Sign in

William Freer

@willfreer.bsky.social
72 followers 35 following 7 posts

Research Fellow at the Council on Geostrategy | Interested in 🇬🇧 defence and foreign policy | From Leicestershire but part time Stoke City fan

PostsRepliesMedia
William Freer @willfreer.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
First flight with an F-35 carrying Meteor BVRAAM conducted (its a tight fit on the smaller internal bay of the F-35B) Initially aimed to be operational by mid-2020s, has now slipped to before the end of decade Hopefully a sign the process is speeding up www.raf.mod.uk/news/article...
raf.mod.uk
Meteor's first flight on an F-35B
Test flights conducted of a Meteor missile on an F-35B.
000
William Freer @willfreer.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Latest update to 🇬🇧 armed forces and equipment lists is now out (after a few days delay) Lower numbers in most areas as you would expect, & that is without latest cuts factored in, but with some growth in new equipment (eg Ajax up to 128 from 44 and MLRS up to 43 from 29) www.gov.uk/government/s...
gov.uk
UK armed forces equipment and formations 2024
Annual statistics on vessels, land equipment and aircraft of the armed forces, and military formations.
010
William Freer @willfreer.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
An interesting read: There will be some frustrated at the development budget cut & there will be some frustrated defence spending didn’t go further But the words & actions of the last few hours are a great sign 🇬🇧 is prepared to step up to the challenges we face; hopefully more to come
010
William Freer @willfreer.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Agree on this sentiment: a greater degree of clarity is also needed on timelines and priorities (the job of the SDR) to help MoD/Armed forces/industry make long-term planning assumptions Hopefully will come in time. 🇦🇺 produced a detailed Integrated Investment Plan alongside its defence strategy
defence.gov.au
110
William Freer @willfreer.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Some thoughts three years on from 🇷🇺’s full scale invasion of 🇺🇦 Focusing energy on fixing the twin problems of limited material aid & clear sanctions evasion would have far more impact on bolstering the security of 🇺🇦 than talk of deploying ‘deterrent’ forces www.lbc.co.uk/opinion/view...
lbc.co.uk
Britain can't stop Russia alone – but it can lead the way
It's time for Europe to bolster its defences to stand together against Ukraine.
010