iron Dome off the Israelis I think that’d be the wrong decision we need to have our a defense needs based on our own uh Geographic situation threat we face before we go off down the road of buying whatever it is Britain’s Shores were targeted from the air during World War I what was then a novel threat inspired the creation of the world’s first operational radar station on the suffk coast the only Mast here now is this radio one used by the Coast Guard but as the second world war was looming four four giant Towers were constructed here as part of a new system of Radars each one 360 ft High able to detect an aircraft up to a 100 miles away now a museum bordy radar played a pivotal role in winning the Battle of Britain by identifying incoming threats so there’re the bullet holes yes the building was attacked by a fighter during the second world war but the wall is 18 in thick so it had little effect Graham helps run the museum and has a message for today’s leaders my advice would be learn from the past and be prepared and do you think we’re prepared at the moment uh I suspect we could do a lot more preparation than we are doing being ready for the worst defined the Cold War era a forgotten frame of mind that’s now sharply back in focus Deborah Hayes Sky News

The next instalment of Sky News’ Prepared For War? series looks at the UK’s hallowed out air defence.

The RAF has nine frontline fighter squadrons compared with 30 in operation near the end of the Cold War. In the Navy, only three of the six destroyers capable of shooting down ballistic missiles are in operation.

And on land, only four of the six ground-based air defence systems that can take out jets and missiles are in the UK with two deployed overseas.

Sky’s Deborah Haynes reports.

Read more: https://news.sky.com/story/uk-increasingly-vulnerable-to-threat-of-missile-and-drone-attacks-after-decades-of-cuts-experts-warn-13127263

#war #nuclearwar #defence

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38 comments

  3. Israel has the "Iron Dome" Britain a richer bigger country has NOTHING. One can assume then that the ruling elite care only that they are safe in their deep well stocked bunkers.

  5. I'm sure all the Russian bots will be here soon to tell us that we're not ready, shouldn't fund the military and we're going to lose in any conflict anyway

  6. No need to raise alarms, who would attack uk?

    And 29 other countries are bound by the nato treaty to help defend the uk.

    Russia isn't a fool.

  8. The uk thanks to the Tories including David Cameron and Boris Johnson could not now defend the Falklands the Tories cant even defend dover harbour from an invasion. If Russia sent hundred thousand airbourne troops on any weekday they could take over this country because ee only have tasers to stop anything , all our defence weapons have been sent to Ukraine.

  18. The plan is working. Poke the Russian bear to create a threat and then argue for increased defense spending, which benefits the elite who are shareholders in all the major arms companies!
    😂😂

  21. The UK’s air defence, like the UK’s military in all three branches, isn’t prepared for war. It is a disaster, faulty submarines, not enough airplanes to equip even one of the two faulty aircraft carriers, a single replenishment ship, etc.

  22. Glad itis being recognized that the UK needs to beef up their military. It's been tough seeing their military capabilities and manpower today compared to when they were at their height.

  23. My words as an American to the UK: "Remember your former glory as the World's largest empire. Don't be satisfied to be a faint shadow of your former self. Be proud to be British and build up your military power so the world will know that the UK is still not to be messed with."

  25. England has appeared to have imported the enemy into the country already ! Wake up UK ! I would wave a Union Jack at the end of this statement but ofcourse its forbidden 🙁

  34. Bloody hell, this country is prepared for nothing honestly is shocking not only military with not enough troops and MODs or weapons or first aiders etc. Is British young generation has enough spirit to fight for England? Bear in mind all foreigners specially Europeans would leave UK and withdraw all savings from British banks this Country would remain in recession for decades

  35. Total, well almost paranonia… Sky news et al, love to whip up fear.

    If the UK is attacked by a foreign power, the entire arsenal of NATO becomes available, so a country like Russia or Iran… perhaps even China become easily destroyed. Russia is doing it's own self-destruction as are the other aforementioned tin-pot dictatorships. As long as NATO stands together, these backward idiots stand no real chance other than total destruction the moment they try something.

  37. Ukrainian losses are many times that of Russian losses. The Kiev regime does not release accurate statistics. But observers say that up to 500,000 Ukrainians have been killed or incapacitated. No wonder people are now desperate to avoid mobilization! The tragedy of Ukraine.

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