Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko says he has agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on a “permanent ceasefire” with rebels.

Whatever that means.

On the photo could be seen, that IS capture L-39 trainers.

Doesn’t mean they are servicable though, taking a hammer to the insides of a cockpit can sort that out.

The speed with which the Japanese can turn out ships is impressive. Can anyone imagine how long it’d take the UK to commission a new design of large warship, if we started now?

By the time the Japanese one was in the water the UK might have got past main gate and into detailed design.

Wikipedia says 80m for the Amazonas/Port of Spain class, but it seems to have lifted the dimensions & displacement from the River class. Other sources (e.g. naval-technology.com, defenseindustrydaily.com) say 90 or 90.5 metres, & give a higher tonnage, more installed power, etc.

Ordered by Trinidad from Vosper Thorneycroft for £150 mn in 2007, but cancelled while the 3rd was building. Sold on to Brazil at a discount, with an option to licence-build more.

It’s being said that the cost of the ships is much less than that £348 mn, & it includes lots of extras. Don’t forget that we have to maintain a certain level of work for BAE or pay penalties (I’ve seen the figure of £230 mn per year), so this contract is money we have to pay BAE even if we don’t buy anything. Blame the government for poor planning in allowing a shipbuilding gap after signing a contract guaranteeing work.

It’d be interesting to know what sensors & other equipment they’ll have. Brazil got OPVs with Terma Scanter 4100 radar, for example, same as HMS Clyde, I think. The helicopter deck is reported as big enough for a Merlin, while the Amazonas class is said to take a 7 ton helicopter.

Fair enough, but whichever way you slice it this looks looks like really crap value for money. Poor planning means we’re getting something the RN doesn’t really want and paying a premium for it instead of building something that they do need to fill the gap between CVF and Type 26.

so in March the MOD stumped up 20 million pounds for long lead parts for the 3 new OPV’s and the picture shows a 90m opv of the Amazonas class

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It does rather look that way, and the £348 figure for 3 ships does look rather expensive when compared with the Holland class: €467.8m (£372m at current exchange rates) and that’s for 4 ships that are bigger and better.

The Pentagon said American aircraft attacked artillery that was being used in northern Iraq against Kurdish forces defending the city of Irbil.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28709530

No details on what was used though.

Jets escort Qatar Airways plane into Manchester airport after bomb threat

I bloke arrested probably feeling not quite so clever now.