HMS Daring taking on Bangers and Birds

HMS Daring, the Royal Navy's newest and most powerful warship, made her first visit to Marchwood military port in Southampton this week for ammunition handling and loading trials. The Type 45 destroyer arrived at the port, known as the Sea Mounting Centre, for a 24-hour visit as part of ongoing trials designed to test all parts of the ship's capabilities before she is formally accepted into the Royal Navy fleet - and able to be deployed anywhere in the world - early next year. HMS Daring's Commanding Officer, Captain Paddy McAlpine, said: "The visit to Marchwood is an important part of the ship's trials programme and we will be working hard to make sure we come through it successfully." HMS Daring - the first of the Royal Navy's six Type 45 destroyers - was built and launched in Glasgow and made her first entry into her home port of Portsmouth Naval Base in January. The second, Dauntless, is undergoing sea trials and will arrive at Portsmouth Naval Base for the first time early next year. The main weapon of the Type 45 is the sophisticated and lethal Principal Anti-Air Missile System, comprising a multi-function radar (MFR), automatic command and control system, and surface-to-air missiles operating in conjunction with long-range and early warning radar. The MFR can detect all types of targets out to a distance of 400km and is capable of tracking hundreds of targets simultaneously. Her long-range radar provides a 3D search capability and can track up to 1,000 targets. The Type 45 also has a comprehensive suite of other weapons and equipment, including a 4.5-inch (114mm) main gun for shore bombardment, and is equipped with a surface ship torpedo defence system, protecting it against the most advanced torpedoes. Daring's on-board power plant can supply enough electricity to light a town of 80,000 people, and she is fitted with enough electrical cable to circle the M25 motorway three times.

Royal Navy Helicopter Search & Rescue Crews Rewarded

Members of Royal Navy helicopter search and rescue crews have received bravery awards from the Queen for three dramatic rescues, it was announced yesterday.

Lieutenant-Commander Martin Lanni and Petty Officer Aircrewman Kevin Regan, from HMS Gannet in Prestwick, were presented with the Air Force Cross and Queen’s Gallantry Medal respectively.

Lieutenant-Commander Lanni, 39, flew the helicopter that plucked three climbers off a cliff on Ben Nevis in a daring night-time operation in atrocious weather.

The men were trapped on a ledge in a blizzard, out of reach of the mountain rescue team. The four-man helicopter crew worked for more than six hours to reach them, retreating off the mountain four times to regroup. Despite a dropping fuel gauge, the Sea King returned twice more to lift 12 members of the mountain rescue teams to safety.

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Without the helicopter’s intervention, in May 2007, lives would have been lost.

Observer Lieutenant-Commander Martin “Florry” Ford was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in the Air for his part in the rescue.

Petty Officer Regan, 30, was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for two rescues, one of which involved plucking a man who was high on drugs and extremely aggressive out of Loch Long, Argyll.

Police in a boat attending the incident, in June 2007, had been unable to rescue the man. Petty Officer Regan was lowered on a short line from the helicopter and faced verbal and physical abuse before the man passed out, allowing the officer to winch him clear, a difficult task as he was unconscious. Petty Officer Regan then administered emergency first aid en route to hospital.

In another incident, in January last year, Petty Officer Regan was part of a crew that rescued six people from the deck of a stricken ferry in the Irish sea near Blackpool.

In the dark and in dreadful weather, MV Riverdance was listing 45 degrees in heavy seas. Because of the conditions the rescue had to be rapid, and Petty Officer Regan risked his own safety by unclipping from the winch line to allow passengers to be lifted two at a time to speed the evacuation.

Lieutenant-Commander Lanni said: “It was an enormous honour to travel to the Palace of Holyrood and to receive my award from Her Majesty the Queen.

“It is a true high point in my career with the Royal Navy. It was a surprise to hear that I had been awarded the Air Force Cross and it makes me feel humble to be recognised in such a way for simply doing my job.

“That said, it was a tough rescue and the stakes couldn’t have been higher. I had a superb crew with me and we all pulled together to make sure that those climbers were taken to safety. And the Lochaber Mountain Rescue members also deserve a mention and recognition for their critical role in this rescue.”

Petty Officer Regan said: “This has been an extremely proud moment for me. I’m just really pleased and still surprised that I have been awarded this honour.

“Growing up I never expected that I’d end up meeting the Queen. Obviously it’s nice to be honoured, but both rescues involved a four-man crew so this is for all of us, not just me.

“At the end of the day we were just doing our job and given the circumstances I’d do exactly the same again.”

Altogether, five members of HMS Gannet — 20 per cent of the Royal Navy’s personnel at the unit — learnt that they had been variously awarded the Air Force Cross, Queen’s Gallantry Medal and Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in the Air.

The honours covered four complex and dangerous rescues that led to more than 20 lives being saved.

A further three unit members were awarded a Commander in Chief Fleet Commendation for their roles in a number of rescues.

In 2007 HMS Gannet became the UK’s busiest helicopter search and rescue station since records began, with 359 call outs, assisting 349 people, of whom 286 were casualties.

Last year the station broke its own record, with 382 call outs, on which 347 people were rescued. The station provides cover for 98,000 square miles around the west of Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland.

Aircraft carriers delayed by Ministry of Defence budget crisis (Too much bailing out Banks and Not enough Battle Tanks)

A review of major defence projects will next week confirm that the MoD does not have enough money to meet its planned timetable for buying new ships, warplanes and armoured vehicles.

Instead of cutting any projects outright, John Hutton, the Defence Secretary, has decided to delay several of them instead.

The biggest to be affected will be the £3.9 billion purchase of two new aircraft carriers.

The vessels had been due to enter service in 2014 and 2016. But one of the new ships will now be delayed by at least a year and possibly two.

The delay will raise fears for jobs in the defence industry. The MoD estimates that the project will sustain around 10,000 jobs both directly and indirectly.

MoD officials said that while some jobs may be lost as a consequence, prolonging the construction period for the carriers had the potential to support jobs over a longer period.

The new timetable will also force the Navy to put off the retirement of HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal, the existing carriers.

That will mean that the heart of Britain's naval power in the next decade will be two ships which are both more than 30 years old and well past their best.

Illustrious, the flagship of the fleet, has been in service since 1982 and, according to the MoD's current timetable, is due to retire or "pay-off" in 2012. The Ark Royal entered service in 1985 and is due to retire in 2015. Both ships already require ever-longer spells in dock to allow them to go on operating.

Mr Hutton is likely to present the review to MPs on Tuesday and argue that delaying the carriers will mean they enter service at the same time as the new generation of fighter aircraft they are intended to carry.