Kevin Rowlands
@c21st_sailor
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Editor, RUSI Journal (Views are my own)
Joined May 2017
This has been quite a project over the last year. I'm proud to have played a part alongside @kejamieson_ and @Strategyforwar1 editing this collected volume covering strategy, culture, people, communities, industry, prosperity, security and defence. #MaritimeBritain
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Good thread. It isn't OR uncrewed systems, it's AND. When your sole focus is "warfighting" you'd better have *guessed* right about the next war, and we don't have a good track record there. Crewed platforms offer flexibility. In marine speak, think three-block war at sea.
Informative article, but - like many takes on the RN’s current push to expand its mass through large-scale adoption of autonomous systems - it doesn’t really address many of the potential downsides. These include… 🧵
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You are right. I also find my perspective changes when I don't listen to facts or evidence, and only hear one person's opinion, especially the main protagonist. Go further. You'll find your views on a whole host of historical events changes if you only listen to the villain.
My respect and admiration for @trussliz has grown (unexpectedly) as I've stopped listening to Establishment media; started paying attention to her story and identifying the genuine barriers to the happiness and success of British people. I suspect she was thrown under a bus
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Hi @GWRHelp - question for you. What proportion of your 9 or 10 carriage train services end up with just five? Asking for a friend who, once again, has paid a fortune to stand in an overcrowded aisle.
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A fantastic and fascinating Sawalki Gap road trip with @Strategyforwar1, from the Belarus border region to Russian Kaliningrad, without stepping foot in either! A more comprehensive account to follow elsewhere.
Road trip with @c21st_sailor across the Suwalki Gap ended at the Polish-Lithuanian-Russian border...
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Member of House of Lords who used personal contacts with governing party to land huge contract for husband and then failed to deliver moans about establishment stitch up. BBC News - https://t.co/njrSoU3iMl Firm linked to Baroness Michelle Mone must pay £122m
bbc.co.uk
The government wins its case against PPE Medpro - part of a consortium led by Baroness Mone's husband - after it supplied non-compliant gowns in 2020.
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Hi @BBCNews, his name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. Please use it in the headline not towards the end. Or how about quotation marks? "Tommy Robinson". Don't play along. https://t.co/F1OKhh7sfL
bbc.co.uk
Some 24 arrests are made after "unacceptable violence" at demonstrations in central London, police say.
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Personal news. After 4 years leading the @RoyalNavy Strategic Studies Centre I think it is time for a change. I'll shortly be joining @RUSI_org as the Editor of the world-renowned RUSI Journal. I'm proud of what we have achieved in the RNSSC and excited by the next chapter.
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All said in the spirit of reasonable challenge, @Strategyforwar1's thread is worth a read. I think the naval obsession with kit plays a role. More important things - ideas, concepts, ie what to do with the kit - are neglected or not properly road tested. Raid what? Where? Why?
A grim read, but entirely foreseeable. Writing for @RUSI_org in 2021/2, I warned - repeatedly - of the dangers of lack of mass in the amphib enablers/force, the use of Argus, and the incoherence in focusing on advanced raiding above the follow-on force. https://t.co/A0eql5onjW
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Very much enjoyed my time as a Fighter Controller / Air Director in Illustrious. My period on board covered Southern Watch and Palliser. Never a dull moment.
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Exactly 111 years ago today, Britain entered WWI. The statistics that emerged from that decision are almost too shocking to believe. Here are 15 mind-blowing facts about the British Army in WWI 🧵👇🏼
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Japan set to land Australia frigate order in first warship export deal - also in English. This is remarkable news for a number of reasons. The details are unclear but some reactions worth considering:
asia.nikkei.com
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and other contractors head into final negotiations
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Well, those stats are worth celebrating! According to the last census, 16% of the UK population was born overseas. One in eight equates to 12.5%. I guess that means that UK residents born overseas are less likely to be criminals than people born here. Thanks @thetimes
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Why does the @BBC keep tying itself in knots? I love the BBC. I want to keep loving it, but it is becoming harder when you read stuff like this. "Apparently caught on a big screen", and "unable to... confirm identities..." Eh? Really? https://t.co/aEThEJkCVr
bbc.com
The clip showed a man and woman swaying to the music before quickly ducking and hiding from the camera.
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Debatable
Never a dull moment on this platform
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If nothing else, it is just so badly written. And what is it with all the random capitals littered throughout? Do they think capitalisation equals emphasis?
I have never seen an official letter worded like this to a Thai monarch. Not sure if King Vajiralongkorn has seen it yet - I doubt he’s been spoken to in this threatening tone before.
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Government reshuffles vary from country to country. BBC News - Russian minister sacked by Putin found dead https://t.co/MhU0sHLUGs
bbc.com
On Monday morning a presidential decree stated that Starovoit had been dismissed from his post.
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What he said.
I’ll be controversial. Most large professional conferences have stopped being fun a long time ago. I enjoyed smaller gatherings where crowds are genuinely happy to engage with each other. Last night we had one such occasion. Hadn’t had this intellectual stimulus in a while…🧵
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Thoroughly enjoyed judging a @RUSI_org debate last night. The question was whether the current wave of tech innovation resulted in revolutionary change in war at sea. Great speakers from industry, NATO, academia and the navy. I won't divulge the result. But what do you think?
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Great to @w_d_james on board @HMSPWLS in Singapore. Even better to see him wearing his @RoyalNavy Strategic Studies Centre Visiting Fellow lapel badge!
It was a pleasure & an honour to assist @UKinSingapore with several panels on regional security & maritime strategy aboard @HMSPWLS last week, melding Southeast Asian & European expertise. Thanks to Cdre Blackmore & the crew for hosting - they more than earned their 'run ashore'!
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Brilliant. Needs to be booked for Glastonbury this weekend.
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