Tune in to our latest High Ground podcast with myself and @BellusUK. We have both been saved by using a Martin Baker ejection seat, so we paid a visit to @MB_EjectEject to say thank you, and to talk about all things ejection. https://t.co/TR4jJZGDn7

Sea denial rather than sea control requires a very different mindset and toolset. Has the Atlantic Triad of Bastion, Shield and Strike looked at a similar shift?

From @IISS_org analysis. "Anti-ship capabilities, as demonstrated by Ukraine in the Black Sea, are likely to diffuse to more actors and more theatres, further shrinking the global commons, the defence of which is the raison d’être of the US Navy. This will be a striking shift,

This is from a US Member of Congress. It’s staggering in its proposal (for the US to leave NATO), but he can’t seem to make his mind up whether NATO is irrelevant, unaffordable, full of socialist grifters or just plain un-American. Putin’s Xmas wish list is getting shorter….

There are a variety of ways of looking at this. Being ready to fight with what you have and what you can recover quickly is the only realistic option. Recovering lost mass and depth will take a very long time after decades of under investment. Quick tech fixes remain to be seen.

After HIGHMAST returns home it hasn’t taken long for the usual suspects to argue for something else. If only Lord West knew who was 1SL when these (lack of) investment decisions were made….

Here’s why some political figures tell you that Europe denies free speech. It’s because they don’t like what a free press can say about them. Here’s the latest World Press Freedom Index: 21 out of the top 30 were European.. The US ranked #57 and falling, with Russia at #162.

.@jonstewart goes old-school Daily Show to show how Trump’s push for war in Venezuela is Iraq all over again

This is a solid take on the situation that Europe (and especially the UK) now faces. It’s been the case for a while now, but the new US National Security Strategy codifies it. Things that we have taken for granted for decades are no longer so.

Fighting talk from @GenGJenkinsRM, who deserves far more followers. Atlantic Bastion, Shield & Strike are the new concepts with a bold vision for autonomy to help deliver them.

https://t.co/yZE3ymzdOj

Too late…...

Clues that your National Security Strategy may have drifted somewhat: #1 - The World’s Enemy No1 calls it “largely consistent with their vision”.

7/ But there are plenty of reasons to be more upbeat as John is here. But as the saying goes: “"After the Lord Mayor's Show comes the dung-cart," Defence has plenty of jobs on its to do list, and the Carriers might just have dropped down the pecking order - even in the Navy.

6/ I think this👇is true across all of defence, but it is in the context of a now clearly identified and agreed threat, a (slow) increase in budgets and a structure that makes lines of responsibility and accountability a bit clearer. Long may that continue…

5/ The Hybrid Air Wing concept is an easy thing to say, but so much harder to do. That said, this direction of travel means that in all likelihood we have probably seen our last F-35B model order. 62 is the new 72.

4/ The lack of a long-range strike weapon and range are serious limitations - the former can be fixed, the latter is fundamental physics. The only realistic option for extended range/endurance lies in land-based tankers not engineers.

3/ But we do need to organise to task, rather than max out the air wing at every and any opportunity. The requirement for embarking 24 x F-35 will be a rarity in my view - this sentence was missing the words “up to”.

2/ I’m not sure anyone gets “joy” from seeing defence programs fail - we all want our money to be spent wisely. Many disagreed with the Carrier decision, but that’s ancient history - perhaps it’s the dark blue and their “media outriders” that need to move on?

Some thoughts on @John_ForemanCBE’s piece below, which seeks to place the recent HIGHMAST deployment in context. We certainly have some thinking to do now as to what the role of the Carriers are in a NATO role.🧵1/7

This tweet reveals why the American Right doesn’t like what Europe stands for. We have been excusing it for a while now, but the recent NSS laid it all out in black & white. They don’t want allies with independent views, they want ideological cookie cutter versions of themselves.