Mark Urban

1 week ago | markurban.substack.com | Mark Urban

Britain has just declared that its F-35 Lightnings have achieved full operating capability from the Royal Navy’s carriers – the timing fits neatly with the imminent deployment of two dozen of the jets on board the carrier Prince of Wales. But let’s look at that with a hard eye. It’s 13 years since the UK took delivery of its first F-35 and it’s only just achieved full operating capability (at sea, that happened five years ago for land operations). But what is this ‘full capability’?

1 week ago | markurban.substack.com | Mark Urban

Chinese/US rivalry is at the centre of today’s global struggle for power. President Trump has launched a trade war while officials in Beijing breathe defiance and restrict the supplies of key minerals and components for American industry. Their armed forces meanwhile run near constant drills around Taiwan, so the fear that a trade war might lead to an actual one begins to rise.

1 week ago | markurban.substack.com | Mark Urban

Time for an update after Saturday’s Iran/US talks in Oman. After the past fortnight’s policy gyrations on tariff policy I find myself unexpectedly typing the words, ‘the President has been clear and consistent in what he’s said’. And the thing that he has said time and again is that Iran cannot be allowed get the bomb. But now we realise that he means literally that, just nuclear weapons.

1 week ago | thetimes.com | Mark Urban

2 weeks ago | markurban.substack.com | Mark Urban

In a few weeks we will be marking the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, the end of the Second World War in Europe. Spare a thought for those who didn’t make it, for example Serjeant Jake Wardrop who was killed in Northern Germany on this day eight decades ago. He'd been in action since the start of the war being evacuated from France, then serving in North Africa, Italy, on D-Day and right across northern Europe. Everyone knew victory was near.