The Falkland Islands also joined Royal Air Force centenary celebrations. Despite poor weather the hangar event held at Mount Pleasant Complex, MPC, to celebrate RAF 100 the Royal Air Force Centenary (April 1) “went off perfectly,” according to spokesperson for the event.
The Falkland Islands government and the Ministry of Defense have agreed to address the challenge of rotor winds, which have become a serious problem for the operations at the Mount Pleasant Complex.
Under the suggestive heading, Clarin correspondent Maria Laura Avignolo writes that the Argentine tragedy of the submarine ARA San Juan has brought ever so close Argentine and British military for the first time since the Falklands conflict. And not surprisingly the support effort includes using the MPA complex in the Islands, if needed.
Britain has awarded £153 million (US$ 187 million) worth of contracts to equip the Falkland Islands with a new ground-based air-defense system known as Sky Sabre, the Ministry of Defense has confirmed, according to Defense News.
A £55.7 million contract to upgrade infrastructure at MPA, in the Falkland Islands was signed this week between Southampton based Trant Engineering Ltd and the UK Defense Infrastructure Organization (DIO).
The Falkland Islands is one of Britain’s biggest military bases and as part of the UK was, “entitled to its cut of the defense budget,” Secretary of State for Defense Michael Fallon MP said on Tuesday as he visited the Falklands for the first time.
Michael Fallon, the British Defence Secretary, has become the first Defence Secretary to visit the Falkland Islands in 14 years. The House of Commons is currently in recess this week and the Defence Secretary’s visit directly follows the visit of four other British MPs to the Falklands.
”The Falkland Islands airport emerges from rock and peat-bog” said The Times in its 11 May edition, the day before the official opening of Mount Pleasant Airport in 1985, thirty years ago last week.
A new report says a UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) blunder has put the Falkland Islands at risk of attack from Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the archipelago and in 1982 invaded the Islands militarily until they were defeated and ousted 74 days later.
United States helicopter operator, AAR Airlift and partner British International Helicopters (BIH) have grabbed a £180 million ($275 million) helicopter deal to support U.K. defense ministry operations in the Falkland Islands.