Exiled Geordie, retired submariner now behind a desk. All views my own and do not reflect any policy of my employer. RT ≠ endorsement.
Portsmouth, England
Joined November 2014
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John Aitken OBE retweeted
“Dreadnought is late” is code for ‘successive governments decided to delay repeatedly the replacement of the Vanguard class while simultaneously reducing investment in the maintenance facilities.’ Our ships’ companies are paying the price of political cowardice.
This week I’m in Paris and found this one on the corner of Place du Pantheon for #PostboxSaturday
John Aitken OBE retweeted
The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has identified the Russian monsters responsible for an airstrike on a school in Komyshuvakha.
At least 53 people were killed, and more than 50 others remain missing.
According to military intelligence, the attack on Komyshuvakha was planned by Colonel Fedir Volodymyrovych Subakov, head of the fire control group within the staff of the Russian "Dnipro" army group.
Four Su-34 aircraft were deployed to carry out this war crime.
The bombing involved Tactical Aviation Group No. 5, which comprises the 11th and 559th Aviation Regiments.
Details regarding the crew members:
▪️Captain Serhiy Oleksandrovych Yelisieiev;
▪️Captain Dmytro Andriiovych Zvieriev;
▪️Senior Lieutenant Rodion Serhiiovych Plotnikov;
▪️Senior Lieutenant Mykyta Viktorovych Ihnatiev;
▪️Senior Lieutenant Maksym Viktorovych Sokolenko;
▪️Lieutenant Vadym Olehovych Perekhrest.
The crew of another Russian aircraft is currently in the process of being identified.
John Aitken OBE retweeted
Hi @Nigel_Farage, here’s Nigel Farage supporting Trump’s endless war… before he u-turned.
‘I’ve never supported endless war’: Farage seeks to limit Trump fallout
ft.com/content/7158f9d1-94b2…
In the Pantheon in Paris where some of the truly great rest. Musk, Bezos and the other tech bro oligarchs would do well to remember this.
John Aitken OBE retweeted
Financially rigged = corrupt
This is about the football food chain @Carra23 spoke about. It's very real and, regrettably, it has made upward mobility almost impossible (except by rule-breaking on an industrial scale, of course).
Even for a club of Aston Villa's size and historic pedigree, with a brilliant coach, to talk of challenging that mega-rich elite — protected by rules reinforcing the huge financial divides that have opened up over the past two decades — causes a welcome jolt. "What, you're actually going to try to challenge for the biggest prizes? You're actually going to try to break into that group over the long term?"
#AVFC should be applauded for trying to do that. It's important to spell out what they're up against. Even in these glory days under Emery, they haven't come within 20 points of winning the Premier League. It's incredibly hard to get for anyone outside that mega-rich elite to compete — particularly when those clubs keep coming for your best players.
A new deal for Emery will send out a powerful "Hands off" message to #MUFC and anyone else. But the food chain is real, as are the obstacles that Villa and any other would-be challengers face
nytimes.com/athletic/7760012…
John Aitken OBE retweeted
This is why Canada isn’t letting Russian hockey players in the country. This is a school. A school.
John Aitken OBE retweeted
1943 HM Submarine ‘Trident’ returning home to Blyth, Northumberland after a successful patrol in the Med. That looks like a pit wheel on the Jolly Roger. ☠️ – at North East, England
John Aitken OBE retweeted
No Red Cartel remember 🤢
"The rules changed to prevent another Leicester,"
Let that sink in.....
Corruption
#AVFC
John Aitken OBE retweeted
Ban all Russian passports. We wouldn’t accept ISIS passports and Russia is far worse terrorist organization.
The monsters who planned and executed this massacre will be looking over their shoulders the rest of their hopefully short lives.
John Aitken OBE retweeted
Yet another UK defence delivery delay...
The promise that 10 Dock in Devonport would be ready for submarines in 2027 proves hopelessly optimistic. Although enabling work on the major refurbishment project started in 2021, the main construction is only just beginning.
navylookout.com/royal-navy-s…
John Aitken OBE retweeted
Built on the Tyne by Swan Hunter. Also involved in the air operation against the Tirpitz.
I wasn't intending to drop down an Arctic Convoy rabbit hole. However there is quite a lot on here if you wish to look further.
John Aitken OBE retweeted
Lots of chatter today around British troops being allowed to fire back at Russian soldiers, etc.
It's all getting a little bit blown out of proportion. UK troops always operate from a baseline legal position of the inherent right to self-defence. The rules of engagement build from there and are theatre-specific, with rules supplementing or superseding this baseline position.
But saying soldiers carrying weapons have a right to self-defence—believe me—is nothing new or different. It's standard.
John Aitken OBE retweeted
I failed 21 SAS selection.
One hundred and twenty men started. Four finished. I was not one of them.
I do not tell that story to be humble. I tell it because of what happened next, which nobody ever asks about.
I went home. I was 19 years old and I had failed at the one thing I had told everyone I was going to do. There is a particular silence that follows that. Friends are kind. Family are careful. And you sit in your childhood bedroom and understand that the failure is now a fact about you.
Six months later I went back and did the whole thing again.
Passed the second time.
Here is what I actually learned, and it is not what people expect. It was not about grit. It was not about wanting it more. It was that the first attempt was not wasted, it was the reconnaissance. I knew where the ground broke you. I knew what the third day felt like. I was not braver the second time, I was better informed.
Most people treat a failure as a verdict.
It is data.
The only real failure is the one you refuse to go back and look at.
John Aitken OBE retweeted
The disconnect between “we might increase defence spending by a few quid in 5 years’ time (but only if the welfare budget permits)” and “we will garrison a non-NATO state without major US backing (and order that garrison to fight the Russians if they attack)” makes the head hurt.
British troops will be allowed to fire at Russian forces if attacked during multinational mission
trib.al/iAUAV69
John Aitken OBE retweeted
yep.
if RN continues to suffer from significant capability and deployment gaps, it and the UK military generally will increasingly find themselves excluded from certain settings they traditionally have not only been part of but played a leading role in.
If they want to maintain their seat at the table, they need to improve.
Will again note that this is an example of why the Pentagon didn't invite the UK to the Bergen NATO meeting. The 6 countries invited were Finland, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands. The criteria was clearly based on defense spending improvements in recent years (to enable NATO 3.0) and scale. UK obv has the scale but lacks the improvement seen in those continental northern European NATO states.
The Pentagon also did not invite France, Belgium and Italy for similar reasons.
If the UK increased its defense spending in a serious way following Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and if it was credibly moving to hit 3% before 2030 and 3.5% before 2035 than the UK absolutely 100% would have been invited to the Bergen meeting.
