UK Defence Forum

Marine Protection Vessel (MPV) Minna is one of 5 deep sea ships operated by Marine Scotland. She is the
smallest of the 3 ships which concentrate on fisheries protection work around the long and rocky Scottish coast
and into the distant grey seas beyond.

More armed police will be seen on London's streets from now on, Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan have said.

Sir Bernard said there would be more armed officers at well-known landmarks following terrorist attacks in Europe.
He said the aim was to reassure the public and deter would-be attackers.

The Met has already announced it will increase the number of armed officers by 600, bringing the total to 2,800.
The latest announcement comes after 84 people were killed when a lorry ploughed into a large crowd watching a fireworks display in Nice in the south of France last month.

Sir Bernard said: "We have no intelligence that there will be an attack shortly but what we do know is what we have seen in western Europe.
"We have seen attacks in Germany, in Belgium, in France and we would be foolish to ignore that, so it's important that we get officers out there with firearms to respond."

It comes after he told a newspaper that a terror attack on the UK is highly likely and a case of "when, not if". Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the Met chief said there was a "sense of fear" in Britain.

The commissioner said he wanted the increased firearms teams, trained to confront heavily armed terrorists, to be visible and they would be patrolling randomly around the clock.

The Met said in January that 600 extra armed officers were to be trained bringing the total number of armed officers in the capital to 2,800.
In April it was announced police forces in England and Wales were to train an extra 1,500 firearms officers to help protect the public from terrorism.

Latest Home Office figures show the number of firearms officers in England and Wales fell slightly from 5,647 in March 2015 to 5,639 in March this year. The number has fallen by more than 1,000 in the last five years.

Police Scotland said in June it would recruit an additional 90 officers who will be attached to Armed Response Vehicles, bringing the total number 365.

It will also look to recruit 34 more trainers and specialist firearms officers.

BBC home affairs correspondent June Kelly said recent terrorist atrocities in Europe, especially the Nice lorry attack, demonstrate the range of challenges facing front line officers

The terror threat level in the UK remains at severe, meaning an attack is "highly likely".

SKB wrote:Metropolitan Police - Specialist Firearms Command (SCO19)


Introduction
Specialist Crime and Operations Specialist Firearms Command (SCO19) (previously known as SO19 and then CO19) is a Specialist Crime & Operations branch within Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Command is responsible for providing a firearms-response capability, assisting the rest of the service, which is normally unarmed.

On occasion, they have been referred to as the "blue berets", as they used to wear these. Today they are more likely to wear either baseball caps or combat helmets (of PASGT type).

The CO19 Specialist Firearms Officers (SFOs) are multi-skilled officers capable of delivering all elements of armed policing, including rapid intervention and hostage rescue. All of the SFOs have served on ARVs prior to applying to become an SFO. The 65 days of intensive initial training includes advanced weapons handling training on a wider transfers Caen range of weaponry, including the Heckler & Koch G36 and G3, abseiling techniques, maritime operations training, dynamic entry techniques and in the use of distraction devices. They also undergo training to conduct operations in CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) environments and to provide a response to terrorist attacks in London as part of the MPS's Operation Kratos.


^ Always remember to pay your TV licence.

An unexploded 50kg World War Two bomb found in the River Thames has been removed and exploded.
The operation by the Royal Navy and Metropolitan Police forced Waterloo Bridge, Westminster Bridge and Victoria Embankment in central London to shut.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the WW2 device had been towed along the river to Tilbury, Essex, where it was safely detonated. Police had been called to the river at 17:15 GMT on Thursday. The device has been identified as a German SD 50kg bomb, a small armour-piercing ordinance dropped from an aircraft. The Port of London Authority said the suspected bomb measured 2ft by 1ft (60cm x 30cm).

Westminster Tube station was shut but has since reopened, as have the bridges, all surrounding roads and a section of the river between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge which had been closed overnight.

Lieutenant Mike St Pierre, the Royal Navy officer who led the bomb disposal team, said: "It was a long night for me and the team but this is exactly what we are trained for so it was a successful operation, although it was a little surreal carrying out our job right next to the Houses of Parliament."

marktigger wrote:hopefully the armed officers won't be second guessed and are returned to full duties immediatly