Warfare in News

Posted on Wednesday 11th July

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond unveiled the first 2 of 62 Wildcat helicopters today, and confirmed a £250m contract to support them.

The helicopters were handed over by Somerset-based manufacturer AgustaWestland at the Farnborough International Airshow. The firm will benefit from a £250m support and training contract which should sustain 500 jobs.

The first Wildcats are Army helicopters which should come into service in 2014. The Royal Navy Wildcats will be delivered later this year and planned to come into service in 2015.

The MOD is buying 34 Army Wildcats and 28 maritime attack variants, to replace the Lynx fleet operated by the Army Air Corps and Fleet Air Arm. Both variants have more powerful engines than the Lynx, the Army Wildcat will be used in a reconnaissance role, and the maritime attack version will protect the Navy's fleet around the world.

The Defence Secretary said:

'Wildcat represents a considerable advance over the current Lynx helicopters, bringing greatly improved performance and capability. The contract to provide training and support will keep them flying wherever they are needed.

'These helicopters will be a key part of the future equipment programme for the Armed Forces that will see £160bn spent over the next ten years. By balancing the budget, we can deliver the airframes and the millions of pounds of support they require.'

Further Reading

Alan Bristow: Helicopter Pioneer

Only £25.00

Alan Bristow: Helicopter Pioneer

(Hardback - 384 pages)
by Alan Bristow

Alan Bristow, founder of Bristow Helicopters, died seven days after completing his autobiography. He was a truly remarkable man; his full-page obituary was published in The Times and The Daily Telegraph. As a merchant navy officer cadet during the war Bristow survived two sinkings, played a part in the evacuation of Rangoon and was credited with shooting down two Stukas in North Africa. He joined the Fleet Air Arm and trained as one of the… Read more...

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Dates in History

German forces cross the Somme River

24th March 1918

On March 24, 1918, German forces cross the Somme River, achieving their first goal of the major spring offensive begun three days earlier on the Western Front. Operation Michael, engineered by the German chief of the general staff, Erich von Ludendorff, aimed to decisively break through the Allied lines on the Western Front and destroy the British and French forces. The offensive began on the morning of March 21, 1918, with an aggressive bombardment. The brunt of the attack that followed was directed at the British 5th Army, commanded by General Sir Hubert Gough, stationed along the Somme River in northwestern France. This section was the most poorly defended of any spot on the British lines, due to the fact that it had been held by the French until only a few weeks before and its defensive positions were not yet fully fortified. Panic spread up and down the British lines of command, intensified by communications failures between Gough and his subordinates in the field, and German gains increased over the subsequent days of battle. On March 23, Crown Prince Rupprecht, on the German side of the line, remarked that The progress of our offensive is so quick, that one cannot follow it with a pen. The next day, German troops stormed across the Somme, having previously captured its bridges before French troops could destroy them. Despite having resolved to concentrate on weaker points of the enemy lines, Ludendorff continued to throw his armies against the crucial villages of Amiens (a railway junction) and Arras—which the British and French were instructed to hold at all costs—hoping to break through and push on towards Paris. By that time, German troops were exhausted, and transportation and supply lines had begun to break down in the cold and bad weather. Meanwhile, Allied forces had recovered from the initial disadvantage and had begun to gain the upper hand, halting the Germans at Moreuil Wood on March 30. On April 5, Ludendorff called off Operation Michael. It had yielded nearly 40 miles of territory, the greatest gains for either side on the Western Front since 1914. He would launch four more offensive pushes over the course of the spring and summer, throwing all of the German army’s resources into this last, desperate attempt to win the war. (www.history.com)

Further Reading

The Somme
(Paperback - 355 pages)
by Richard van Emden

The offensive on the Somme took place between July and November 1916 and is perhaps the most iconic battle of the Great War. It was there that Kitchener’s famous ‘Pals’ Battalions were first sent into action en masse and it was a battlefield where many of the dreams and aspirations… Read more at Pen & Sword...

Only £14.99 at Pen & Sword Books.

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