The Falkland Islands government has made further announcements regarding the South Atlantic Airbridge, which has been rerouted because of the temporary closure of Ascension Island runway, but now seems to be back in track to normalizing via alternative airports in West Africa. Ascenson island, in mid Atlantic, is a crucial call point for the long airbridge to the Falklands.
It's going to be a busny winter for the Falkland Islands. The government has announced that due to repairs required to the Ascension Island runway, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) is temporarily rerouting the South Atlantic Airbridge via an alternative location. The UK air bridge from Brize Norton to the Falklands normally calls at Ascension Island both ways.
The Falkland Islands' government and the UK Ministry of Defense have announced that residents should be aware of recent changes to regulations related to travel on the South Atlantic Airbridge, Brize Norton/MPA.
The South Atlantic Air-bridge linking RAF Brize Norton in the UK with the Falkland Islands will no longer fly nationals from a list of countries and although no specific reasons were given, the release underlines that the “Ministry of Defense places the greatest importance on the security of its people, facilities and operations”.
A set of defence co-operation contracts, worth £120 million, for the early phase of a joint development of Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) between the UK and French governments have been awarded in Paris. A UCAS capability would, by the 2030’s, be able to undertake sustained surveillance, mark targets, gather intelligence, deter adversaries and carry out strikes in hostile territory.
Falkland Islanders that travelled on the South Atlantic air-bridge (Brize Norton-MPA and MPA-Brize Norton) on 16 and 18 April will be refunded since a non civilian-registered aircraft was involved, but will have to pay a £150 booking fee in order to support the government's policy of subsidizing air-bridge fares.
The Lockheed TriStar, closely linked to the recent history of the Falkland Islands has flown its last operational mission with the Royal Air Force. On 24 March, two TriStars of 216 Squadron based at Royal Air Force Brize Norton flew an air-to-air refueling mission over the North Sea before one of them conducted fly-pasts at airfields associated with its history.
The UK and France have agreed to strengthen defense co-operation following a summit at RAF Brize Norton on Friday. A communiqué signed by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande sets out plans for closer ties between the two countries.
After 47 years of service for the Royal Air Force, the VC10 took to the skies on Friday 20 September 2013 for its final Air-to-Air refuelling operational sortie. The aircraft will retire on 25 September 2013.
Archaeologists, historians, former service personnel and mental health professionals are meeting in London to discuss a plan to use archaeology to tackle war trauma. The plan is the idea of University of Glasgow academic Dr Tony Pollard and is centred on the Falkland Islands conflict.