– Daily Mail – The Ministry of Defence was forced to buy scrapyard parts to keep its only carrier in service. In a frantic effort to refit HMS Illustrious after a fire, MoD officials salvaged parts from her sister ship HMS Ark Royal – the aircraft carrier sold two years ago. To public outcry, the historic vessel was sent to a Turkish scrapyard to be recycled into tin cans.

– War is Boring – …and a navy…and the UK will need a place to put it’s Trident submarines..

– Defense News – The Royal Navy’s sixth and final Type 45 destroyer has entered service four months ahead of schedule.

– BBC – The crew of the Royal Navy ship HMS Protector has celebrated Christmas early on the ice of Antarctica. The ship is currently in the area to carry out survey and patrol operations and will be at sea on 25 December.

– Daily Telegraph – Defence bosses have revealed the first glimpse at the future of Britain’s nuclear deterrent today, publishing the first artist’s impression of the submarines due to replace the Vanguard-class boats which carry Trident missiles.

– Medium – Build destroyers and submarines that work, for one, before the Royal Navy fades away.

– Daily Telegraph – Britain must have two working aircraft carriers if it wants to be a global military player, a Foreign Office parliamentary aide has said.

– Daily Telegraph – Royal Navy vessels are being readied to take part in a possible series of cruise missile strikes, alongside the United States, as military commanders finalise a list of potential targets.

– BBC – Royal Navy warship HMS Westminster has docked in Gibraltar, a day after Spanish fishermen protested off the British territory about a concrete reef put there by its government.

– Medium – Just pretty much stop funding it, is how…

– BBC – The Conservatives and Lib Dems are at odds over the future of Trident after a government report set out options for the UK’s nuclear weapons system.

– Daily Telegraph – The British Government denies reports it is examining plans to designate Faslane as sovereign UK territory in case Scots back independence next year.

– Guardian – Whitehall looking at plan to designate home of nuclear fleet as sovereign United Kingdom territory

– BBC – The Royal Navy’s former flagship, HMS Ark Royal, is to be towed to a breakers’ yard in Turkey. But how exactly do you scrap an aircraft carrier?

– The Guardian – The hi-tech jets that will be flown from the Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers cannot land on the ships in “hot, humid and low pressure weather conditions”, a report warns today.

– Daily Telegraph – Britain plans to restore a permanent military presence in the Gulf, basing land, air and naval forces in the region, according to a defence think tank with close ties to the armed forces.

– BBC – The UK would be “foolish” to abandon Trident in the face of the potential threat of nuclear attack from North Korea and Iran, David Cameron has said.

– Aviation Week – Five years after contract signature, work on Australia’s largest-ever warships, the landing helicopter dockships HMAS Canberra and Adelaide, is going better than for previous large defense programs, according to the Australian government and prime contractor BAE Systems. “The project expects to successfully deliver the LHDs on time, on budget and to the contracted capability,” says an Australian defense department official.

– Daily Telegraph – Spending on the successor to Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent will take up to a third of the defence budget within the next decade, defence experts are warning.

– The Guardian – Undeclared arms race among European defence contractors to re-equip Libya’s armed forces causes concern among locals.

– Navy Recognition – During Euronaval 2012 in October last year, BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships showcased a Type 26 “Global Combat Ship” frigate model with a slightly modified design compared to the big design update unveiled during DSA 2012 in April last year. We asked a few questions to BAE Systems on the reasons behind the latest changes to the design.

– Daily Telegraph – Royal Navy insiders have described the latest multi-billion aircraft carriers as “white elephants” with “dinky toys” on top.

– Daily Mail – The Royal Navy’s ageing Sea King helicopters, which currently provide the fleet’s Airborne Early Warning (AEW) system, will be retired in 2016. And their multi-million-pound replacements could be delayed until 2022 – leaving HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales without aerial coverage as sailors test out the huge vessels.

– The Guardian – Senior Ministry of Defence analyst says corrosion on new fleet of hunter-killer submarines is ’cause for major concern’.