Of all the three (or should that be four? 🤔) V-bomber types, only the Handley Page Victor B1 ever flew supersonic! This feat, which was totally unintentional, took place during flight testing in 1956. Mind you, she looks like she should be capable, even when she's on the ground.

As the Treasury says "no", I'm not sure how he plans to do this. Some sort of bring-and-buy sale perhaps? Jarvis: I’ll get Armed Forces the funds they need telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06…

Suppose the British Army has just been gifted fifty of these. What is it doing with them?

Name a cancelled TV show that needs to be brought back

Beijing accuses us of “hyping.” Let us be precise about what actually happened. We observed a structure inside Bajo de Masinloc. We documented it, dated it, geolocated it, and released the aerial imagery to the public. That is not hype — that is transparency. And transparency is only threatening to the party that has something to hide. To “hype” something is to exaggerate or invent it. We did neither. The imagery speaks for itself, and we put it in front of the Filipino people, the region, and the international community precisely so that no one has to take our word for it — or Beijing’s. The fact that China’s instinct is to attack the reporting rather than explain the structure tells you everything. What is irresponsible is not a coast guard doing its job and informing the public. What is irresponsible is the unilateral placement of structures in another country’s exclusive economic zone, in open defiance of the 2016 Arbitral Award — and then calling the act of documenting it a provocation. And there is a reason we cannot simply accept Beijing’s description of these as “normal activities.” We have heard this before. When the People’s Republic of China first occupied Mischief Reef in 1995, it assured the world that the structures it was putting up were nothing more than shelters for its fishermen. Today, Mischief Reef is a fully militarized artificial island — runway, hangars, radar, missile capabilities — sitting squarely inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The “fishermen’s shelter” was the cover story. So when China waves away the structure at Bajo de Masinloc as “normal,” it is asking the region to forget its own record. That is precisely why these actions cannot be taken at face value. If China genuinely wants to be believed, there is a simple way to show it: pull out. Remove the platform, halt the installation of buoys/communication towers, and respect the 2016 Arbitral Award and waters that are legally ours. Anything less only confirms the pattern — that China’s assurances at Bajo de Masinloc today are worth exactly what its word at Mischief Reef proved to be three decades ago. The choice belongs to Beijing. It can preserve what little good faith the region and the international community still extend to it, or it can keep proving why that trust was misplaced to begin with.

“planned drawdowns [from Europe] include: Reducing the number of F-16 and F-15E fighter jets from roughly 150 to 100 Reducing maritime reconnaissance aircraft from 26 to 15 and cutting all eight aerial refueling tanker jets previously available to Europe” nytimes.com/2026/06/12/world…

Die Multinational Multi‑Role Tanker Transport Unit (MMU) in Eindhoven ist ein vergleichsweise junger Verband und zugleich eines der sichtbarsten Beispiele funktionierender europäischer Fähigkeitskooperation. hardthoehenkurier.de/mmu-rue…

Some strange arguments /fightback after the resignation of @JohnHealey_MP - Treasury source saying that they would either have to cut schools and hospitals to pay for what the Def Sec wanted (“It’s the kidney machines that pay for rockets and guns” is not the best policy guide, even though it’s a great The Jam lyric”). - Talking about years of Tory under-investment is not a very consequential approach to what to do now re DIP. There wasn’t a massive push with defence spending from Opposition around the invasion of Crimea either - And to keep credibility – whoever is at the helm – UK needs to keep the (genuine) arguments away from the parochial/backward looking. this fee is too much like Labour in its opposition vibe