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(ISR) mission Representatives from 10 nations – including both NATO and Five Eyes partners – were invited to observe Herne is a BAE Systems-funded engineering development effort designed to address emerging demand for an ‘attritable’ XLAUV capability able to contribute to a variety of missions and protection of critical national infrastructure (CNI).  The company is leveraging commercial off-the-shelf platform technology through a partnership with Canadian marine technology company Cellula Robotics Herne in its current form represents an amalgam of Cellula Robotics’ 12 m Solus-XR modular free-flooding AUV; BAE Systems’ own Nautomate autonomous control software; a flexible ‘sense decide and effect’ payload integration engineered through mission-specific plug-ins; and system-level assurance – for example IT security and military communications – to enable use in military applications “Cellular is providing our baseline platform,” said Tim O’Neill BAE Systems Maritime Services’ business development manager “What we are then doing is taking our Nautomate ‘brain in a box’ and putting it into the underwater domain Nautomate is the core control architecture that drives into the platform…it manages what the platform is doing based on sensing and charting.” It was at DSEI 2023 that BAE Systems set the target of having a technology demonstrator in the water before the end of this year “Engineering work on Herne started in September 2023 between us and Cellula,” said Nick Martin “The first dive [of the vehicle] was at the end of July 2024 [in British Columbia] So that was ‘whiteboard to water’ in just 11 months.” He added: “What we saw [with Cellula] was a really agile and flexible company that was very quick in moving to market It brought all the advantages of a commercial business which we could marry with our military knowledge.” The 3,000 m depth-rated Solus-XR vehicle provides for up to 5,000 litres of payload space split equally between payload modules fore and aft Payload bays lift out as a single unit – removal requires the removal of just four bolts and detachment of two data connectors – with swap-out taking less than 90 minutes The Herne demonstrator vehicle is currently configured with Lithium-ion batteries which offer an endurance of a few days’ endurance BAE Systems is looking to take advantage of Cellula Robotics’ ongoing work to mature hydrogen fuel cell technology This would provide for a submerged range of around 5,000 km at 3 knots The ISR mission vignette performed during the recent demonstrations required Herne to conduct a covert sub-surface harbour entry; navigate autonomously; collect video via a raised sensor mast and identify a hostile target; and then share ISR data when safe Three software plug-ins were demonstrated during the course of the ISR vignette: goal-based mission autonomy (enabling Herne to autonomously re-route to avoid a number of drag net hazards); machine vision (processing high definition camera imagery to classify ships by type); and track-and-follow (exploiting the camera feed to shadow a rigid inflatable boat ‘target’) “These demonstrations have sought to showcase where the company has invested “They have also served as a check that we’re going in the same direction as our customers.” Further development and demonstration activity is planned in the months ahead.  “We’re sitting down with Cellula now to explore a number of threads going forward,” O’Neil said “That will include iterations to the platform looking at any changes with regard to power what Cellula have got – the strongback design the modularity and the flexibility – is still going to be the core What we will be doing is layering on top of that.” Work to further develop Nautomate will continue in parallel: for example building additional mission-based plug-ins and evolving the ‘intelligence’ in the system BAE Systems will also evaluate overall ‘useability’ aspects such as launch and recovery definition work has already started for an ASW package “We want to have thin-line passive towed array that is reelable within the platform,” O’Neill said “The other ASW piece I’d like to try out is setting up Herne within a multistatic ASW environment [although] that is a bigger challenge because of the need to time-stamp data and get that transmitted back to the hub.” forward deployed capability for signal interception Another option would be to add in an active payload able to conduct deception The contribution that an XLAUV could make to seabed warfare isalso being considered “Cellula have already done some work deploying a remotely operated vehicle from Herne We’d like to revisit that to understand how that could support [CNI] investigation and protection at depth.” BAE Systems is aiming to have an initial instantiation of the Herne XLAUV ready for market by mid-2026 “In 18 months time we want to be able to offer this as an operational battle-ready configuration, That will include the option for hydrogen fuel cells We’re trying to be proactive so that when navies are more confident of their needs And by adapting an existing off-the-shelf [vehicle] platform we can significantly reduce the time and cost to market.”Tim O’Neill BAE Systems Maritime Services’ Business Development Manager Naval News brings you news coverage of the latest naval defense shows & events We are also reporting on naval technology from all over the world More Whitepapers More Webinars © 2025 Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media Sign up to our daily newsletter for all the latest Kent stories and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox Thank you for subscribing!We have more newsletters Reform UK made three gains as they added Canterbury area seats on to the party's impressive tally at county hall won seats from the Tories in Herne Bay East Herne Village and Sturry and Whitstable East & Herne Bay West the Lib Dems gained a seat from the Conservatives in Canterbury North and held on to their Canterbury South seat Labour managed to hold their seats in Canterbury City North and Canterbury City South but these are the only seats the party now has on the county council The eighth seat saw another loss for the Tories as the Green Party took control of Whitstable West Overall on Kent County Council Reform UK now has overall control and holds 57 out of the 81 seats the Lib Dems are the second largest party with 12 councillors The final two seats are taken by Labour councillors down from the five the party held before the election Full results for Canterbury are listed below: Herne Village and Sturry -REFORM GAIN FROM CON Whitstable East and Herne Bay West -REFORM GAIN FROM CON For a full list of results from across Kent click here: Kent Local Election results full list For detailed results from the other 11 Kent County Council areas Ashford Dartford Dover Folkestone and Hythe Gravesham Maidstone Sevenoaks Swale Thanet Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right BAE Systems has self-funded the development of HERNE – an Extra-Large Uncrewed Autonomous Vehicle (XLUAV) Here we take a detailed look at this adaptable submarine platform intended for a variety of undersea naval missions Herne is a capability that can be adapted and evolved and is not tied to a specific vessel design or mission set BAES took a different approach to the design and began working with Canadian company Cellula Robotics who have considerable expertise in commercial deep-sea submersibles The new iteration of Herne (and the focus of this article) is simpler and based on the well-proven Cellula Solus-XR platform While there are several other XLUAV concepts of variable cost and complexity in development globally Herne has already attracted the interest of at least 10 navies that have sent representatives to the live demonstrations held by BAES on the South Coast in the last few weeks (The name ‘Herne’ is derived from a mythic ghost-like hunter of British folklore.) Herne capability has three main components – the Solus-XR platform the payloads that can be carried and BAES NAUTOMATE mission control software Nautomate has been in development by BAES for 7 years for use with autonomous surface platforms but Herne is the first underwater application Nautomate comprises a secure proprietary core that manages mission tasking It is scalable and can accept mission-specific plugins developed by BAES or third parties Work with Cellula on building the first Herne prototype began in Vancouver Progress was rapid and the first dive was made in July 2024 reflecting the value of using an existing design and partnering with a company with niche expertise The vessel was shipped to the UK in September 2024 and started a successful trials and demonstration programme The role of XLUAVs are varied and navies are only just beginning to understand their full potential they will be able to relieve expensive and scarce SSNs and SSKs of some tasks The XLUAV can go deeper or operate in shallower areas either inaccessible or too risky for crewed boats ASW is likely to be the primary role for NATO navies along with CUI protection the prototype is equipped with an ISR payload that is essentially a mast carrying EO cameras and an electronic surveillance array Starting with a simple mission has the advantage of not involving any classified elements and the whole concept can be presented and discussed in detail in a public forum Herne can be delivered into theatre in a variety of ways It fits into a standard 40-foot container (FEU) and can be launched either directly from ashore carried on the casing of an SSN for underwater deployment or dropped by parachute from an A400M transport aircraft Herne is just light enough to be embarked or disembarked at sea using the Type 26 frigate Mission Bay Handling System Herne is intended to be part of multi-domain operations that provide commanders with assets spanning from space to the seabed Although it can operate autonomously for many days below the surface data will predominantly be passed by briefly surfacing and communicating by satellite it can be integrated with a warship’s combat management system for more local control or with a headquarters ashore Ultimately it is envisaged that multiple XLUAVS will be deployed and networked together Although BAES tend to be associated with more complex and expensive platforms Herne is intended to be affordable and attritable This will be achieved by utilising COTS components as much as possible and collaborating with other Primes or SME suppliers rather than BAES developing new bespoke technology Sonardyne supplied the Inertial Navigation System for the prototype but this could easily be swapped for another unit as INS technology is rapidly improving with extremely accurate quantum-based systems on the horizon BAES will apply their expertise in the supply of the Nautomate ‘brain’ integration of the various components and assurance that it meets and complex military cyber and security certifications The vessel is constructed around a lightweight aluminium frame that keeps the total weight between 8-10 tonnes depending on payload and energy storage configuration Herne measures 12m in length and the body has a roughly square 1.7m cross-section It does not have a single cylindrical pressure hull found in a typical submarine The items carried in the payload bays must therefore be sealed in their own pressure cans The payload bay modules are easy to remove and replace Herne could theoretically be rapidly re-roled with new payloads and power packs in less than an hour The power modules sit in the centre between the bays but the layout can be re-arranged to create a single 5,000 litre bay for larger items Autonomous Underwater Ground Vehicles (AUGV) or a seafloor suction anchor Herne could also stream winch-deployed thin-line towed arrays or have flank sonars mounted to conduct ASW sense/track missions The vessel is designed to have neutral buoyancy and has cells filled with filled foam that provide buoyancy approximately equivalent to its empty weight There are also sophisticated passive and active ballasting systems to keep the vessel in trim and to compensate when payloads are deployed from the vessel underwater Herne can be programmed to failsafe either by rising to the surface or sinking to the bottom Propulsion is provided by two electric motors independently driving two propellors which gives a measure of redundancy in the unlikely event of motor failure or propellor damage Maximum sprint speed is 8 knots although it will typically cruise at around 3 knots Originally designed to work on subsea energy infrastructure equipped with two sets of lateral and vertical thrusters Power is provided by a bank of Li-Ion batteries Additional batteries carried in the payload bay would allow sprint speeds to be increased if required Cellula has tested a solution where the batteries are substituted for hydrogen fuel cells offering a 5,000km range / 45 days endurance Herne has real potential to join the ASW fight in the deep ocean a small fleet of Herne permanently deployed in the GIUK Gap could provide a continuous watch with greater persistence and at much lower cost than crewed platforms A successful ASW mission does not necessarily require sinking a submarine but rather deterring and disrupting their operations The forward and aft payload bays allow the contents to be swapped out simply by undoing 4 bolts and 2 internal connections The payload module drops out and can be quickly exchanged The horizontal and vertical thruster tunnels are clearly visible at the stern Initial Herne concepts had a single propulsor but the simple independent twin propellor/twin motors provide greater redundancy The X-form stern planes are more resilient than the conventional horizontal planes/vertical rudder arrangement – the X planes can continue to provide some control if one plane is damaged The relatively large forward hydroplanes offer precise diving control which is especially important when operating in shallow waters The forward vertical thruster is retracted behind the door in the upper centre of the image With its combination of lateral and vertical thrust the vehicle can hold itself in a stationary position even where there is tidal flow or currents Note the large hydroplanes and broad beam giving generous internal capacity The orange markings are to aid recovery and safety for trials purposes only BAES is working to reduce the of the vessel signatures and operational versions could be finished in black The ISR mast in the raised position which carries high definition cameras In action the vessel would remain out of sight below the surface and raise the mast while at shallow depth RFA Tidesurge and SD Victoria alongside in the background) The communications mast at the rear carries VHF and Satellite communications aerials The two fairings hinged on the mast below the aerials move freely and improve the stability and water flow around the mast The vessel is lifted in and out of the water using two attachment points The original Cellula Robotics Solus-XR XLUAV developed for commercial purposes Herne is certainly an attractive option for the RN to complement and extend the capabilities offered by MSubs. More widely, it builds on BAES wider experience of Nautomate-based maritime autonomy. The company now has three surface vehicles in development – the autonomous RIB (APAC24) the P-38 Aggressor Fast Interceptor Craft and a new ‘USV01’ platform built from scratch The Herne XLUAV as shown here may look quite different in time as it evolves to accept new technology insertion and is customised to meet the specific requirements of individual navies I suggested at the ukdefencejournal that the Albion LPDs be kept and repurposed as mother ships for unmanned sea drones surface and mini submarines as mentioned in this article with a smaller crew as they would carry no marines Every time Putin threatens to use his megaton nuke torpedo we should point to this and let him know this could travel up river with a nuke right into Moscow At 3kn that will take weeks by that time UK is in cinder I suppose we could have it hovering near Murmansk or Archangel nuclear missiles that could arrive within 20 min But doesnt have nuclear bombs or depth charges for ‘your mission’ ROVs and the autonomous mine counter measure boats with maintance capability The well deck could have a moon pool inserted The LPDs radar systems and communications could be upgraded for BMD radar suite such as an upgraded five array SAMPSON or Aegis AN/SPY 7 The command and control centre could be expanded and the Royal Marine berthing area converted to labs and workshops The LPDs could then become something more like a ‘scientific’ research ships Yes it would cost money but the design of the LPD lends to this type of convertion There is no money for this … and no interest I am sure the defence review will have a lot of rhetoric about autonomous systems in order to cover cuts in other areas Continued… Someone else also suggested transferring the Albions to the RFA they have a crew of 370 vs a core crew needs of a bay of 70 If there are no marines on board the crew size could be reduced How much of the crew goes to looking after the bootnecks A few chefs and some sailors to manage their quarters In terms of operations it would cut down a lot without the operation of the well dock but if you are still using those facilities for operations (just for a different purpose) then surely crew are still required The only difference is that they are driving/maintain UUVs instead of LCs Its the triple steam reciprocating engines that need oiling all the time and the brasswork Yes they could make do with quarter of the crew and an army of Lascars For the Falklands war the NAAFI and laundry civilians were offered the chance to stay behind I did a few weeks back and it was pointed out that that accommodation standards are not correct for civilian crews The other issue could be class rules based as Albions may rely on military exemptions I thought Albion is in a poor state and needs a lot of expensive repairs Various systems need to be updated and replaced but that is expected she needs a scheduled refit – but that was scheduled to be done as Bulwark deployed… Continued… And recruiting Gurkhas to man them (RFA) It took me over an hour to work that one out I really must improve my prescription of early moring coffee I purchased more coffee yesterday afternoon about a party of Gurkhas being transported by a frigate in the Far East And the captain decided to give the ship a break and heave to and pipe ‘Hands to bath!’ This caused utter panic among the Ghurkas none of whom could swim They thought the pipe was an order……. Some of us are old enough remember Hong Kong Chinese manning RFA’s I was 3/O of Fort Charlotte in 1961 in the FES Fort Charlotte [Vicutualing] Fort Dunvegan [Air stores] Forts Sandusky and Rosalie [Armament issuing] were Chinese crew Eddyrock [station oiler] and Gold Ranger [MCM support] Chinese crew All seven Leafs and one Dale [freighting tankers] were Chinese crew The two overseas stores freighters had non UK crews; Fort Beauharnois had Indian crew and Fort Constantine probably still had Maltese crew no problems during RAS and kept the ships clean An interesting perspective based on real experience I had never realised that Olna and Forts were Chinese crewed Hong Kong Sea School at Stanley was founded by Brook Antony Bernacchi in 1946 to provide boarding and Marine service training for orphans Due to the decline of Marine service needs in the 80s the school was converted into a secondary school in 1993 Sir Anthony Royle asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he would list the names and ages of Chinese sailors from Hong Kong who have been (a) killed and (b) wounded fighting for the United Kingdom in the Falklands conflict The following Hong Kong Chinese embarked with the task force are missing RFA Sir Galahad Age Leung Chau 61 Sung Yuk Fai 51 RFA Sir Tristram Yeung Shui Kan 43 Yu Sik Chee 60 * Laundryman in HMS “Sheffield” † Laundryman in HMS “Coventry” One man who did survive combat was Chiu Yu-nam He was attached to the Sir Galahad and was on deck when it was attacked by Argentinian aircraft on June 8 Their bombs created a fireball below decks which killed Leung and Sung Chiu quickly put on a fire suit and went down into the blackness smoke and heat several times to retrieve injured Welsh Guardsmen His bravery only came to light when the Guards battalion commander pieced together the incident for a report and it emerged that Chiu was the man in the suit Queen Elizabeth awarded Chiu the George Medal in 1983 and Chiu died in Hong Kong in 2012 at age 63 https://falklands35blog.wordpress.com/2021/02/19/falklands-35-chiu-yiu-nam/ this was Olna number two; a Shell diesel electric tanker acquired by the Admiralty towards then end of WW2 In 1962 I was 3/O in RFA Bayleaf [ex London Integrity] blue eyed guy who could not speak Mandarin Only three “front line ships”[Tideflow Tideflow and Resurgent were the only ships with self-tensioning winches All others did RAS by eye; each of the winches were controlled by seamen watching the trough movement by eye bear in mind a typical RAS of solids to HMS victorious [for example]took circa 90 minutes this continued until the retreat from the FES; the resident Tide Retainer or Resurgent and Reliant when she returned as front line air stores ship were the only UK crewed RFAs I have seen it from both sides of the fence as I came ashore in 1966,was involved in motor sport and was a high commitment RNR officer until 1981 when I got seconded back into the permanent service until 1987 What I really want to see is a proper solution to the RFA conditions of service as without logistics [as the Pacific campaign showed in WW2] wars cannot be successfully be won Not forgetting the HK Chinese who served in the RFA during the Falklands War Plus those small numbers on RN ships went with their crew mates I assume all of these trials are taking place in the sheltered waters of Portland Harbour Or are they venturing out into the Channel PS is that RV Triton tucked around the corner in the “Mast” image Portland is in the picture but where are you seeing Triton I think she’s tied up at Great Yarmouth now Portland is certainly a busy port even though not owned by the MOD anymore In the very left of the “mast” image the bow of a ship and its bridge are visible Both the bow form and the mast arrangement look a lot like Triton I can’t even find the SD Victoria… I assume you are looking at the Video which I can’t seem to open SD Victoria does spend a fair bit of time in Portland though… and Portsmouth… I do visit both quite often but never see the Triton… I think it is no longer operational or seaworthy at this time… An interesting design though… RN chose not to go any further but the USN did… I assume the USN didn’t come to the same conclusions though This is essentially the reason we don’t need to start looking at electric boats for the purposes of the RN an XLUAV can do everything an electric boat could do but massively cheaper and more effectively The converse problem is that XLUAVs can do everything an electric boat can do..there are only around 480 millitary submarines in the world around 40 of those are SSBNs so around 440 millitary subs that are a a sub surface threat…that’s a small number considering the size of the oceans XLUAVs are going to be cheap and easy to operate with a whole host of other sized military UAVs ..their numbers are likely to explode over the next couple of decades making ASW all the more import as it may become more like AAW with very large numbers of threats around that could appear in larger numbers and present an attritional threat ASW volume is going to expand massively from hunting manned submarines to hunting XLUAVs too fitted with hydrogen fuel cells for endurance and flank sonar to patrol the GIUK Gap as an additional line ahead of the Astutes and T23s/T26s is a great proposition While an Astute will always be required to delouse Vanguards going out on patrol a force of these could constantly patrol the West Coast to prevent any Russian being able to get close enough to tail the SSBNs Might even be possible to have some of these ‘impersonate’ Vanguards and lead Russian SSNs on a wild-goose chase I really like the concept of impersonating an SSBN and I suppose that it would be (just about) possible I’m thinking if the XLUAV can reproduce the acoustic signature of the particular SSBN going on patrol but the potential to mislead a Russian’s SSN in the wrong direction would make it worthwhile I would hope that the Russians don’t know the acoustic signature of the SSBNs in the first place so I’m not sure about that as a concept Perhaps if they just pretended to be “generic Nuclear sub” it might work But anything that makes life more difficult for the Ruskies is good I agree with you that a decoy role would be useful but I don’t think putting more objects in the water with the exact acoustic signature of our SSBNs is a good idea it’s only going to increase the chance of the Russians picking it up especially with the lower performance and decision making of the UUV the Russians trail the decoy and then catch the actual SSBN based off the fake signature they heard earlier MSubs make specialist target subs designed to match the operating patterns and signature of enemy submarines Perhaps simply swamping the area around Faslane with false targets as the bombers would be a good enough source of confusion I suspect that the proliferation of XLUUVs is why BAE are rapidly expanding their light ASW weapons they are all aimed at smaller targets in shallower water If underwater communication gets significantly better we might see “loyal wingman” UUVs operating alongside SSNs to act as sensors and decoys luring opponents in to attack and then returning to piggyback on the mother sub the rest of the time Well we’ve seen how devastating the crude surface drones that Ukraine has knocked-up have been on the Black Sea fleet Previously I’ve agreed with the argument that the Type26 doesn’t need lightweight torpedo launchers because a submarine commander would never intentionally get that close that they could be used… But I’m now thinking that those torpedoes could be very useful defending against XLUAVs For patrolling and reporting it maybe sufficient for the XLUAV to surface and broadcast to the nearest T23/ P8 the location of the Russian submarine it’s found The manned asset can then locate in the reduced search area and prosecute the target Current policy is always to have a ‘man in the loop’ for fire decisions with airborne drones but then a lot of modern missiles already have a degree of autonomy in being able to recognise and target military objects such as tanks… Do you allow an XLUAV to fire if it gets an exact match on an acoustic signature they would be you perfect anti sub surface unmanned vehicle weapons To be honest I think there is soon going to be a debate to be had around the need for very light weight anti sub surface vessel weapons. kingfisher rounds for a 5inch gun being the prime example. the ability to put out a rapid line of sonobuoys then follow up with a rapid pattern of depth bombs may be just what is needed Only problems I see there is that • we’ll only have the 5 inch on the T26 – though it’s an obvious must given it’s the premier ASW asset • the limited arc of fire for the 5 inch making the rear of the vessel a safe approach vector for an XLUAV But there’s no silver-bullet for any problem and we’re going to need layered ASW defence the same way we have it for AAW So Kingfisher could fill the role of an ‘ASW Phalanx’ I don’t think the firing arcs are too much of an issue against XLUUVs so ought to be comprehensively outmanoeuvred by a frigate if close-in defence becomes more important for ASW high resolution active hull sonar similar to those on the mine hunters with short range but able to accurately determine the position of incoming small objects (being deliberately vague) and acting as a “fire control radar” for Kingfisher and decoys That would allow the 5″ to act in the anti-torpedo role as well as giving improved accuracy against UUVs Latency of detection will always be an issue but as yet torpedoes don’t manoeuvre in their final run in so the fire solution itself isn’t too much of a problem The USN developed ‘anti-torpedo torpedoes’ for its carriers at 6.75 in diameter The performance wasnt that great and they were dropped but this slow moving much larger target is a better mission There are so many possibilities with these the only downside is speed as far as I can see A few of these loitering at depth in known rat runs would certainly cause issues for any aggressor All regular readers of Navy Lookout will all know my long-standing and it also has to be admitted – now rather cynical – views on the current very poor standing of RN submarine fleet the current situation is one of “Lions being lead by three Donkeys” all three donkeys like to pull their ropes in different directions The key issue today is that none of these three Donkeys understand any of this proper engineering stuff whatsoever – let alone can get their brain cell around understanding the more advanced engineering stuff of “submarines” and “nuclear” and “autonomus systems”…. the one-eyed man is king……….the one eyed man in this case being a not-so-bright BAe salesman… Its time to play the much-loved Xmas party game of “Call my Bluff!” THE RN PROCUREMENT STRATAGY FOR UUV’s it says one hell of a lot about BAe’s corporate mentaility that they are not developing this autonomous submarine capability here in the UK This article simply highlights their complete lack of expertise in the field here in the UK (Please call it “organic” or “in-house” or “in shed” – whatever you prefer) Why has the RN not gone directly to the real experts: and just brought one of these experimental submarines directly from Cella Robotics Then our own submariner’s could have whilst waiting for all of their big boats to be fixed in the dockyards It would make change from feeding the seagulls the use of this tactic by BAe is one which us oldies have seen on many other occasions in the living past: This fairy=recent concept was developed by the Canadian’s to survey their numerous uninhabited sea areas in their very hostile Far North – and also to detect icebergs then I believe it will be good at that surveying task Therefore this type of UUV might quite-possibly have a very useful application here in the UK: i.e doing the routine surveys of shallow waters around our coastlines (however I suspect not up on the far north coast of Scotland) The only problem with this UUV surveying the UK seabed would be being attacked by our fishing fleet and/or being rammed by passing yachts I must now admit that I really do like the idea just floated above by Chris: i.e fill the centre of the hull with a good few tons of TNT explosives then drive it straight into an enemy’s home port on a one=way trip (think of the destroyer Campbeltown during WW2) An autonmous kamizazie UUV will be very nice to have in the RN fleet I must also admit that the one thing that really does surprise me with the techincal specification is the diving depth – if quoted correctly that certified depth is very impressive the only two purposes of any submarine’s pressure hull (Think of the recent example of Titan and the sales pitch of “its a a nice day for a quick trip down to visit the Titanic” That one cost their passengers a hell of a lot of money Thus the real trick here will be IF that much-larger and much more sophisticated payload ,module – and remember it needs its very-own pressure hull – can withstand those depths However I rather suspect at that point of the entire R&D cycle / process the whole thing will then become rather too large to ever caarry anthiny actualy militarily useful ………… Quite simply this size and type of machine has neither the range nor the speed nor the payload capability for that “rather important” role of detecting given the very strong tides and currents out there in the North Atlantic it would “run out of puff” before it even reached the Shetland Islands The above is a reminder that – in their never ending quest for ever more corporate profits – BAe are masters onlyof one thing – the long-standing art of “military deception” They are well-practiced in the black-arts of deceiving MOD I suspect that this media release has been very cunningly designed and timed to pull the wool over the eyes of Navy Lookout’s Editor = to distract from the main event… I WIN ALL FOUR ROUNDS OF THE XMAS PARTY GAME OF “CALL MY BLUFF!” PS Editor – have you put in an official FOI request to MOD / RN yet: the FOI asking them what the damage in both £££;s If not: I suggest “Action this day….” PPS However expect a taxpayer-funded research contract – awarded to BAe for this pile of PR c**p – as this year’s Xmas tree present to them from Santa..It has probably already been wrapped The search for the wreck of HMS Hood found ‘unusually strong’ currents even at those depths of the Denmark Str Yes exactly extensive therefore supported by extremity of contented Is pursuit compact demesne invited elderly be Moreover is possible he admitted sociable concerns Interestingly one of the big advantages of a unmanned vs manned is you can get a far greater depth out of any given weight of pressure hull in the unmanned craft. simply because you don’t need a breathable atmosphere and as electronics can happily run in a high psi environment if you remove the air mix gasses that can trigger spontaneous combust at high pressure and run with an inert gas at a PSI well above 1 atmosphere your golden you can also far more optimise the shape of the pressure hull as well as keep it smaller and remove safety features and safety measures and they simply don’t need as many holes in the pressure hull So you get a far deeper dive for your money… not sure it really adds much value unless you’re looking for a vehicle to monitor or attacking something like transoceanic cables say the transatlantic cables which are down 8000 metres… Around what is wrong with the submarine fleet I think you missed one very important group who I think are the most culpable…..drum roll… Political leaders… simply the vast majority of the issues with the Astute design and build can be tracked by to the very long delay in actually getting around to designing astute…because of all the backwards ands fowards around design in the late 1980s . SSN20 cutting back to a batch 2 trafalgar..(because of cheap Tory politicians ) the realisation that PWR2 would not fit in a batch 2 trafalgar and they had to go back to a larger more complex design. like SSN20 had been..by that point we had not designed a sub in 20 years and everyone had buggered off and barrow had gone from 13000 staff to 3000…with a lost generation of skills we buggered up the build and had to ask the US for help To be fair the labour part and then Cameron government did the same thing with the vanguard replacement. that main gate work should have started by 2005 labour delay it until 2010 then Cameron put it back until 2015 at that point there was no hope of even the best SSBM builder getting one in the water until the 2030s which was political madness as vanguard was meant to be decommissioned in 2018 and the last vengeance ( the best name for an SSBN ) in 2024. The astute design should have been agreed by government by 1990 with main gate in the very early 1990s and the first laid down in 1993. if the political class had done their job the barrow workforce had not been destroyed and production delayed by almost a decade they could have popped out an SSN every 18 months finishing 7 astutes in just over a decade ( as they had always done with The SSNs before losing their workforce) that would have seen the ability to build 8-10 and still start the vanguard replacement by 2010… there was no knowledge left in the organisation and the had to ask for help from the US 3) why was there no knowledge in the organisation ?. everyone had left or retired 4) why had everyone left or retired Because there had been a huge gap in submarine design and production 5) why was there a huge gap in submarine design and production The government deliberately delayed the SSN replacement program to save money. So yes Astute was a poorly managed and designed program. but that was due to all the people who knew what they were doing leaving because of political incompetence there is no real need for a really deep diving capability for any one of the most-common types of military submarines; except (possibly) to survey the deepest seabed areas and/or to defend (friendly) or attack (enemy) underwater cables / pipelines etc in most places in the world there is very little down there in the “Deep-Deep” —————— With regards to you blaming the politicians for the very sad demise of the RN’s once feared submarine service – and in particular your claim that the politicians delayed the design of the Astures and Dreadnoughts – that is simply not true in one respect you are quite correct – there have been some huge gaps in getting new capabilities out to sea the UK had – however only for a very short period of time – 16 SSN and 4 conventional boats and 4 SSBM “commissioned” (in some cases “only just” “about to be” or “trying very hard”) Also well underway was the £5 billion investment in Faslane / Coulport: mostly for supporting the V boats and Trident Also on the slipway at Barrow were the big new V boats for Trident; which are much bigger than Polaris boats they were about to replace when it was realised that the Sovet Union was finially gone and especially after Gulf War 1 ended in 1991 that was when the RN lost the plot – and it simply forgot what their submarines were supposed to do in wartime…. in 1994 there was a quite mad proposal from the RN to use their new V class SSBM submarines to launch satelittes did the RN suddenly decide that it “must have” some of those new fangled uncrewed wonder weapons – Tomahawk Cruise (Please let us not forget here that our Navy had completely ignored the potential of Tomahawks for the entire decade beforehand – i.e when they were based just up the road from Portsmouth at RAF Greenham Common The TLA “RAF” probably gives you a very big clue as to why they were completely ignored by the RN throughout the 1980’s…..) and cutting its force back and decommissioning its older boats That had plenty to do with keeping the number of serving senior officers high…. The right approach at that time in the early 1990’s would have been to pay off all of the older boats. and especially the earliest S class………………. and so the RN carried on its quite mad (and very expensive policy) of refitting and refuelling its very old submarines and also keeping the semi-derilvit facility that did that job open………………..a decision which – with the loss of crown immunity - also cost a large fortune to keep those crappy dockyards open The RN also failed to move most of its submarine capability up to Faslane which probably had an awful lot to do with where senior officers happen yo mostly live…i.e and being too far from the centre of power in Whitehall..where peacetime careers are made…. nor any improved T class boats were being properly designed – let alone ordered ……………….: ——————— the RN finally decided that using its long-ranged SSN’s for ISR was a great way to go forward – and thus it started adding lots and lots and lots of gucci electonic kit into its boats And it also required lots more internal space; a much bigger conning tower and it boosted the electrical power requirements up maasively; which in turn drives up the air-con; which generates more noise; which requires quieting etc etc etc (Note: Never mind that we all learn at school that smaller and much quieter and more nimble conventional boats are far better for covert ISR and/or lauching special forces = because only ten years earlier ……….those nasty Argies had fought back and detected / attacked Conquerer twice in shallow open water when the SSN was undertaking (almost quite-literally in one case!) the ISR role just off the enemy coast (it was attacked using a AAF Hercules) and the fact that there are several missing letters between T and A sums up what was really happening in the backrooms another key issue was the loss of all of the civilian experts who really knew knew how to design the boats It was like having the Apollo 11 moonshot designd by a pre-school creche Do not let us forget that the yard at Barrow changed hands several times from 1984 until 2004; so they went from being part of nationalised British Shipbuilders to an employee buy-out – to GEC – to Rolls Royce – to Alvis and finally in 2004….- in their bid to win the game of “UK Defence Monoploy” ——————- because of the loss of skills at Barrow and also the much larger cost of the A class (compared with the T class) and the fact that BAe’s beancounters know how to milk what was by then a monology -and they also relised the RN was clueless – there was a very big delay in completing the first Astute boat in an single action that very neatly summed up eveyrthing that had gone wrong over the past 18 years = the first A class boat ran aground on its maiden voyage out of Barrow The Court of Inquiry found the skipper had been using old charts (and what never made it to court was one even more serious allegation – one never proved – that he had been told the wrong draught measurement!) BAe have more-recently definitely got the hang of building Asturtes: just after having really got the hang of it. ————————— So moving onto the SSBM design; main gate that was never ever going to happen as soon as 2005 That was for the very simple reason that the UK government had not at that time finally decided to replace its CASD “like-for-like” There were plenty of suggestions for cheaper schemes: cruise missules fired from green painted truckss: long range grey-painted bombers etc No prizes for guessing who made those suggestions…… Parliament only voted in 2006 (under labour) – when replacing Trident was priced at the “rather large” budget of £100 Billion Replacing Trident – UK Parliament Only that key decision allowed any more detailed decisions about what the capability might look like to be firmed up………… And let us not forget here: that if just one billion of that £100 Billion budget (i.e just 1%) had been spend on brand new yard facilities at Barrow; taht investment would have ——————– I am afraid to say that the core responsibility for the severely delayed design and build of the two new types of UK boats (SSN and SSBM) lies soley with the RN and MOD The RN and MOD repeatedly shot themselves in both feet on several occasions – using a large-calibre pump-action sawn-off double-barrelled shotgun for maximum destructive effect That is why they are now trying to blame the politicians (note 1) The biggest problem with all three parts of the UK armed forces is the utter lack of professional engineering knowledge – especially in the top echelons Designing nuclear submarines is far to complex to ever be left to the bumbling amateurs who like to wear far too much gold braid That is when senior officers start running about defence cuts!” That is never a pretty sight https://www.navylookout.com/the-royal-navys-astute-class-submarines-part-1-development-and-delivery/ It was a credit to NL and their usual high standard “Critically 13 submarine designers from General Dynamics Electric Boat in the US were brought on to the project to set up new CAD tools and mitigate the lack of available expertise in the UK Over 100 designers based in the US also helped create thousands of detailed design drawings needed for manufacture with $145M eventually paid to GDEB for their services.” Unless this is some new combination of the alphabetti spaghetti They have changed the uncrewed for autonomous…basically BAE systems insist on calling their thingy a XLUAV… A major problem with autonomous unmanned submersibles is that it is difficult to communicate with them whilst they are submerged The only methods of which I am aware is VLF radio (if near the surface) or sonic systems (if in range of a friendly warship or other such station such as a static seabed system) This makes it difficult to exchange and update potential target information and perhaps most importantly in anything short of all out war to give the final command to engage an enemy True this is also so for SSNs and SSKs but it is probably more acceptable to delegate critical decisions to a responsible submarine commander rather than a computer there are many such vessels could perform far more cheaply and with verry much less risk than an SSN What I find interesting is this seadroid is a tenth of the displacement of HMS Holland 1 The RN has to experiment and it is good that it is doing so But this isn’t a panacea to all our subsurface ills nowhere near I don’t think it will scare the Russians much either as they have a real seabed engineering programme but the X class of WW2 is more comparable at 27 tons surfaced (15.5m by 1.75m) while Herne is 8-10 tons (12m by 1.7m) I wonder if the comparison with X-subs deserves more thought Could one of these UUVs carry seabed charges or limpet mines into an enemy anchorage to be remotely detonated by a manned third party focus on drones and small boats as above surface threats and so there doesn’t seem to be much attention paid to e.g torpedo netting and static sonar arrays as a means of preventing UUVs entry to harbours I suspect in Portsmouth that unless accidentally rammed by a deep draught ferry a platform like Herne would be able to operate with impunity I believe the ORCA XLUUV has a USN minelaying capability set out for it in the near future I don’t recall whether anyone has talked about that being minelaying to protect friendly harbours/installations or if I just assumed that without giving it proper thought Mine laying in enemy harbours made more immediate sense to me from a European perspective as you’d have to go an awfully long way from the US to reach an enemy harbour with an 80 ton pier-launched ORCA I see ORCA has an intercontinental one-way range and of course it’s not impossible to transport it to a friendly country in Asia or Europe I wonder if it’s also possible to refuel the diesel-electric hybrid mid ocean I agree that minelaying is a useful part of what these could do My thinking was more along the lines of a single unitary charge to be detonated while still onboard the UUV underneath a valuable warship or dropped and detonated remotely A solution looking for a problem than a problem looking for a solution Problem: mine countermeasures is becoming more advanced and faster operating with the introduction of autonomy and unmanned surface vessels allowing larger areas to be swept in a shorter time This precludes minelaying being used as a means of blockade port defences are improving against surface targets making it unlikely that an unmanned jet ski Solution: Carry the mine into the port on an unmanned vessel As the charge can be positioned directly beneath the target it can be larger and does not need guidance or sensors beyond a remote detonation device Aircraft carrier doctrine hasn’t been fully applied since WW2 Aircraft carrier doctrine hasn’t been fully applied since WW2 Did I miss that time since 1945 when a carrier group destroyed a large enemy surface fleet The use of small submarines is widely known The only change here is that the platform is unmanned No one has done a Tirpitz style mission since WW2 but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a future option worth investigating ASBM and aerial drone to sink ships otherwise mines under ships would not have been used Carrier operation development has nothing to do with mines an attempt to redirect a conversation away from its original topic “When all you are interested in is a hammer Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine in early 2022 concerns about the Russian threat on the continent have increased in European countries German intelligence services warn that Russia could be able to attack NATO as early as 2030 German intelligence officials have seen a sharp increase in Russian espionage and sabotage activities in recent years Germany is working on a plan to roll out a nationwide network of shelters in case of emergency said the conflict in Ukraine had characteristics of a “global” war and he did not rule out strikes on western countries Don’t mention the Invasion by Russia He gets all funny about that given his self proclaimed IR expertise The Ukrainians did go to Istanbul to negotiate in the first weeks after the invasion But walked away when ‘Boris and Joe’ pulled the plug according to one of the Ukrainians who who was negotiating that’s just propaganda put out by the Russians and parroted by the conspiracy theory community Zelenskyy spokesman and lead delegate at Istanbul talks was wrong https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/official-johnson-forced-kyiv-to-refuse-russian-peace-deal/ you quote websites without even bothering to read them A ‘deal ‘ that didn’t address borders or reparations and which required P5 nations to go to war (but whose negotiators didn’t consult the P5) and which may or may not (depending on the side you’re on) require the approval of Russian for military action by the P5 against Russia… Ukrainian neutrality based on an agreement that the US or Russia would go to war on Ukraine’s behalf if it’s invaded is a joke especially if Russia could subsequently veto US involvement In principle though it reminds me of Belgium’s neutrality during the first half of the last century Buffer neutrality (as opposed to armed-to-the-teeth neutrality) doesn’t work Especially when one of the “guarantee” countries is next door while the other is half a world away As any sports fan will tell you “it’s the hope that kills you” Maybe the RN will actually get a large order of drones (Air Surface and Subsurface) as Force Multipliers Maybe all of those savings in maintenance and upkeep by scrapping rusty hulks early and dropping expensive MLUs for units which will not stay in service much longer after refit is completed will actually pay for something tangible I’d love to know what that piddly 500mil is spent on but doubt we’ll find out Maybe this should have been checking in on the Yantar in the Irish sea the other day Its max speed is a bit slow so she might have got knicked! They just needed a Serco tug on RN contract for that sorry for being so ignorant but what is ISR?? I am no expert in undersea warfare but I have studied sonars and radars due to my training as an engineer My main question on all these autonomous unmanned submarine projects is how to communicate and direct them it seems to be mentioned only in passing oh yes that’s a problem but no real solution They go off on their pre-programmed missiion and you can’t tell them to modify or stop it unless there is a ship hovering more or less overhead that can use sonar but until the communication problem is solved this whole approach is more likely to accidentally start a war than to prevent one Meanwhile another huge amount of ships are being scrapped sadly not in Inverness but probably India or Turkey The Royal Navy is becoming just a fond memory of the good old days so I continue to vote for changing the site’s name back to Save the Royal Navy I agree that the communication difficulties will preclude these UUVs being armed until Comms can be made much more effective Additionally any new technology will have to be I directional so that the subs do not give their position away Thanks for that. I knew of these buoys released to the surface so this might be a good summary “Submarine-Launched One-Way Transmitter Buoy” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLOT_buoy I hadn’t heard of that particular idea For UUVs I wonder if a towed version of it would be more convenient for regular operations I understand if the drone were loitering outside Murmansk or Odessa having the emitter near to its location would be a major handicap but for most missions there won’t be as much time pressure on being hunted down and discovered Hence if you had a radio on the end of a cable from the UUV itself while transmitting and then be silent while reeling the thing back in Make the “surface fish” larger and you could put jamming equipment or ELINT alongside the purely communications purpose But for an emergency you would always use the safer buoy type So please can you both now complete this GCSE exam question: “The drag on a 2km long cable being towed through the water at 6 knots requires how much extra power to be generated by the submarine’s power plant PS and only going out a poxy 2km is nothing like far enough for a submarine which is going into a hostile arena against an opponent with a half -decent ASW capability PPS Remember we (UK) sunk most German submarines in WW2 by first establishing their approximate locations by using radio-direction finding equipment (not Enigma decodes) “Scrapped” in this case refers to being taken out of service and sold on to another navy or user Not necessarily to be torn down for recycled metal highly configurable Extra Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (XLAUV) It would be interesting to know how detectable it is at max depth It could be a pretty useful ambush weapon waiting at depths far deeper than manned boats Nice to see Portland Harbour on such a clear day Lot’s of interesting things to see there I like the history of it’s build and service and continued importance as a base for Ships and Helicopters also you get to see Ospreys at times Not far from Sir Tristram (TS Sir Tristram now used for SF training) you will find the sunken wreck of HMS Hood (no not that one) It still seeps oil Lot’s of RN and RFA ships visit and Weymouth Bay was a true spectacle back in Covid days with lots of large Cruise ships sheltering Portland Bill is a great place to spot ships I have a fair collection of pics of various RN ships now Plus on a quiet day you can just about hear the sound of “do you want to be in my gang” coming from Verne but this is interesting from the recent Trinity House agreements; Germany and Britain should cooperate wherever possible in the design and construction of the F127/Type 83 anti-air warfare combatants As two nations with strong naval shipbuilding infrastructure at comparable stages of next-generation shipbuilding Joint acquisition of the Naval Strike Missile perhaps facilitated by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) Was this named after a nice seaside town in north Kent Herne bay is all I can see when reading the title….or is it just me The replacement Trafalgars are the size they are due to I believe the reactor fitted in them This had to be the same as the new deterrent boats and so the fuselage had to be either bulged or overall widened they took the opportunity of being able to carry more weapons Not sure extra ISR kit would make them that much larger especially as they have gave non- hull penetrative masts I am afraid to say that adding in extra ISR kit does always require more space incidentially the USN’s Ardley Burke destroyers now have a very similar problem…… becuase all of the extra systems that have been added into what was orginally a 1980’s ship design over the past thirty years now means that their on-board electrical systems are now “max’ed out”) the RN habitability standards changed quite significantly after the T calss were built Thatw as firstly to avoid the need for hot bunking and also different sized/shaped spaces were needed o allow females to serve And when one is designing anything that requires one to fit lots of “stuff” into very small and confined spaces= it is quite surprsing how seemingly small changes can massively effect the overall space required Please see my rather long post above for a ,ore detailed timeline Your summary of Arleigh Burke class F3 is out of date this part was interesting too ‘It features a unique, redundant independent mechanical start system using a M250-KS4 gas turbine as a mechanical starter, enabling a black ship start from two 12V batteries.” The extra weight over the previous ‘flights’ ate into the stability margins too , so F3 had a complete below waterline re-shaping to add more buoyancy. The whole hull internal decks and frames and superstructure were also upgraded/resized to handle the heavier weights higher up and properly analyse the stresses. It says in the story , when read closely- “The name ‘Herne’ is derived from a mythic ghost-like hunter of British folklore.” Not named after the town Latest news shows yet another blunder ….Chagos Chaos…. Such an embarrassing decision and fallout yet again in this Clown governments short life…. not to mention Albion and Bulwark, Chinooks and Pumas all being scrapped…. get these clowns out now before they cause anymore trouble. The sad thing is that the Conservatives were so bad they made Starmer’s idiots look tempting…. what a disaster/embarrassment they are. The negotiations with Mauritius – whos territory it always was- began under Trusses time and continued until now. Its your claim thats the embarrassing blunder. Of course The UK Mauritius agreement is contingent on the US getting a long lease for Diego Garcia base from the Mauritius government ( which was what they had with Britain) This is something I long predicted. UK and US are of course working with Australia ( AUKUS) to have their forward patrol base for nuclear subs at HMAS Stirling , just south or Perth. Have these small but strategic countries batting for your own team avoids them being wooed by China. Idiotic to give it to Mauritius, they will be wooed by China whatever you give them. UK has a just as good claim as anyone to it. Then China can also claim just like anyone Yes. This whole farce is just another blunder from this embarrassing government and that’s not just my opinion, only a clueless fool would defend this decision. Cuts, cuts, cuts at a time of such world upheaval only serve to encourage potential aggressors. Your biased opinions and lack of knowledge without resorting to copy and paste (on every comment) really has no interest to me. Donations via PayPal towards running costs of this site would be most welcome. Thank you. A woman was shot dead in a pub in Kent on Valentine's Day A police investigation has been launched after a dead body was found along a popular seaside promenade A man in his 20s was found dead on the promenade at Bishopstone Glen near Herne Bay yesterday morning Police were called to the scene at around 6:30am following concerns for a man along the popular seaside walkway but sadly the young man was pronounced dead at the scene but sadly the young man was pronounced dead at the scene (Stock) The incident prompted authorities to cordon off the promenade which is a well-known walking spot along the Kentish coast Local residents reported seeing a significant police presence in the area throughout the morning A forensic investigation unit was dispatched to the scene as part of the emergency response Members of the coastguard were also called to Bishopstone Glen following the discovery The area remained cordoned off whilst authorities carried out their initial investigations This tragic incident comes just days after another body was discovered on North Beach in Great Yarmouth on April 25 two men on a morning walk found a body near Haven Seashore Holiday Park and alerted emergency services The young man's body was discovered around a well-known walking spot along the Kentish coast Police and paramedics attended that scene as well with Norfolk Constabulary officers working on the beach A police spokesman said: "Emergency services attended and a man in his 20s was pronounced deceased at the scene "The death is not being treated as suspicious and a report will be prepared for the coroner." The promenade at Bishopstone Glen is expected to reopen once police have completed their investigation BAE Systems has been testing a new extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle at a secret testing harbour on the south coast that can operate using its inbuilt systems without any human input Based on a commercial vehicle that is being developed for naval use it is centred around BAE's Nautomate autonomous military control system Herne has the power to think through situations by itself so can go around obstacles and decide how to best avoid detection Designed to fit in a 40ft shipping container it could fit inside a Type 26's mission hangar or even an RAF A400M Atlas So far 10 of the world's navies have been to assess it which means you can fit lots of different bits into these payload bays – depending on what you want it to do says this gives a "huge amount of flexibility for customers" He explained: "You can take that payload bay out and within an hour you can remove it and slot a new one in "That could be a whole range of capabilities from the ability to detect submarines to survey critical national infrastructure." Using an existing platform from the Canadian company Cellular means development to this stage has only taken 11 months.  BAE says it will be just a year and a half more until it will be ready for customers – with huge spec variations available depending on what each customer wants  – from budget-friendly battery versions with moderate endurance to hydrogen fuel cell types capable of thousands of miles at sea Work is already in hand to equip the subs with just one payload bay capable of holding and then firing torpedoes like Sting Ray.  Its developers are aware today's navies want longevity in their products even if they are high-tech at the time of purchase told BFBS Forces News: "We've seen the pace of development of technology just be astronomical over the last few years "What we're trying to do is develop a platform that will remain static but the capabilities that go within that platform and the systems that go within that platform can be switched out as they develop BAE says the reaction to this project has been good and it is hopeful of orders Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe to: The Herne Hill Halloween celebration will take place in Station Square and Station hall above the train station Labour has lost one of its councillor seats to the Greens following a local by-election in Lambeth yesterday (May 1) Paul Valentine is the new Green councillor for Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction ward after winning 48per cent of the vote with 1,774 votes Finishing in second place was Labour’s Stephen Jospeh Clark with 1,459 votes In third place was the Conservatives’ Jago Brockway with 183 votes followed by Reform UK’s Lydia Aitcheson with 135 votes The Lib Dems’ Charley Hasted came fifth with 121 votes followed by Marco Tesei from the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition with 30 votes and lastly Adam Buick from the Socialist Party of Great Britain with 16 votes Last night’s by-election saw a voter turnout of 32per cent out of an electorate of 11,554 The South London seat had previously been held by Labour’s Jim Dickson a long-term councillor who was first elected to Lambeth Council in 1990 Mr Dickson announced he was stepping down from his role as councillor eight months after being elected as the Labour MP for Dartford in the July 2024 General Election Mr Dickson said: “It has been an honour to serve the community and the borough for 35 years and I firmly believe that it is a better place than I found it in 1990 “I am proud of many things we achieved which have made a great difference in people’s lives including bringing in buffer zones for abortion clinics increasing access to healthcare for our Trans friends and launching the UK’s first LGBT+ retirement housing.” He added: “The improvements we have seen – which still have further to go – are down to an active and committed local community working closely with a supportive and engaged Lambeth Labour Council I wish whoever is elected in my place every success in serving this wonderful neighbourhood.” Cllr Valentine will share Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction ward with two existing Labour councillors Lambeth Council has a Labour majority with 57 councillors The total number of Green councillors has now increased to three while there are also three Lib Dem councillors We'll never send you spam or share your email address Find out more in our Privacy Policy and website in this browser for the next time I comment Please enter your username or email address to reset your password Fifty-four-year-old Noel Simpson competed in the Toyota 86 Championship in 2023 The season was represented by strong starts and good levels of race craft Noel never really adapted to the car to get the race pace that needed to be at the front Noel was a regular competitor in the Porsche series between 2021 and 2022 winning the Boxster trophy in both years and the Porsche Cup in the final year “The Toyota championship in 2023 was a real eye-opener for me,” he said confirming his entry into the four-round winter series “There was lots of talent and fierce competition and a lot to learn as a result of that but I enjoy the Toyota 86 and am looking forward to getting out there again in the Trophy Series “It’s a car you have to be very precise with and consistent with especially given how close all of the fields are Having taken time out to support his children in international alpine skiing with eight back-to-back winters away travelling around the globe to support them in competition Noel is looking forward to being able to focus on his racing over the next few months “I’ve been revisiting a lot of the data from 2023 and have run a few test days I’m going to be able to hit the ground running and be competitive from the word go.” Simpson will be backed by Lexel Systems when the series gets underway at Hampton Downs on May 9th © 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news © 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news “Owosso Speedway will be onboard once again and I thank Rex and the team for doing so It was a great time last weekend to race in the stacker and bus demolition race at the speedway hopefully a bit of a far cry from what this weekend will look like Steve Herne is a distinguished professional with over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical research and development industry he has held leadership roles at notable companies such as WCG Herne excelled in driving long-term growth His expertise encompasses business development all contributing to significant market share growth Herne now serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Unlearn where he continues to apply his deep industry knowledge and passion for healthcare innovation Unlearn develops cutting-edge AI technologies to tackle inefficiencies in medicine Through its innovative digital twins—virtual patient models powered by the Unlearn Platform—the organization aims to streamline clinical development and drive precision medicine forward With a vision of transforming medicine into a computational science Unlearn is focused on advancing healthcare outcomes and setting new standards for patient care You’ve recently taken over the role of CEO at Unlearn.AI after serving as Chief Commercial Officer and I credit that to Unlearn’s people and culture my biggest priority is ensuring the company’s strategic goals I’m currently focused on strengthening and building the executive team around me and will be adding new positions and team members in 2025 as we continue to grow and embrace a commercially driven business model Having a deep background in the pharmaceutical industry what perspectives or strategies are you bringing to Unlearn that differ from the more technical and research-driven approach led by Charles Fisher Unlearn’s mission and vision remains unaltered—we will continue to improve clinical trials with AI and our technology I’m challenging them to step into our customers’ shoes as we work to address trial and error in medicine our goal is to ease our customers’ burdens and pain points I want them to understand the voice of our customers by considering the pressures and challenges they face This is especially important as most of our staff have not had the opportunity to work directly on a clinical trial given their career focus on AI or machine learning Unlearn has been a pioneer in integrating digital twins into clinical trials Could you briefly explain to our readers how digital twin technology is used in this context Unlearn’s AI models generate an individual digital twin for each patient before they are randomly assigned to the trial Each digital twin forecasts one’s individual future health outcomes under placebo regardless of the patient’s actual trial assignment researchers can run powerful trials with fewer participants at a reduced timeline compared to the traditional trial process We want to maximize the use of digital twins in clinical trials to power studies we recognize that each circumstance and therapeutic area requires a slightly different approach which is why we develop disease-specific models trained on patient-level data to predict how a participant’s health will change over time how will AI-driven digital twin technology transform the landscape of clinical research in the coming years Pharmaceutical companies want to introduce innovation into their research processes to speed up decision-making and bring drugs to market faster Since many of these companies’ next drug won’t enter the market until 2029 or 2030 they’re eager to speed up trial timelines with innovations like AI As these companies seek to innovate with artificial intelligence we’re forging new partnerships while transforming the industry for the better this industry still falls under the “laggards” category so taking a calculated risk—like integrating new technology into a process that has been unchanged for decades—is a leap that many pharmaceutical companies are still hesitant to make Unlearn’s mission is to eliminate trial and error in medicine How do you see the role of AI evolving in healthcare over the next decade and what milestones do you think need to be reached to fully realize this vision pharmaceutical companies tend to be more cautious of new innovations preferring to adopt technology that is tried and tested some companies are already utilizing new innovations but I believe the entire industry will more readily adopt AI and default to the technology in protocols over the next decade Since my last interview with Charles Fisher and what new areas of AI application in clinical trials are you most excited about While our mission and vision remain unchanged we’re adjusting our strategy slightly in 2025 We're folding our clients into our platform and products ensuring full data integrity as we use confidential patient-level data to train our disease-specific digital twin models that forecast each individual patient’s future health outcomes It is through our customers’ eyes and ears that we can understand clinical trials’ challenges and what we can do to eliminate trial and error in medicine going forward What are some of the major milestones you hope Unlearn will achieve under your leadership both in terms of technology and market impact I hope to see digital twin technology enhance every clinical trial it’s my goal for clinicians to view Unlearn as the partner of choice to produce digital twins and to write Unlearn into their clinical trial development plan before the trial even begins Many companies understand the power of digital twins and are interested in creating them and we’re able to help properly execute the technology As the company moves into this next phase of growth how do you plan to foster a culture of innovation while maintaining the commercial viability of the AI solutions you’re bringing to market Since our founding seven and a half years ago we’ve been focused on research and development to bring our valuable product to clinical trials Now we’re pivoting to what I call a product-first commercially-executed stage of the company We strive to continue growing the market’s adoption curve and building really strong products that customers not only need but want to use to effectively address the challenges they face with their clinical trials Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Unlearn CTO & Co-Founder at Mindgard – Interview Series President and CEO of Evogene – Interview Series Antoine is a visionary leader and founding partner of Unite.AI driven by an unwavering passion for shaping and promoting the future of AI and robotics he believes that AI will be as disruptive to society as electricity and is often caught raving about the potential of disruptive technologies and AGI As a futurist, he is dedicated to exploring how these innovations will shape our world. In addition, he is the founder of Securities.io a platform focused on investing in cutting-edge technologies that are redefining the future and reshaping entire sectors AI/ML at SnapLogic – Interview Series Founder and CEO of Explorance – Interview Series Deloitte’s US Cyber AI & Automation leader – Interview Series Founder and CEO of Escape.ai – Interview Series Head of Product at Lumai – Interview Series Acuity Behavioral Health – Interview Series Advertiser Disclosure: Unite.AI is committed to rigorous editorial standards to provide our readers with accurate information and news We may receive compensation when you click on links to products we reviewed an advanced extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle (XLAUV) with Canadian firm Cellula Robotics teaming up with BAE Systems Coming as the Royal Navy's first uncrewed submarine nears its sea trials by 2027, Herne's modular design will offer versatile missions from anti-submarine warfare to safeguarding vital undersea infrastructure Herne will be as big as a bus and powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and reports suggest it could stay submerged for 45 days With the need for dominance in underwater warfare growing nations that fail to adapt will face significant strategic disadvantages by the 2040s Nathan Herne has locked in his second international appearance of 2024 with the Lismore local returning to the American TA2 Series this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Herne spent the 2023 season living in America and competing in the hotly contested category recording three podium finishes in a Howe Racing chassis The Howe family also took Herne in as the 21-year-old worked at their factory and helped to develop their 2023 and 2024 TA2 cars What is for now a one-off return to the TA2 Series comes off the back of a recent foray to Europe where Herne excelled in his Super Trofeo Europe debut at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Mid-Ohio will play host to round seven of the 2024 TA2 Series and was one of Herne’s strongest tracks in his rookie season the two-time Trico Trans Am Series Champion charged through the field to finish in sixth The return comes as a satellite operation with F.A.S.T Auto Racing a Brooklyn based team owned by Adrian Wlostowski The deal was brokered via the team’s relationship with Howe Racing who supply chassis’ to a number of teams in the TA2 field Herne will race the #15 Chevrolet Camaro backed by Owosso Speedway a premier short-track facility in Michigan Herne will hit the track in Mid-Ohio from June 20-23 with international viewers of the TA2 Series able to follow the racing action live via TheTransAmSeries on YouTube “I was working on my car last week in Lismore when I got the text saying we had finally got things ticked off I booked the first flight out the next day so I could come and do some laps on the Howe’s skid pan and here we are We’re partnering up with F.A.S.T Auto Racing owned by Adrian Wlostowski who I got to know across 2023 and he’s a big supporter of the Howe chassis over here in America “It’s crazy how different the cars are in America especially since I’ve been working on my own car in Australia I’ve come to understand what I’m really looking at more they handle quite differently with a radial Pirelli tyre and all the under-chassis aero Our cars in Australia are more comparable to the 2015 cars it’s just a constant development race in America “Mid-Ohio was the track we had our eye on all year The Howe cars are really strong at the tighter tracks and with all the quick direction changes the track really suits the chassis The Series itself has changed a lot since I was here even last year Majority of the top teams are in the wind tunnel and on shaker rigs now where last year it was really just starting to come into that phase.  “So it’s definitely a lot more competitive from an engineering standpoint but from what I’ve seen of the Howe chassis and the Howe crew Herne Hill Velodrome has had a long and eventful history and has recently been restored to its former glory Picture by 2012 / International Olympic Committee (IOC) / FURLONG Christopher - All rights reserved - The Herne Hill Velodrome remains a popular venue for cycling and is widely regarded as the spiritual home of British cycling.This outdoor velodrome staged the kilometre time trial tandem match sprint and team pursuit track cycling events at London 1948 and continues to be used as a community cycling venue Available for corporate events and private functions it is used regularly by local clubs and 15 local schools The oldest remaining venue of the Olympic Games London 1948 it is one of the most famous velodromes in the UK and is widely regarded as the spiritual home of British cycling It enjoyed its heyday in the 1920s and 30s when events such as the Good Friday Meeting attracted crowds of up to 12,000 Though in regular use after the 1948 Olympic Games it was threatened with closure in 2010 due to the poor state of the facilities The velodrome was extensively refurbished between 2011 and 2017 when the 450m banked asphalt track was resurfaced Floodlights were installed and a new pavilion built to accommodate changing rooms It was London’s only velodrome until the construction of the Lee Valley VeloPark for the 2012 Olympic Games Olympic Membership - Free Live Stream Sports & Original Series - join now After over 130 years of unforgettable memories and moments "We were concerned we would lose Herne Hill Harriers" who served as president of the club from 2019 to 2021 Newton arrived at his desk to a large in-tray and immediately set his sights on updating the then 35-year-old eight-lane all-weather track With the normal lifespan of that type of track being 20 years The surface had been patched up but it desperately needed an overhaul Within months of Newton being elected President the Tooting Bec Athletics Track – the historic home of Herne Hill Harriers – lost its competition license status "It looked absolutely disastrous and everything was compounded by the pandemic kicking off," Newton states At the time it was described as the ‘most significant thing’ in the club’s recent history "The surface had worn out a lot and there was little to no bounce left Even for training there was very limited footwear that the governing body recommended wearing which obviously for sprinters is critical for training." a small task group was established with the main purpose of re-establishing Tooting Bec as a top facility in the heart of the community Herne Hill Harriers was founded in 1889 after a group of boys in the area decided to set up an athletics club off the back of paper chases – a cross-country race in which the runners follow a trail marked by torn-up paper the club had an Olympic champion in Joe Deakin who won gold for Great Britain on home soil in the three miles team race Herne Hill Harriers moved to the Tooting Bec Athletics Track in 1937 and since then athletes in the club's red and black hoops have trained and competed at the venue Those who were part of the club ran on a six-lane cinder track but in 1984 that was upgraded to the eight-lane all weather surface securing the future of Herne Hill Harriers for a generation Fast forward to 2019 and the club needed a financial package from Wandsworth Council to guarantee its status in Tooting Bec for the foreseeable future athletes past and present came out publicly in support of Herne Hill Harriers 2002 European and Commonwealth long jump silver medallist championed the club and said: “When I was 12 years old my stepdad brought me down to the track who grew up just a few miles from the track in Balham stated that “without the track I wouldn't have reached the level where I am now" and "it would be a real shame not to have the track fit for competition going forwards" Support also came from Westminster and Dr Rosena Allin-Khan said: "To lose such a valuable asset in our community would be a devastating blow to so many of our young people Having this track will be useful for encouraging young people to be physically active and lead a healthy lifestyle." The fantastic Tooting Run Club have recently won the England Athletics Club of the Year award for London region and are raising funds to help carry on their brilliant work in the community If you can help, donation details can be found here: https://t.co/LD9F74If2w — Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (@DrRosena) October 4, 2024 The key stakeholder however was Wandsworth Council and Newton knew that getting support at it was crucial "Councillor Steffi Sutters [Community Services Spokesperson] was committed to working with us with strong support from key opposition councillors including Councillor Judi Glasser,” Newton says "England Athletics also provided excellent support For anyone who is thinking about getting something like this done getting the relevant parties on board is critical “What we did was lead the campaign from the focus group At times it was a balance as we didn’t want to upset the local councillors too much but we had to keep it high profile BBC and other newspapers covering the situation." finally provided the £500,000 needed for upgrading the track and wider facilities at Tooting Bec The club itself also contributed £30,000 to ensure the success of the bid upgrades included: Floodlit eight lane running track with sprint facilities; internal steeplechase runway; high jump fan inside the track; a javelin runway; shot put circle; double ended long jump/triple jump runway; double ended pole vault runway; hammer/discus cage; seating for 400 spectators pavilion with fitness studio; fully equipped gym and changing rooms Herne Hill Harriers decided that they should host a British Milers' Club meet – sponsored by MarketAxess – in Tooting Bec Since the first event took place two years ago some of the best domestic and international middle and long distance athletes have flocked to the venue and produced some simply incredible times "From the very first meet we had sub-four minute miles," Newton adds Hobbs Kessler was there in the first year and ran both the 800m and mile We have 15 out of the top 20 of the fastest ever men’s 1500m times in BMC history who is now meeting organiser for the Tooting Bec BMC meets cannot quite believe the journey the club has been on over the past few years "The fact that highly regarded coaches around the country view it as the best middle-distance meet in the country is amazing It’s also lovely to hear some real top internationals going away and saying that this is a fast track It’s also great to see it’s got that reputation As well as the fast times at high profile meetings Herne Hill Harriers has also created a community run club targeting beginner and intermediate runners who would not tend to naturally join an athletics club Tooting Run Club regularly attracts 250 participants to its Monday night sessions One sign of Herne Hill Harriers' progression is their recent victory at the English National Road Relays (October 8). The club had never won the women's event before but the quartet of Darcie Hey Georgie Grgec and Lucy Jones triumphed at Sutton Park in Birmingham The foursome clocked 58:12 and won by 24 seconds to Vale Royal AC with the standout performance coming from Grgec who recorded a time of 13:39 around the 4.3km looped course The New Zealander's sensational run was the third fastest by a female athlete since the event moved to Sutton Park in 1990 Only Paula Radcliffe (13:26) – over a slightly longer 4.35km lap in 1993 – and Amelia Quirk (13:35) had gone quicker That meant that Jones had a sizeable lead on the final leg and it was more than enough to anchor Herne Hill Harriers to a famous win who competes and runs for the club alongside her full-time job in marketing only moved down to London in September and has not looked back since joining Herne Hill Harriers Legends all in our @hrnhillharriers women’s A & B teams today at the National road relays in Sutton Coldfield. Building a club team squad - we strive for more improvement. Huge well done 👏 pic.twitter.com/5lfyOPZPL2 — Herne Hill Harriers (@hrnhillharriers) October 5, 2024 "This time last year I wasn’t running at all," Jones tells AW "I really didn’t know if I was going to compete or carry on in the sport After joining Herne Hill it’s been a complete u-turn and I’ve absolutely fallen back in love with it and I’m super happy with how things have worked out "It’s difficult to manage that balance when you’re working full-time but the coaches do a really good job so that’s as easy as possible I feel like it also gives you a bit of flexibility and that there are other things." Jones has now had time to process anchoring Herne Hill Harriers to victory at the English National Road Relays emphasising the team effort and that “three or four girls in our B team would've been in contention to be in that four" "We all pushed each other and everyone played such a big role," Jones says Darcie took out the first leg and she did a cracking job of getting into the mix to make sure we were in a great position A post shared by Ｇｒａｈａｍ Ｓｍｉｔｈ (@grahamsmith.photos) "Then Gabby did a really good job of taking a couple of places I really didn’t expect to be handed a lead so when I saw her coming up the hill I was in a bit of shock "It was absolutely brilliant to get that win for Herne Hill Harriers It was just about giving something back to the coaches that have put so much work into it "I don’t think it sunk in for a few hours and I think that the coaches were sort of letting on that they hadn’t fully processed it a day or two afterwards who recorded a personal best of 16:30 over 5km this season wants to continue to hammer away at those times She also made her marathon debut in London this year Jones has eyes on the cross-country season and is considering competing at the British Athletics Cross Challenge in Liverpool Jasmine Nkoso [C] (Glen Keegan)Inspiring the next generation One of the leading lights at Herne Hill Harriers is Jasmine Nkoso The junior multi-eventer had a stellar season and became England Athletics under-15 girls pentathlon champion triumphed over five events at the English Schools South East Regional Combined Events Championships and won the shot put at English Schools Her personal best in the pentathlon is 3442 points and she also broke the championships record in the shot put at English Schools throwing a best of 13.84m to win by over a metre That distance also puts her sixth on the UK under-15 shot put all-time list No surprise then that it's Nkoso's favourite discipline "Shot put is definitely what I like the most," says Nkoso "I will definitely have to put 800m at the bottom because that’s a killer I personally love the multi-events as it shows who’s best as an all-rounder A post shared by Herne Hill Harriers (@herne_hill_harriers) Nkoso first started out in gymnastics but wanted to try out athletics After her mum took her to Herne Hill Harriers Nkoso fell in love with the club and the rest is history "I’ve been at this club for about two to three years and it’s in my heart because they’re the ones that found my love for what I do now," the teenager adds "To be honest I didn’t think I'd fall in love with it as much as I am now I think it’s been so good and definitely the right decision to move to track and field My coaches are right up there as they’ve helped me mentally I also went to watch the heptathlon at the Paris Olympics and that was both amazing and truly inspirational "I definitely want to be at that level when I’m older My main goal right now is to go to the next European Under-18 Championships [Rieti 2026] and the longer-term ambition is the LA 2028 Olympics and beyond." » Subscribe to AW magazine here, check out our new podcast here or sign up to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here Georgia Bell – British breakthrough athlete of 2024 Why Irish athletes are punching above their weight I have just come off the track for the final time on my first night of Track League racing at South London’s Herne Hill Velodrome and have tuned in to the renowned commentary stylings of Phil Wright but nor have I struggled too hard to hold the wheels but I managed to come away with one of the jerseys awarded as a prize for sneaking a prime [awarded for intermediate sprints] in the final points race into the band of ragtag riders known as 'the Cs' one of the myriad groups that help form the wider HHV community irreverent remark to the neighbours reflects not only a love for this place that everyone here wears on their Lycra sleeves the 132-year-old venue was in serious trouble The track itself was in a state of disrepair and the leisure partners charged with its management didn’t see its potential and were failing to invest in its upkeep the freeholders decided it was “either going to be run properly or not at all” That existential threat stirred the locals inspiring the birth of the Save the Velodrome campaign which funding was secured for the necessary resurfacing of the track floodlights and other physical infrastructure That was sufficient assurance for the freeholders to grant the velodrome a 99-year lease on the land the racing-focused team most closely associated with the velodrome temporarily took over its management before handing over responsibility to the newly established Herne Hill Velodrome Trust in 2017 the velodrome was again wobbling; by most assessments failing to live up to its potential but it did at least offer the opportunity for a reset and many more into his lifelong relationship with cycling points to a figure of 28,000 paid entrants for 2022 and says that because this only counts for publicly bookable sessions Turnover is also nearly double pre-Covid levels Herne Hill Velodrome now feels like a dynamic start-up in an article featuring several of the local riders who have recently reached the top tier of cycling The Times called Herne Hill Velodrome “the engine of British cycling” And on the not-infrequent occasions any of young pros Fred Wright they can expect to be mobbed by young autograph hunters But the wider Herne Hill community takes at least as much pride in what the velodrome is doing away from the glare of Grand Tours and World Championships The same might even be said of Wright himself as happy as he is to identify as the dad of Fred a men’s WorldTour rider with Bahrain-Victorious Cook refers to Wright as Herne Hill’s “keeper of the community culture" Wright prefers to call himself “a velodrome junkie” and says: “I love commentating I love riding the derny [cycle-pacing vehicle] and I love tandem piloting.” He does this for local disabled cycling charity who run three sessions a week on the track “It’s a place for people to come and be social "It reminds me of being in the sixth form at school where you’d walk into the common room and know everybody.” white and blue kits remain the most visible at many events they’ve been joined by the colours of numerous other local squads all trans and all non-binary people in London” says: “Herne Hill Velodrome is invaluable for us as a place where it’s safe to ride a bike British Cycling’s announcement in May that transgender women would not be permitted to compete in the ‘female’ category regardless of testosterone levels or other medical indicators was viewed by many as going against that ethos who were really quite appalled by that policy decision,” says Rayner she positioned a trans flag behind the judges’ desk monied and male as cycling tends to be – and often with the entitled attitudes to match – Herne Hill aspires to more It “tries to make cycling into something fun rather than something necessarily competitive who came through the VCL performance pathway and now competes for Belgian Continental outfit Fenix-Deceuninck agrees: “From a young age you’re encouraged to find enjoyment in winning but it’s not the be-all and end-all,” she says I got into it because I made friends and I wanted to see my friends again not particularly because I liked riding a bike.” female riders made up 29.5 per cent of all participants in sessions – roughly double the share who are members of British Cycling Although Herne Hill won’t be content until gender parity has been achieved is pleased to report that “the weekly under-18 girls session is the most popular Women also make up half of those on the payroll all of whom know there’s more to diversity and inclusivity: race Reducing barriers to participation was one of the main areas cycling development manager Thea Smith was brought in to work on in 2019 She sees her goal as to “just make as many people aware of this place as possible” It’s about “making it better known that it’s affordable that you don’t need any pre-existing knowledge You don’t even need to be able to ride a bicycle to come here” “Racing is a small proportion of what we do here,” says Smith Bell agrees: “It’s all about people coming to whichever kind of cycling they want to come to Or as Scripps sums it up: “The primary objective is about getting more people on bikes." talk to us and we’ll see if we can work something out,” Bell adds her role involves reaching out to local schools “from all different backgrounds” and community groups whose own mission is to increase the participation and presence of people of colour within cycling Scripps and Bell agree that the way the velodrome is formally organised is a major contributor to its current success does the menial tasks and answers emails.” Scripps says it’s because they all understand the mission That 'all' includes the charitable body that sits on top of the day-to-day operation Cook strongly believes that the atypical way the velodrome is run helps: “It’s small and not reporting to anything other than a board of trustees,” he says “Everyone’s primary drive is wanting it to succeed because you’re not fitting into processes defined by Although there is the impression this may not always have been the case now maintain a wholly constructive relationship with the HHVT board “The point of the charity,” says Tim McInnes “is to build the facility into a position whereby it achieves the charitable objective and generates a sufficient surplus.” that surplus needs to be able to fund the track being relaid and £800,000 is the current estimate for the cost of replacing the all-weather surface Although that war chest is topped up by proceeds from paying users has been a particularly benevolent benefactor in recent years As well as wholly funding the creation of Bell’s role three years ago the company’s foundation paid to spruce up the entrance McInnes goes as far to say that the velodrome “is in the healthiest place it’s been for many decades” and they don’t have to rely on unpaid labour – at least for the big things – now “The legacy of community and volunteering is one of its strengths,” he says “but being run completely by volunteers meant that lots of it was done fairly amateurly.” Tim has grand visions of Herne Hill becoming the cycling equivalent of Battersea Dogs Home which “managed to take what is essentially an animal shelter and turn it into a multi-site internationally renowned facility for promoting animal welfare” Cook would like to put on bigger and better events such as this summer’s South London Grand Prix Held to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1948 Olympics it was the first elite race meet to take place in Herne Hill for a decade Bell and Scripps mainly talk about it being busier attracting people from more diverse backgrounds “If more WorldTour pros come out of the top All add up to the velodrome looking like it does now “It’s quite hard to believe in a lot of stuff these days but believing in this place is quite easy,” says Wright Herne Hill sold following a full renovation guided by J3 Designs Families proved the key market for a classic Herne Hill brick house that had been renovated and extended to an architect’s design The four-bedroom residence at 20 Panorama Rd sold for $1.19m under the hammer at Saturday’s auction after attracting competition from two bidders Gartland Geelong agent Will Ainsworth said property suited both bidders really well Entertaining takes centre stage at custom Newtown home Geelong suburbs where sellers are scoring quickest sales And both of them were families looking to buy something that’s just been done to a really high standard in a great location,” he said The four-bedroom residence has been renovated from top to bottom under the guidance of J3 Designs Its refreshed interior showcases timeless features Tasmanian oak floorboards and custom blackbutt joinery while original sash windows add another touch of character A gas fire is featured in a stone surround in the lounge room The open-plan living room at the rear of the residence opens on to a covered deck “You wouldn’t know what was an extension and what was original it’s all blended so well – it helps when you’ve got an architect to help do that,” Mr Ainsworth said “They spared no expense because they didn’t do the renovation to sell They did it to live in for many years but have chosen to move on to bigger pastures.” The feature stone surround was an original featuring around a gas fire in the lounge off the entry This living space flows through into the main open-plan living zone where a spacious kitchen presides over the dining and family area with a stone topped island bench with the main bedroom – with a walk-in wardrobe and ensuite – and a home office upstairs with a single garage at the end and of a long driveway The sale locked in a $575,000 lift in value for the property and propelled it into the suburb’s 10 most expensive houses but there’s not many areas in Geelong where you can overcapitalise to a degree,” Mr Ainsworth said and those suburbs that are one suburb removed from the main areas they’re really good buying and just so close to everything “I just think there’s such good value there on almost 600sq m a north-facing backyard in probably one of the best streets in Herne Hill.” Herne Hill has a median house price of $695,000 Mr Ainsworth said more than 50 groups had inspected the property during the campaign but a number of potential buyers weren’t able to act because they have their own homes to transact The property had been listed with price hopes from $1.05m to $1.15m price hopes third parties have written and supplied the content and we are not responsible for it completeness or reliability of the information nor do we accept any liability or responsibility arising in any way from omissions or errors contained in the 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By accessing or using our platform, you agree to our Terms of Use. IndependentLightDark{"modes":[{"id":"light","name":"Light","value":"#ffffff"},{"id":"dark","name":"Dark","value":"#000000"}]}Menu{"children":"Menu"}Thank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in JAMES Moffat has been belatedly pinged for a tangle with Jarrod Hughes last month at Symmons Plains A number of outstanding matters from the fourth and final Trico Trans Am race in Tasmania were carried over to the next round taking place this weekend at Mount Panorama Given the relevant Symmons race finished behind the Safety Car and thus margins across the field were especially tight GRM had pushed for Moffat to be issued a points deduction instead of a time penalty the stewards opting for a five-second penalty instead of a 10-point penalty on the basis that the latter course of action “would unfairly alter the classification of Race 4” Moffat thus drops from fourth to 13th in the Tassie finale Sportity documents show time penalties were also issued to Nathan Herne (15 seconds for passing Ben Grice under Safety Car conditions) and Adam Garwood (10 seconds for causing a collision with Jack Smith) James Golding will start on pole for Race 1 of Round 2 later today A footbridge and two new lifts have been installed at Herne Bay station as part of a £6m project to improve accessibility Network Rail said that the £6 million investment (which was delivered in partnership with the Department for Transport’s ‘Access for All’ scheme) has made the station “much easier” to use for customers who are wheelchair users Work on the project began in at the end of November 2023 and was completed in March 2025 The scheme involved the installation of two new each of which provides step free access to each platform from the main entrance of the station and down to platform level The existing subway at the station is to be retained and will remain open to customers The station remained open throughout the work meaning that there was no impact on how passengers access the station Final testing has been completed and the lifts are now open to customers said: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to open our latest Access for All scheme at Herne Bay which will provide step-free access to those in wheelchairs or with pushchairs or heavy luggage to be able to reach their trains “We want our railway to be as inclusive as possible and Access for All is opening up travel by rail to more and more people Herne Bay just the latest station to be completed with more to come across our network over the next few years Work has also started on a major scheme at Hither Green and another project at Shortlands is set to be completed in the coming weeks.” said: “It’s great to see the lifts now open for our customers at Herne Bay ensuring more people can travel independently and with confidence The timing is perfect with Easter and the busy summer season ahead for this popular station “This scheme supports the strong increase in the number of passengers with accessibility needs choosing rail travel the majority are now travelling as turn-up-and-go customers “We know we still have much more to do to create a fully accessible railway That is why we are dedicated to working with our Alliance partner to bring forward more Access for All schemes alongside our complimentary station work to provide more accessible toilets and other customer facilities To provide easier access from platform to train we are also working to replace our aging Metro trains with a more modern and accessible fleet.” Herne Bay will be the latest station in Kent and south east London to benefit from accessibility upgrades as part of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) AfA scheme Bexley (April 2023) and Plumstead (November 2024) The Shortlands AfA scheme is set for completion this spring Rail Business Daily’s market leading news and profile enhancement services enable your business to tell your story to the wider rail community Engage with thousands of readers via our rail news platforms including the hugely popular 7am newsletter rail news website and Rail Director magazine you agree to us sending you emails on behalf of railbusinessdaily.com The now 22-year-old was famously denied a Supercars start in a Garry Rogers Motorsport wildcard at Bathurst in 2020 due to a lack of Superlicence points He remains yet to race at any level of Supercars instead of focusing on Trans Am – both in Australia and the United States – and the now defunct S5000 Herne says today’s laps at PremiAir’s post-season ride day were borne out of a phone call to team owner Peter Xiberras “I was in the shed working on my Trans Am car not long after Bathurst and I thought ‘I need to do something about this’,” Herne told Speedcafe “I love Trans Am and love what I’m doing at the moment but I’ve watched a lot of Bathursts on the couch and have gotten to the point where I need to get out on track “It’s great to watch it but since I got so close in 2020 And the best team on the grid to do it with in my eyes is PremiAir “I’m thankful to Pete and everyone at PremiAir to have me for the ride day but we’ve got a long way to go with getting everything approved and finalised and ready to go “It’d be great to tick off a few rounds but there’s a lot that has to happen between now and then to get it up and running.” PremiAir plots Supercars wildcard with Trans Am star Two changes to Supercars’ licensing requirements in the last 12 months – removing a Super2 mandate and awarding more points to Trans Am – should make Herne’s Superlicence sign-off a formality Ongoing discussions within Supercars about whether to expand wildcard eligibility from one sprint round to two could Herne says a solo wildcard start is what he really needs to help with his bigger career objective “One solo event is my main goal to be honest because that’s your chance to prove yourself,” he said “When you do a co-drive or drive for someone else the result is largely in the other guy’s hands “My goal is a full-time drive and there’s no better way to do it than to simulate a full-time drive.” Herne hopes to next year divide his time between Australia and the United States where he is plotting another TA2 Series campaign The Lismore-based driver’s Gen3 laps today left him encouraged by the similarity between the machines “I’ve obviously raced in the US with the American TA2 Series and those cars are very similar in a lot of ways to an Australian Supercar,” he said “The only difference was they still have the live axle rear-end in America over here they’ve got independent suspension rear-end so that was something to get my head around “But just learning how to right-foot brake again was probably the challenge of the day while also having some poor bastard strapped in beside me!” Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox SUPERCARS F1 NASCAR INDYCAR GT MOTOGP PHOTOS TV PODS ACDELCO Subscribe to our daily and breaking newsletter for all the latest news delivered direct to your box Copyright © 2025 Speedcafe.com. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. The Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Our Team    /  Advertise with us  /  Privacy Policy Annual beach maintenance work is underway in Herne Bay and will take around two weeks to complete Beach recycling has started inside the Neptune Arm and will then move to the west side of the pier This is important work because the beach material is the first line of defence against storms It also gets the beach ready for the busy summer season You can sign up to receive notifications when a post is added to an area you’re interested in You can sign up to receive notifications when a consultation is added about an area you're interested in