Security cleared jobs news roundup: June 2024
Keep up-to-date with some of the biggest stories in the world of security cleared jobs in our monthly roundup.
We’re rounding up some of the biggest security cleared stories of the past few weeks. In June, the Duchess of Edinburgh visited Army reservists in Germany, the UK and Latvia launched the Drone Capability Coalition for Ukraine, the smallest Royal Navy ships were used for mine hunting operations and the 11th annual International Women in Engineering Day was celebrated.
Duchess of Edinburgh visits Army reservists
Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, has made a trip to visit British Army Reservists on a major exercise in northern Germany. Her Royal Highness was there in her official capacity as royal colonel of the Queen's Own Yeomanry (QOY) and it was her first visit to the regiment in the field.
She observed operational capabilities on Exercise Rhino Heart in Sennelager, as well as interacting with US National Guard reservists. This highlighted the international partnerships within NATO reserve forces the QOY has been fostering.
The Duchess said: "The fact that you’ve been given the opportunity to prove that we’ve got an extremely capable and reliable reserve force is very exciting. From what I’ve seen, the atmosphere is really positive and upbeat, and everyone is getting a huge amount out of it. I wish you all the best for a successful exercise."
Drone Capability Coalition for Ukraine launched
A new initiative to supply Ukraine with tens of thousands of drones has been launched, with the UK and Latvia taking the lead. The Drone Capability Coalition for Ukraine aims to leverage the strength of Western industry to produce drones at scale in an affordable fashion as the nation works to repel Russia’s invasion.
Companies from any country in the Ukraine Defence Contact Group can submit proposals to be evaluated. Those that are successful will receive provisional orders to supply drones to Ukraine and if positive operational feedback follows, will then obtain larger orders for the devices.
A government spokesperson said: “First person view drones have proven highly effective on the battlefield since Russia’s full-scale invasion, providing Ukrainian operators with situational awareness to target enemy positions, armoured vehicles, and ships with explosive ordnance.”
Royal Navy small ships used for mine hunting operations
The smallest Royal Navy ships have been used for the first time to deploy a team of mine hunting experts in a trial that could pave the way for them being able to do this anywhere in the world on demand in the future. HMS Puncher and HMS Pursuer welcomed experts from Zulu Squadron of the Mine and Threat Exploitation Group and their autonomous craft.
This team of five was deployed as part of the NATO annual Baltic exercise (Baltops 24) to see if they could send expeditionary mine hunting kits on overseas operations. Many of the Baltic’s waterways were mined heavily in World Wars One and Two, with a report last year stating 80,000 mines and other unexploded devices lurk on the seabed.
Lieutenant Malcolm Andrews, Zulu’s operations officer, said: “I hope that the success we have had on Baltops 24 has proved the utility of the innovative equipment and sees the navy expand its expeditionary mine hunting capability into the future.”
International Women in Engineering Day 2024 marked
The 11th International Women in Engineering Day 2024 was celebrated on June 23rd, with this year’s theme being enhanced by engineering. The annual event is held by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) in order to promote the work of female engineers around the world.
Some 47 events were held in the UK as part of the day, including a panel discussion hosted by Bosch, a webinar from Diageo and a tour of the Caterpillar Business Park. The day also saw the launch of the 2024 Top 50 Women in Engineering Awards, which celebrates the women engineers who work to improve safety and security.
A statement from WES said: “These amazing women work to keep us safe, wherever we are, whether at work or leisure, at home or online. Following in the footsteps of our first secretary, Dame Caroline Haslett, who invented the three-pin safety plug to protect children from electric shocks, the 2024 WE50 winners will be women who are protecting the public through their work, often unseen and unknown.”