– 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’.

– Aviation Week – One of the more innovative features of the BAE Systems Global Combat Ship, formally known to the Royal Navy (RN) as the Type 26, might be its name. It could be argued that it’s part of an Orwellian trend toward vague and generic language, but it also (from BAE’s perspective) deals with the fact that the meanings of “frigate” and “destroyer” have become confused, mainly because they were historically defined in terms of multi-class fleets that, for most operators, are a thing of the past. There’s no point in setting up a terminological barrier to export sales, whether a customer wants to seem powerful (destroyer), frugal (frigate) or peace-loving (patrol ship).

Daily Mail – Deadly Hunter Killer submarine is capable of hearing a ship leaving port in New York… while sat underwater in the English channel.

Thanks to Dave for the link!

– Daily Telegraph – Former Navy flagship HMS Ark Royal will be sold on as scrap metal for £3 million as part of a move that the Ministry of Defence has described as “difficult but necessary.

– Defense Aerospace – The latest design of the Royal Navy’s next generation of warships has been unveiled today by the MoD. Images show the basic specification of the Type 26 Global Combat Ship (T26 GCS).

– Daily Telegraph – Britain’s nuclear deterrent is at risk because the Navy does not have enough sailors to man its submarines, Ministry of Defence officials admit.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – It may be the stuff of three-decades-old history, but the Falklands conflict offers warfighting lessons of distinct importance to the U.S. Navy of today.

– Daily Telegraph – There have been 266 fires on the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines in the past 25 years.

– The Economist – The coalition is at odds over plans for new nuclear submarines

– Daily Telegraph – Britain is to forge ahead with a new generation of nuclear weapons with a £1bn contract to be unveiled this week.

– Daily Telegraph – The Royal Navy’s warships will be vulnerable to enemy attack after a key project that allows ships to fire each other’s weapons was dropped.