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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 25m

Short video clip showing the Scorpion Light Mobile Mortar System fitted to a Polaris vehicle

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Short footage showing a Norcar A7750 loader with an 800 Litre IBC.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Interesting film clip shows the Rapier Field Standard C (FSC), a short to medium range anti-aircraft missile that has now been replaced by the Common Anti Air Missile (CAMM)

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Good video shows the Montague para bicycle in action. Moving increased distances on the ground without using a lot of energy is the main advantage here.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Brief film shows how, before the repair of the runway at Stanley airport, mail from and to the island and UK was moved.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Short media clip shows Mwari, a two-crew C4ISR and precision strike aircraft, capable of carrying a wide range of weapons, sensors, and systems in extended airborne operations. Designed and built in Africa

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Short footage shows the Milrem Themis

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Brief video clip shows the Gaza pier and how sea states are a critical success, or failure, factor

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Brief clip showing the Elbit Systems M454 Super HE 155 mm artillery shell with enhanced fragmentation. With a heavy lift drone, would be an interesting area denial weapon

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Good footage of a Contilift 40ft ISO container loading and unloading system

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Short footage of a BAE Archer SPG launching a Bonus Mk2 anti armour submunition. Against massed armoured and other vehicles, these can be devastatingly effective.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Short film clip of a Bison Engineering C-Lift T Series transportable container. These add width to a standard ISO container but allow it to be loaded and unloaded from a vehicle without external assistance.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Short video clip of a Brimstone missile firing in salvo mode against three fast inshore attack craft (FIAC) and a decoy. Long read on Brimstone here www.thinkdefence.co.uk/docs/brimsto...

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Short media clip of an Elbit Light PULS concept. Think of it as a HIMARS on a trailer or pickup truck

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Interesting video of an Elbit Sting 12km range tri-mode 120mm guided mortar bomb launching from a Cardom 120mm mortar. If we are going 120mm mortar, we should consider something like this.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Good clip of a US Marine Corps Ontos, having its barrels cleaned, and a well-earned cigarette for the cleaner!

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Short video clip of an Airbus A400M during helicopter airborne refuelling development. This would be a fantastic capability to add to both UK Merlin and Chinook fleets.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Brief film clip showing a Concrete Canvas using their flexible concrete sheet material as a boat ramp. This makes for an interesting alternative to trackway for some applications.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Picture HNOMS Gnist of the Norwegian navy and a Wildcat helicopter from 847 Naval Air Squadron

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Initial Operating Capability 1 was achieved in 2014, 4 years later than planned, and 7 years later than envisaged at contract award. FOC was also slipped to 2017. IOC 2 was achieved in 2016. Full Operating Capability (FOC) was achieved in 2018, a decade after Phoenix OSD

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

By the end of 2013, the leased Hermes 450’s had flown over 70,000 hours across 5 task lines. In March 2014, the MoD announced that Watchkeeper had been given clearance to begin flying training in the UK with Royal Artillery aircrew.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

In 2007, the UK acquired Predator B/Reaper under an urgent operational requirement. As a stop-gap for use in Iraq and Afghanistan, the MoD obtained a number of Hermes 450’s from Thales UK in 2007 under Project Lydian, operated by a military/civilian mix of personnel.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Thomson Racal Defence, by then, Thales; The Lydian Hermes 450 and 180.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Northrop Grumman; The Fire Scout and RUAG Ranger

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Lockheed Martin; The EADS Eagle and Meggitt Spectre 3

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

BAE; Proposed the RQ-1 Predator and AAI Shadow

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Mid-response, the MoD then decided to merge SENDER and SPECTATOR into WATCHKEEPER, with £3.5 study contracts each awarded to BAE, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Thomson Racal Defence

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

The SENDER ITT was issued to Aérospatiale Matra, Bell Textron, GKN Westland, Hunting, Thomson-CSF, Lockheed Martin, Matra BAe Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Racal, Raytheon and TRW. Planned In Service Date (ISD) was 2008, coinciding with Phoenix Out of Service Date (OSD)

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

DERA (with Cranfield Aerospace and Tasuma) had demonstrated the Observer system to serve as a test bed for future systems, first flight in 1999. The MoD was supporting UAV research a decade before Phoenix left service under the Battlegroup Unmanned Aircraft (BgUMA) programme

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

In the previous thread, Phoenix was withdrawn from service in 2008, but the story of Watchkeeper starts ten years before, in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Let's discuss… The history of Watchkeeper Tactical UAS 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Images; The Ancillia Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd (SEA) Trainable Countermeasure Launcher.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

An image of The T4 Robotic System, a highly mobile unmanned ground vehicle (UGV)

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Picture A Soldier guides a Warrior Mechanised Combat Vehicle over a bridge on Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area during a training exercise on Ex STEADFAST DEFENDER

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Picture The Royal Navy's uncrewed seaboat, APAC 24, being driven autonomously in Portugal during REPMUS24

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Pictured: The successful first guided firing of the new air-to-surface SPEAR 3 mini-cruise missile in Sweden

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Pictured: The Joint Air Delivery Test and Evaluation Unit (JADTEU) AP received the Archer Mobile Howitzer 155mm 6x6 Gun System to confirm C-17 transportability

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Pictures: Royal Air Force Movers load a GMLRS onboard a RAF ATLAS C.1 ready for take-off during Exercise Swift Response (part of Exercise Steadfast Defender)

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

As told, what happened is the RAF used a map with an incorrect projection in a presentation that gave the impression that Australia was closer to Singapore than it was, favouring their F-111 and land basing strategy (soon after TSR2 cancellation) instead of CVA01

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Let's discuss… If the RAF ever moved Australia to get CVA01 cancelled? 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Images; Royal Marines and British Army medical personnel practice with the I-CWIK rapid cooling system used to treat heat illness patients in the field, in the summer heat of Episkopi, Cyprus

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Image:- An RAF Chinook carrying an underslung load makes an approach towards a landing site in the desert, near El Centro in the USA

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Pictured; Workers completing resurfacing on the Alpha Loop taxiway at Mount Pleasant Complex, Falkland Islands.

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Pictured: A female RAF Cyberspace Engineering Technician testing the 'SNAPPER' supporting Operation (Op) SHADER. The SNAPPER is a baseband/IP communication devices, connected to the Vislink Mantis satellite terminal

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Image; Computer-Generated Image of the Mission Bay on the future Type 26 Global Combat Ship for the Royal Navy

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Pictured: FV432 with a full width mine plough, and a nice bobble hat!

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Girth matters, and so does length

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Think Defence @thinkdefence.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Another constraining dimension worthy of consideration is the length of the tube or canister, especially when considering palletisation.

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