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<ul class="summary-list"><li>US Navy <keyword id="9079175" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="p-8a">P-8A</keyword> Poseidons launched Harpoon missiles in Europe for the first time last month.</li><li>The launches, part of an exercise off northern Norway, are the latest military activity in the increasingly busy waters of the Arctic.</li><li>Officials stressed the defensive focus and said it wasn't conducted with a specific foe in mind.</li></ul><p>US Navy P-8A Poseidons launched <keyword id="11398117" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="agm-84d-harpoon">AGM-84D Harpoon</keyword> missiles in Europe for the first time last month during an exercise off of northern Norway, another sign of the increasing military focus on the strategically important region.</p><p>The P-8s, widely considered the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-p8a-poseidon-sub-hunting-aircraft-features-sales-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">best maritime patrol planes in operation</a>, launched the missiles at a target barge near the Andøya Space Defense facility in northern Norway during the exercise At-Sea Demonstration/Formidable Shield.</p><p>The exercise focused on missile defense and most used during it were surface-to-air interceptors, but the Harpoons - so named because they were first designed to target surfaced submarines, or "<a href="https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/harpoon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whales</a>" - were air-to-surface variants.</p><p>As an <keyword id="109413" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Anti-ship-missile">anti-ship missile</keyword>, the Harpoon gives the <keyword id="11398118" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="p-8">P-8</keyword> "the ability to challenge enemy naval movements, either in support of offensive operations or in order to defend friendly forces," the US Navy's Sixth Fleet said in a <a href="https://www.c6f.navy.mil/Press-Room/News/News-Display/Article/2641794/vp-4-successfully-employs-harpoon-during-joint-missile-defense-exercise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">release</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Navy P-8A Poseidon Harpoon missile" height="888" width="1396" msid="83307037" hostid="261"></div><p>"At-Sea Demo/Formidable Shield provided a realistic opportunity to exercise" the <keyword id="363231" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Poseidon">Poseidon</keyword>'s ability to "project lethal fires," Cmdr. Kyle Raines, Sixth Fleet public affairs officer, told Insider in a statement.</p><p>At a briefing before the exercise, which is held every other year, officials stressed the defensive focus and said it wasn't conducted with a specific foe in mind.</p><p>US Navy Capt. Jonathan Lipps, who directed the exercise, said it wasn't "targeted against a specific country or threat" but had evolved in response to state and non-state actors' use of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.</p><p>"It's about protecting both maritime units and the land environment from the missile threat, not about, if you like, offensive missile capabilities. It's about defensive missile capability," said British Royal Navy Rear Adm. James Morley, deputy commander of Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, which conducted the exercise.</p><p>This year's iteration was "the most complex joint and combined integrated air- and missile-defense exercise ever conducted at sea," Lipps said.</p><div type="image" title="Norway Norwegian Navy frigate Evolved Sea-Sparrow-Missiles" height="1333" width="2000" msid="83307039" hostid="261"></div><p>The missiles used during the exercise were "a good example of a growing recognition" that successful combat operations in the future will "require close coordination of offensive and defensive systems," said Ian Williams, deputy director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">International</keyword> Studies.</p><p>"There are a lot of efficiencies that can be gained by integrating strike and defense, particularly in sensors, to detect enemy missiles and to locate and neutralize the shooter," Williams told Insider in an email.</p><p>There are also more practical reasons to fire Harpoons from P-8s.</p><p>Like its predecessor, the P-3 Orion, the Poseidon "has an anti-surface-warfare mission, and the <keyword id="2399156" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Harpoon-missile">Harpoon missile</keyword> is the current armament that meets that requirement, so it is not a surprise that the aircraft is exercising that capability," said Steve Wills, a military historian and expert on US Navy strategy.</p><p>"Every naval platform has live-fire exercise requirements, so this firing could be one of those," Wills added in an email.</p><h2>'Credible threats'</h2><div type="image" title="Royal Navy French navy FS Forbin" height="1500" width="2000" msid="83307041" hostid="261"></div><p>Morley and Lipps both emphasized that At-Sea Demo/Formidable Shield - which began near Scotland and concluded around Andøya - was long-planned and preceded by notice about where it would take place, but comes <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/increasing-arctic-military-activity-reduces-us-russia-diplomacy-options-2021-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as military activity in the region increases significantly</a>.</p><p>In late 2018, NATO conducted exercise Trident Juncture in and around Norway. Some 50,000 personnel took part in the exercise, which saw <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trident-juncture-navy-aircraft-carrier-in-arctic-first-since-cold-war-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a US aircraft carrier sail into the Arctic for the first time</a> since the early 1990s. The US military has been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/norway-agreement-allows-us-to-build-on-bases-near-russia-2021-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more active in Norway in recent months</a>.</p><p>NATO navies have also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-navy-drills-arctic-as-us-british-navy-leave-barents-2020-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conducted exercises in the Barents Sea</a>, close to major Russian military installations, for the first time in decades.</p><p>Russia, which has the world's longest Arctic coastline, has been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-nato-increasing-military-activity-in-the-arctic-2020-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increasing its presence in the region</a>, refurbishing bases and deploying more forces. Its <keyword id="117964" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nordic">Nordic</keyword> neighbors have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nordic-countries-monitor-surge-in-missile-testing-by-russia-2019-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been concerned by its military tests</a> in the region, particularly with weapons like the Kalibr cruise missile. </p><div type="image" title="Navy destroyer SM-3 missile" height="1124" width="2000" msid="83307042" hostid="261"></div><p>The Kalibr gives Russian ships and subs <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-submarine-ability-to-hit-targets-in-europe-us-with-missiles-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a land-attack capability that worries NATO</a>. The Kalibr and other Russian weapons fired from the Barents Sea would be able to reach targets in Norway.</p><p>Russian <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-nato-do-quite-well-against-russian-subs-admiral-says-2021-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">submarine activity around the Norwegian Sea</a> has also concerned NATO countries, particularly Norway and the UK, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-navys-best-sub-hunting-aircraft-faces-some-nagging-problems-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which have both purchased P-8s</a> to patrol their waters.</p><p>At-Sea Demo/Formidable Shield concluded on June 4 and navies involved touted several achievements during it.</p><p>A US destroyer and a Dutch frigate worked together to "negate" a ballistic missile threat in what the US Navy <a href="https://sfn.nato.int/newsroom/2021/uss-paul-ignatius-ddg-117-successfully-intercepts-ballistic-targets">called</a> "a groundbreaking cooperative engagement." Norway's navy <a href="https://www.forsvaret.no/aktuelt-og-presse/aktuelt/allierte-nasjoner-over-pa-missilforsvar-utenfor-andoya" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> one of its frigates used a missile to down a target moving at supersonic speed for the first time. The British navy <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2021/may/29/20210529-artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tested</a> artificial intelligence against live missiles at sea, also for the first time.</p><p>The exercise "unquestionably demonstrates" NATO's ability to defend its "integrity and resolve against credible threats from the ocean depths to low-earth orbit," Lipps said in a <a href="https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/2645571/at-sea-demoformidable-shield-2021-concludes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.</p>

The US Navy's top sub-hunting plane conducted a first-of-its-kind missile launch in Europe's high north

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Days after a proposed $1.8 billion arms sale to <keyword id="46274" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Taiwan">Taiwan</keyword>, the US State Department notified Congress of a possible $2.4 billion sale of hundreds of Harpoon anti-ship missiles and launchers to the island, which faces rising pressure from mainland <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword>.</li><li>With one of the world's largest militaries, China could destroy Taiwan if it really wanted, but taking the well-defended island is a lot more complicated. Harpoon anti-ship missiles could frustrate an amphibious assault, a likely requirement for a successful <keyword id="59448" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Invasion">invasion</keyword>.</li><li>Arms sales to Taiwan have angered Beijing, which argues that they are a challenge to its national interests and has threatened to retaliate.</li></ul><p>If Taiwan gets its hands on the hundreds of anti-ship missiles the US has proposed selling to the island, it could frustrate a future Chinese invasion.</p><p>Less than a week after it authorized a $1.8 billion arms sale to Taiwan, the US Department of State <a href="https://www.dsca.mil/press-media/major-arms-sales/taipei-economic-and-cultural-representative-office-united-states-17">notified Congress on Monday of another possible Foreign Military Sale to Taiwan for $2.4 billion</a> that includes hundreds of Harpoon anti-ship missiles and launchers.</p><p>The big sale, if approved by Congress, would give Taiwan 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems (HCDS) and 400 RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II Surface-Launched Missiles, very capable all-weather weapons that can search for and take out ships as far as half-way across the Taiwan Strait.</p><p>Taiwan's Ministry of Defense first <a href="https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3941109">expressed an interest in purchasing these weapons</a> back in late May.</p><p>US arms sales to Taiwan are not uncommon, and they achieve a few different things. They send political signals to that reassure Taipei and warn Beijing. They also fulfill the demands of the Taiwan Relations Act, and they offer increased military capability as Taiwan faces off against China's growing military might.</p><p>The Harpoon anti-ship missiles in particular would throw a big wrench into China's plans to invade Taiwan in the event that Beijing abandoned hopes of a peaceful reunification. Beijing has never renounced the use of a force as an option for achieving reunification.</p><p>"If the Chinese are serious about taking Taiwan, a key part of any effort would involve an amphibious assault because you can only drop so many paratroopers," Dean Cheng, an Asian studies expert at the Heritage Foundation, told Insider. "And, paratroopers are usually lightly armed. You need to land amphibious forces, which will bring heavier units ashore."</p><div type="image" title="China amphibious tanks invasion" height="1693" width="2258" msid="78917084" hostid="261"></div><h2>China isn't ready for a full-scale invasion ... yet</h2><p>Pulling off a large cross-strait invasion is easier ordered than executed.</p><p>Amphibious landings are among the toughest military operations, and to make matters worse, the Taiwan Strait is rough and often stormy. Cheng said that a Chinese invasion would be "an amphibious assault across one hundred miles of some of the worst waters in the world."</p><p>Those challenges aside, the Chinese military lacks a sufficient number of the amphibious warships required to put large numbers of troops ashore. "They've had literally only a handful of ships, nowhere near enough by our estimation, to go and launch D-Day," Cheng said.</p><p>But, China has started investing more heavily in these types of ships. China <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-has-launched-its-first-type-075-amphibious-assault-ship-2019-9">launched its first Type 075 amphibious assault ship</a> last fall, and more are under construction. Cheng said "a group of them could put a fair amount of firepower ashore."</p><p>The <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2020/Sep/01/2002488689/-1/-1/1/2020-DOD-CHINA-MILITARY-POWER-REPORT-FINAL.PDF">US Department of Defense reported in its recent China Military Power Report</a> that China "has the largest navy in the world." The report also states that China "is the top ship-producing nation in the world by tonnage and is increasing its shipbuilding capacity and capability for all naval classes."</p><p>The <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2020/Sep/01/2002488689/-1/-1/1/2020-DOD-CHINA-MILITARY-POWER-REPORT-FINAL.PDF">US military report also says</a> that "China continues to build capabilities that would contribute to a full-scale invasion," pointing not only to the new amphibious assault ships but also Chinese amphibious landing exercises.</p><p>That said, the <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2020/Sep/01/2002488689/-1/-1/1/2020-DOD-CHINA-MILITARY-POWER-REPORT-FINAL.PDF">Pentagon, as it notes in previous reports, argues</a> that China is not currently ready to execute a full-scale invasion. "An attempt to invade Taiwan would likely strain China's armed forces and invite <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> intervention," making such an attack risky, the report says.</p><p>Harpoon anti-ship missiles make any Chinese assault much riskier. With these weapons, Taiwan"will be able to employ a highly reliable and effective system to counter or deter maritime aggressions, coastal blockades, and amphibious assaults," the <a href="https://www.dsca.mil/press-media/major-arms-sales/taipei-economic-and-cultural-representative-office-united-states-17">US State Department wrote in its statement</a> Monday.</p><p>Taiwan has its own shore-launched anti-ship missiles — the subsonic Hsiung Feng II and supersonic Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles, but simulations suggested that Taiwan might not even be able to wipe out half of a Chinese invasion force with its current arsenal.</p><p>The addition of hundreds of Harpoon missiles significantly bolsters Taiwan's capabilities as China rapidly churns out new ships. Furthermore, while the subsonic Harpoon weapons are comparable to Taiwan's Hsiung Feng II, the American weapon is more mobile and is, therefore, more survivable. It also has a larger 500-pound warhead.</p><p>Taiwan already has air-launched Harpoon anti-ship missiles that are carried by its F-16 fighter jets, which it also acquired from the US as part of earlier arm sale packages, and a number of the island's surface warships are equipped with a sea-launched variant.</p><p>Adding reliable, survivable ground-launched Harpoon anti-ship missiles to the arsenal will help fill a Harpoon capability gap.</p><p>Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert in Hong Kong, <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3107298/latest-us-arms-sale-taiwan-will-help-island-reach-goal-being">told the South China Morning Post</a> that the missiles "will boost Taiwan's attack ability a little bit," but added that they "cannot survive a real war and can barely make any change to the balance of military power between Beijing and Taipei."</p><p>Either way, US arms sales to Taiwan have upset Beijing, which has threatened to retaliate in response.</p><p>Following the announcement of a possible $1.8 billion sale of Standoff Land Attack Missiles - Expanded Range (SLAM-ER), High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), and MS-110 reconnaissance pods to Taiwan, China threatened to slap sanctions on US defense firms Lockheed Martin and Boeing.</p><p>Asked Tuesday about the $2.37 billion arms sale, a <a href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/t1827017.shtml">Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said</a> that "China will take legitimate and necessary actions to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and security interests."</p><p>The rift between the US and China has increased during the Trump administration, as China's bold moves have collided with mounting US pressure. "This is definitely a different US-China relationship than it was five, 15, or 25 years ago," Cheng said. "We are more tense than we used to be."</p>

A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would not be easy, and the 400 anti-ship missiles the US plans to sell to Taiwan would make it even harder

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Navy/Lt. j.g. Grade Matthew Skoglund</span></p><p class="caption">A P-8A Poseidon aircraft assigned to Patrol Squadron 16 in Keflavik, Iceland, for anti-submarine warfare training, April 28, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>The Boeing-made P-8A Poseidon is one of the most advanced maritime patrol aircraft in service.</li><li>Its high-tech surveillance gear has made it a mainstay of the Navy's air fleet and drawn the interest of allied forces around the world.</li><li>But some nagging problems are affecting the Navy's P-8As, according to a recent Pentagon report.</li></ul><p>Introduced in 2013 to replace the P-3 Orion, the P-8A Poseidon as quickly become one of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-p8a-poseidon-sub-hunting-aircraft-features-sales-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most highly regarded maritime patrol aircraft</a> in service, fielded by the Navy and sought after by partner countries all over the world.</p><p>But the P-8A is dealing with some lingering issues that could affect the force as a whole, according to the fiscal year 2018 annual report produced by the Pentagon's <span>Office of the Director of Operational Test &amp; Evaluation.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Navy</span></p><p class="caption">US Navy crew members on board a P-8A Poseidon assigned to Patrol Squadron (VP) 16 man their workstations while assisting in search and rescue operations for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 March 16, 2014 in the Indian Ocean.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>The Poseidon can now count among its capabilities receiver air refueling, employment of the AGM-84D Harpoon Block I anti-ship missile, and several upgrades to its communications systems.</span></p><p><span>But, the report says, "despite significant efforts to improve P-8A intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors, overall P-8A ISR mission capabilities remain limited by sensor performance shortfalls."</span></p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-p8a-poseidon-sub-hunting-aircraft-features-sales-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Submarines are increasingly lurking in seas around the world, and the US Navy's high-tech Poseidon is there to hunt them</a></em></p><p><span>Moreover, the report finds, data from the operational testing and evaluation of the P-8A's latest software engineering upgrade as well as metrics from the Navy "show consistently negative trends in fleet-wide aircraft operational availability due to a shortage of spare parts and increased maintenance requirements."</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://boeing.mediaroom.com/2009-12-02-Boeing-Team-Installs-Radar-Antenna-on-P-8A-Poseidon#assets_20295_970-117">Boeing</a></span></p><p class="caption">A Boeing and a Raytheon employee complete installation of an APY-10 radar antenna on P-8A Poseidon test aircraft T2, November 2009.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Forward-deployed P-8A units have reported "relatively high mission capable rates" when they have access to enough spare parts, sufficient logistics supply support, and priority maintenance.</span></p><p><span>However, the report states, focusing on supporting forward-deployed units "frequently reduces aircraft availability and increases part cannibalization rates at other fleet operating locations."</span></p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-active-in-north-atlantic-but-russia-sub-activity-may-be-in-arctic-2018-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The US Navy is returning to a Cold War submarine flash point, but the real action may be much farther north</a></em></p><p><span>Shortages in spare parts for the Poseidon are exacerbated by the nature of the contracting and delivery system for the P-8A, according to the report.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Navy/Chief Mass Comm. Specialist Keith DeVinney</span></p><p class="caption">Naval Aircrewman (Operator) 2nd Class Karl Shinn unloads a sonobuoy on a P-8A Poseidon to prepare it for use, April 10, 2014.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>The use of engineering model predictions rather than reliability data from the fleet itself, "ensures that some mission critical spare part contracts lag actual fleet needs," lengthening the already long six- to nine-month contracting process.</span></p><p><span>These delays are exacerbated by consumable-item processes at the <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> Logistics Agency, which requires depleting stocks and backorders before starting to procure new items, according to the report.</span></p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-requests-more-sonobuoys-amid-concerns-about-russian-subs-2018-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Western navies are worried about Russia's submarines, and the US Navy is placing an order for more sub-hunting gear</a></em></p><p><span>"These delays are a major contributing factor to the observed increases in aircraft downtime awaiting parts and higher part cannibalization," it adds, noting that the P-8A program is working with Naval Supply Systems Command to procure parts on a more flexible and proactive basis and to start basing procurement on fleet-reliability data.</span></p><h2><span>Keeping an eye on things</span></h2><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">A US Navy crewman on a P-8A Poseidon in front of a computer screen purportedly showing Chinese construction on the reclaimed land of Fiery Cross Reef in in the South China Sea, May 21, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>More than 60 P-8As are in service for the US Navy. The plane is based on Boeing's 737 airliner but built to withstand more stress and outfitted with a suite of electronic gear to allow it to detect and track ships and subs - even just their periscopes - across wide swaths of ocean as well as to conduct surveillance of ports and coastlines.</span></p><p>"I went up on a training flight, and basically ... they could read the insignia on a sailor's hat from thousands of feet above," Michael Fabey, author of the 2017 book "<a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crashback/Michael-Fabey/9781501112041" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crashback</a>," about China-US tensions in the Pacific, told Business Insider in early 2018. "It's not the aircraft itself of course," he added, but "all the goodies they put in there."</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/s-korea-new-zealand-poised-to-buy-us-p-8-poseidon-sub-hunting-plane-2018-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2 more US allies are buying the world's most advanced sub-hunting airplane, and that should concern China</a></em></p><p>The Navy plans to improve the aircraft's capability going forward by adding the Advanced Airborne Sensor radar and by integrating the AGM-84 Harpoon Block II+ missile and the High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability MK 54 torpedo.</p><p>Interest in the P-8A continues to grow.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>US Navy/Chief Mass Communication Specialist Keith DeVinney</span></p><p class="caption">US Navy aircrew members look out the windows of a  P-8A Poseidon while flying over the Indian Ocean in support of the international effort to locate Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, April 8, 2014.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>India has bought 12 of the P-8I variant, and the country's navy chief has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-china-more-us-made-sub-hunting-planes-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said it's looking to buy more</a>. Australia is buying eight and has an option for four more.</p><p>Other countries in the Asia-Pacific region are looking to buy, including South Korea, to which the US State Department approved for the <a href="https://navaltoday.com/2018/09/17/south-korea-cleared-to-buy-six-p-8a-maritime-patrol-aircraft-under-2-1b-contract/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sale of six</a> in 2018.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-nato-navies-in-arctic-circle-in-harsh-weather-for-trident-juncture-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The US Navy is pushing north, closer to Russia in freezing conditions - and it's planning on hanging around up there</a></em></p><p>NATO countries are also looking to reinvigorate their airborne anti-submarine-warfare capabilities, including the UK and Norway, whose are adjacent to the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-active-in-north-atlantic-but-russia-sub-activity-may-be-in-arctic-2018-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a chokepoint for submarines</a> traveling between the Atlantic and the Arctic, where Russia's Northern Fleet and nuclear forces are based. The US recently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-p8a-poseidon-sub-hunting-aircraft-features-sales-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sent P-8As back</a> to Keflavik airbase in Iceland, though it does not plan to reestablish a permanent presence.</p><p>At the end of January, Boeing was awarded <a href="https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1741001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a $2.46 billion</a> modification to an existing contract for the production and delivery of 19 P-8A Poseidons - 10 for the US Navy, four for the UK, and five for Norway.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/life-us-navy-submarine-military-training-armed-forces-2016-9">Everything you've ever wanted to know about life on a US Navy submarine</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The US Navy's best sub-hunting aircraft is facing some nagging problems

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Associated Press</span></p><p class="caption">Taiwan's navy launch a surface-to-air SM-2 missile from a Kidd class destroyer during the Hai-Biao (Sea Dart) annual exercises off the northeastern coast of Taiwan, September 26, 2013.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Taiwan's military is conducting its own military exercises as the Chinese military drills nearby.</li><li>Taiwan's military is conducting a two-day drill, during which the armed forces will fire off more than one hundred missiles, among which are twelve different weapons.</li><li>The Chinese military is also conducting its own military drills this week, with Chinese forces training at both ends of the Taiwan Strait.</li><li><span><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories</a>. </span></li></ul><p>Taiwan's military is firing off more than one hundred missiles in a series of live-fire exercises as the Chinese military drills nearby, Taiwan's Central News Agency <a href="http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201907300009.aspx">reports</a>.</p><p>During the two-day drill that began on Monday, Taiwan's military will launch 117 missiles, among which are 12 different weapon types with ranges far enough to clear the Taiwan Strait, a strategic waterway that is only 81 miles wide at its narrowest section. </p><p>Forty-one missiles were fired off on Monday, CNA reports, citing <span>Ministry of National <keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> Deputy Chief of Staff Li Chao-ming.</span></p><p>That same day, Taiwan's F-16 fighters practiced striking landing ships with AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, exercises crucial to defending their island should Beijing ever decide to invade.</p><p>These drills come as China conducts its own military exercises at both ends of the closely-watched Taiwan Strait.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-holds-military-drills-near-taiwan-after-tough-warnings-2019-7">China kicks off military drills near Taiwan after warning it's willing to fight over the island</a></em></p><p><span>An area off the coast of Guangdong and Fujian provinces was blocked off from Monday to Friday for military activities in the South China Sea while an area off the coast of Zhejiang province was marked off for military exercises in the East China Sea from Saturday to Thursday, two local Chinese maritime safety administration notices announced.</span></p><p><span>Details on the drills were limited, but Chinese military analysts told the South China Morning Post these exercises are intended to demonstrate China's resolve in response to the regular Taiwan Strait transits by the US Navy and a $2.2 billion arms sale to Taiwan.</span></p><p><span><em><strong>Read more:</strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-warship-sails-taiwan-strait-china-willing-to-use-force-2019-7"> US Navy warship sails through Taiwan Strait as China warns it 'makes no promise' not to use force to defend its interests</a></em></span></p><p>In its latest defense white paper, the first in four years, China firmly restated its longstanding positions sharply criticized not only US arms sales to Taiwan to give it the ability to "<span>maintain a credible defensive capability" </span>and frequent Taiwan Strait transits by US warships, but also regular freedom-of-navigation operations and bomber overflights in the South China Sea.</p><p>"<span>China," the report explained, "resolutely opposes the wrong practices and provocative activities of the US side regarding arms sales to Taiwan, ... illegal entry into China's territorial waters and maritime and air spaces near relevant islands and reefs, and wide-range and frequent close-in reconnaissance."</span></p><p><span>On Taiwan specifically, the white paper reiterated that China will not renounce the use of force as a means of achieving reunification with Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy perceived by the communist government in Beijing as a separatist province.</span></p><p><span>"The national army continues to reinforce its key defense capacity and is definitely confident and capable of defending the nation's security," Taiwan's defense ministry said Monday in response to China's latest military exercises.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/airport-customs-border-patrol-how-illegal-items-found-destroyed-jfk-2019-7">Customs and border officials at JFK airport check 1,000 bags an hour for narcotics and illicit food. Here's where the contraband goes.</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Taiwan is firing off more than 100 missiles as the Chinese military holds drills nearby

<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This photo shows the entire arsenal of a B-52 Strartofortress. </span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The standard loadout for this plane includes eight AGM-84 Harpoon missiles, four AGM-142 Raptor missiles, 51 500lb bombs, 30 1,000lb bombs, 20 AGM-86C conventional air-launched cruise missiles (CALCM), 12 joint stand-off weapons (JSOW), 12 joint direct-attack munitions (JDAM) and 16 wind-corrected munitions dispensers (WCMD), according to </span><a href="http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/b52/">Airforce-technology.com</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In 1955, when </span><a href="http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=294">the first Boeing B-52 Stratofortress became operational</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, nobody would have imagined that the plane would likely remain in service for nearly 100 years. Today, that's exactly what the US Air Force has in mind for this iconic aircraft. </span></p><p>Around 750 of the bombers were produced. Although the latest model of the plane came off the assembly line in <a href="http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=294">1962</a>, the <a href="http://airman.dodlive.mil/2012/04/alive-and-kicking/">Air Force intends to keep flying these planes until 2040</a>. The B-52 is a multi-purpose heavy lifter of the skies, that has carried drones, <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/multimedia/imagegallery/B-52_SRB-DTV/index.html">space shuttle components</a>, cruise missiles, and even nuclear bombs.</p><p>In the 60's, the B-52 was known for traveling far and fast on a single fuel load. At one point, it cut <a href="http://www.boeing.com/history/products/b-52-stratofortress.page">the round-the-world speed record in half</a>. In January of 1962, the B-52 flew from Japan to Spain, a flight that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-b-52-has-a-remarkable-history-2013-9?op=1">broke 11 speed and distance records</a>.</p><p>Today, most B-52's have been gutted and upgraded, with pretty much only the original air frame <a href="http://airman.dodlive.mil/2012/04/alive-and-kicking/">remaining unchanged</a>. The monstrous plane can carry a payload of <a href="http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104465/b-52-stratofortress.aspx">up to 70,000</a>, including up to 20 air-launched cruise missiles. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-747-jumbo-jet-hotel-in-sweden-2015-1">This Boeing 747 Has Been Transformed Into An Awesome Hotel</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="M0cHBxcjqZIk8T5rxI_Xa7b_gmQXKZXV" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Here's a B-52 Stratofortress and all of its ammunition in one photo

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>U.S. Navy/Lt. Jan Shultis</span></p><p class="caption">The littoral combat ship USS Independence (LCS 2) operates in the waters off Southern California.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The US Navy's Littoral Combat Ships have been repeatedly criticized for its lack of firepower and numerous mechanical failures.</strong></li><li><strong>Mission modules that could be applied to each individual LCS for specific roles have been delayed.</strong></li><li><strong>The modules will be have operational capability or be in the operational testing phase in the next three years.</strong></li></ul><p><br />The US Navy's Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) have long been <a href="http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/here-why-the-us-navys-littoral-combat-ships-punch-below-23042">criticized</a> and <a href="https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/floor-statements?ID=5DD94059-3E13-400E-ACF9-06632038F9E9">complained about</a>.</p><p>Plans to make the Navy's next frigate a larger version of the LCS are <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2017/07/navy-steers-well-away-from-an-lcs-frigate/">in doubt</a>, and the Government Accountability Office has <a href="https://www.wired.com/2013/01/littoral-combat-ship/">said</a> that LCS are "not expected to be survivable in a hostile combat environment."</p><p>Sebastien Roblin <a href="http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/here-why-the-us-navys-littoral-combat-ships-punch-below-23042">described the LCS' flaws</a> in the National Interest, writing that the ships "don't have the firepower to hit anything more than a few miles away" and they're "unlikely to survive being hit by anything in return."</p><p>"They cost more than twice as much as promised, and require 75 percent more crew to operate than planned for," Roblin writes. "The modular-mission capabilities that were a key selling point had to be abandoned. And they're breaking down constantly."</p><p>The Navy has <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2017/11/navy-defends-lcs-positioning-it-for-frigate-competition/">defended</a> the LCS in the past, and it looks like they may finally catch a break. Navy leaders <a href="https://breakingdefense.com/2018/01/lcs-grows-teeth-at-last/">announced Thursday</a> that long-delayed <a href="http://www.navsea.navy.mil/Portals/103/Documents/Exhibits/SAS-Moton-LCSMM.pdf">mission modules</a> for the vessels will be in operational testing phases in the next three years.</p><p>LCS were meant to operate in the littoral zone of enemy territory. They were designed to excel in three potential combat scenarios - fending off small fast attack craft/suicide boats like the ones <a href="http://www.naval-technology.com/features/featureiran-fast-attack-craft-fleet-behind-hyperbole/">used by Iran</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/02/06/video-emerges-of-suicide-boat-ramming-saudi-frigate/?utm_term=.afd7436b1c35">Houthi rebels</a> in Yemen, anti-submarine warfare, and mine clearing.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kaleb R. Staples</span></p><p class="caption">A harpoon missile launches from the missile deck of the littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) in the Philippine Sea.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Modules will make the LCS more powerful</h2><p>The module for fending off fast attack craft will arm an LCS with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, the same missiles used by the AH-64D Apache Longbow and various drones for strike operations. The USS Detroit <a href="http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/8184/littoral-combat-ship-fires-its-first-vertical-launch-hellfire-missile">successfully tested</a> this concept last March.</p><p>The anti-submarine warfare (ASW) module will equip an LCS with a Variable Depth Sonar (VDS). The VDS has an advantage over previous ASW sonar systems because it can be raised and lowered depending on how deep an enemy submarine is, allowing for greater coverage.</p><p>The mine clearing module will equip an LCS with a myriad of anti-mine countermeasures. These include the the <a href="http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/AirborneLaserMineDetectionSystem/Pages/default.aspx">Airborne Laser Mine Detection System</a>, which locates mines near the surface of the water with a laser, the <a href="https://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/amns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Airborne Mine Neutralization System</a>, which uses helicopters to blow up detected mines, and a <a href="https://www.textronsystems.com/what-we-do/unmanned-systems/CUSV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle</a>, an underwater drone that can find mines or detonate them.</p><p>The LCS will serve as the Navy's main minesweeper, with no other ship outfitted for the task.</p><p>The Navy is also expected to choose a new Over The Horizon (OTH) anti-ship missile by this summer. The missile will be able to be added onto any LCS, giving it the ability to attack enemy vessels miles away.</p><p>If the LCS <a href="https://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/08/29/third-freedom-class-lcs-breaks-down-in-12-months.html">mechanical issues</a> get sorted out and all goes according to plan, the LCS should finally become the capable support vessel it was always meant to be.</p>       <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-bomb-launch-procedure-us-government-president-2017-11">Here's how easy it is for the US president to launch a nuclear weapon</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The US Navy's much criticized Littoral Combat Ships could soon pack a punch

<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="REUTERS/Tim Wimborne" title_caption="The Boeing Chinook is mainly used for moving troops and supplies." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/543f80ad69bedde9692a820a-960/boeing-chinook.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Tim Wimborne</span></p><p class="caption">The Boeing Chinook is mainly used for moving troops and supplies.</p></div><p></p></div>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Brazilian Army has expressed interest in buying a handful of Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters, the company said on Wednesday, saying that it continued to view Brazil as an important partner for <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">defense</keyword> and commercial projects.</span></p>
<p>"We have had some early discussions about the Chinook with the Brazilian Army," Boeing spokesman Scott Day said, when asked about a potential CH-47 sale to Brazil. Day declined to give any details, but said the potential order was "not a large one."</p>
<p>Ties between the United States and Brazil are starting to recover from deep strains caused last year after documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden showed that Washington had spied on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and other world leaders.</p>
<p>After the incident, Rousseff canceled a state visit to the United States and Brazil scrapped plans to buy Boeing F/A-18 fighter jets, but the Brazilian leader has since indicated she is ready to move on.</p>
<p>The State Department has already approved several other possible U.S. weapons sales to Brazil this year, calling the country "an important force for political stability and economic progress in South America."</p>
<p>The potential weapons deals include a $169 million deal for 16 AGM-84L Harpoon missiles, also built by Boeing; 40 upgrade kits for M109A5 self-propelled howitzers built by the U.S. unit of BAE Systems; and three UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp, in a deal valued at about $145 million.</p>
<p>Day said Boeing viewed the Chinook discussions with Brazil as "pretty positive" and said the company believed the workhorse twin-rotor helicopters would provide the Brazilian army a lot of good capacity.</p>
<p>"We still view Brazil as a very important country for Boeing," he said.</p>
<p>Chris Raymond, vice president of business development for Boeing's defense division, declined to comment on the possible Chinook sale to Brazil after an event in Washington on Tuesday evening.</p>
<p>But he underscored the company's continued commitment to the Brazilian market, highlighting a broad partnership agreement that the company signed with Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer, and its decision to open an office in Sao Paolo.</p>

Boeing Could Soon Start Selling These Helicopters To Brazil

Submarines are increasingly lurking in seas around the world, and the US Navy's high-tech Poseidon is there to hunt them

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Oli Scarff/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Protesters dressed as suited eagles on Barclays cycle hire bikes demonstrate outside the Royal Festival Hall which is hosting the Barclays bank AGM on April 27, 2012 in London, England.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Barclays on Thursday got hit with <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/fca-fines-barclays-72-million-for-anti-money-laundering-failings-2015-11">a £72 million ($109 million) fine from Britain's banking watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), for failing to make sure a huge deal back in 2011 wasn't being used to fund criminal activity</a> or terrorism.</p><p>Alongside the fine, <a href="http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/final-notices/barclays-bank-nov-2015.pdf">the FCA released a damning document setting out just what the case involved</a>.</p><p>The case, dating from the Bob Diamond era, involved creating a complex, £1.88 billion ($2.84 billion) fund structure that would pay out regularly to a group of politically connected individuals over many decades. Those involved went to extraordinary lengths to hide their identities.</p><p>We don't know the names of any of the clients involved, as the FCA has not published them. Only a handful of senior Barclays figures ever knew their identities, or that the deal even existed.</p><p>Little detail is given on the deal itself too, but the FCA says it involved "investments in notes backed by underlying warrants and third party bonds. A number of companies were used to make the investments and the proceeds of the investments were held in a Trust of which the Clients were beneficiaries." It's not clear how much the clients stood to earn from the structure.</p><p>Barclays comes off terribly in the FCA's report, with senior management painted as willfully blind at times to the risks involved in a deal that one manager called the possible "deal of the century." At other points, Barclays handling of the deal simply seems inept.</p><p>Barclays <a href="http://www.newsroom.barclays.co.uk/r/3272/barclays_announces_settlement_with_the_fca">said in a statement today</a>: "The FCA made no finding that Barclays facilitated any financial crime in relation to the transaction or the clients on whose behalf it was executed.</p><p>"Barclays has cooperated fully with the FCA throughout and continues to apply significant resources and training to ensure compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements."</p><p>From the outset, the politically connected persons involved in the deal were identified as particularly at risk of "exposure to bribery or corruption." But rather than put extra security measures in place, the bank radically relaxed its due diligence measures, motivated by the huge fee that they felt would be at risk if they pushed too hard.</p><p>The FCA makes no allegations against the clients involved and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on their part. But the report paints a worrying picture of a bank whose security measures could easily be bypassed by would-be criminals or terrorist financiers, provided a big enough fee is at stake.</p><h2>The super-elephant that '<span>could open the door'</span></h2><p>The deal in question began in 2011 when Barclays was approached by the unnamed clients about arranging a complex structure of funds that would guarantee a certain income to those involved over several decades.</p><p>Deals above £20 million ($30.2 million) are referred to as "elephants" within Barclays - making this one a super-elephant. The deal was eventually worth £1.88 billion ($2.84 billion) but at one point was going to be even bigger. When it was eventually executed in 2012, it was the single largest deal Barclays had ever carried out on behalf of individuals, as opposed to companies.</p><p>An unnamed senior manager said it could be "the deal of the century", according to the FCA report, and the watchdog says: "It was also recognised by some within Barclays that the Transaction could open the door to similar significant business opportunities for Barclays."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table center"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Noor Khamis</span></p><p class="caption">Barclays called any deal above £20 million an "elephant".</p></div><p></p></div></div>But the deal came with plenty of strings. The clients didn't want their names to be made public under any circumstances and Barclays agreed to sign "an unprecedented" confidentiality agreement that bound it to pay the clients £37.7 million ($57 million) if their names got out.</p><p>Management agreed that only "a very limited number of people within Barclays and its advisers" should ever know who the clients were and kept all details of the transaction off its computer systems. Everything was on paper, stored in a special safe bought just for the deal.</p><p>A small team including senior managers were tasked with overseeing the transactions and anti-money laundering checks were to be carried out by this group, rather than through the bank's traditional channels.</p><h2>The risks: bribery, corruption, terrorism</h2><p>With any form of financial deal, banks have a legal obligation to make sure they aren't laundering money and to make sure their customers are who they say they are. They must also make sure the cash has been legally obtained and isn't being used to fund any criminal activity, such as terrorism.</p><p>The nature of the "deal of the century" meant that, from the start, the stakes were much higher than normal and Barclays needed to tread extra carefully. The small group charged with overseeing the deal had to make extra sure they were covering themselves.</p><p>Why? The FCA says: "Large transactions are not necessarily problematic but if firms do not undertake adequate EDD [enhanced due diligence] and it is later discovered that funds invested were associated with criminal or terrorist activity, the harm that could be caused to the integrity of the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> financial system and to society could be, commensurately, very significant."</p><p>The fact that the identities of those involved were so obscured also posed challenges. The FCA says there's "nothing inherently wrong" with such discretion, but it makes conducting due diligence on the deal and monitoring the structure after that much more difficult.</p><p>And Barclays itself classified the clients as "Sensitive PEPs" - high-risk politically exposed persons. This internal classification means the person carries a "greater level of risk or exposure to bribery or corruption because, for example, they reside or are located in certain high-risk countries, occupy particular senior ranking roles or whose occupation involves an industry that is especially susceptible to bribery or corruption," according to the FCA.</p><h2>'Obvious red flags'</h2><p>From the start, there were also numerous "obvious red flags" about the deal, according to the FCA.</p><p>Once again, it's important to stress that the clients themselves are not accused on any wrongdoing. But they were cagey about providing information. Barclays "experienced difficulties obtaining adequate documents, details and explanations it required" to find out where the money came from and where it was going.</p><p>Rather than setting off alarm bells, it made Barclays worry that its nagging would drive the client into the arms of a rival. The bank became "reluctant to obtain information due to perceived sensitivities."</p><p>The FCA says:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Barclays went to significant lengths to accommodate the Clients to ensure that it won their business. Barclays' approach was to request information only if it was absolutely necessary and did not want to "irritate" the Clients with multiple requests for due diligence information.</p><p>In other words, it was willing to bend the rules to hang on to the "deal of the century."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZJZIA1S7&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1440&amp;RH=718#/SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZJZIA1S7&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1440&amp;RH=718&amp;POPUPPN=53&amp;POPUPIID=2C0408T8K0BH8">REUTERS/Jason Lee</a></span></p><p class="caption">Barclays 'ignored obvious red flags.'</p></div><p></p></div></div>At one point, the clients agreed with Barclays to make a change to the Trust Deed, which related to who ultimately got a pay-out from the transaction and under what circumstances the beneficiary could be changed.</p><p>The bank asked for a copy of the Trust Deed to make sure the changes had been made, but none was forthcoming. Barclays eventually just "accepted that it was too difficult to obtain a complete copy" - it gave up trying to check who would or could get paid by this mammoth transaction.</p><p>Then there were requests from the clients that just didn't <em>smell</em> right. The initial structure of the deal was that one of the clients - identified as A - would get a payout from the transaction but wouldn't put any money up for the deal. That seemed strange. When Barclays questioned the setup, the clients simply changed the structure so A would put some money in. Barclays dropped its questions.</p><p>There were offshore shell companies "set up solely to transfer funds and then closed" and at one point the clients asked Barclays to pay tens of millions of US dollars to a third party. From the FCA: "When Barclays questioned the rationale for that payment, the request for the payment to be made to the third party was withdrawn."</p><p>Once again, the clients are not accused of any wrongdoing. But these "high risk" activities and "red flags" should have led to enhanced checks and measures from Barclays to ensure everything was above board. In almost all cases it led to a relaxation of the rules.</p><h2>Pressure to 'race it through' led to 'meaningless' checks</h2><p>Part of the problem was it was never clear who exactly was responsible for making sure this deal was legally sound. Bankers interviewed by the FCA pointed the finger at five different managers when asked who was responsible for checking the clients met legal requirements. And the people named on records as having OK'd the clients were unaware they apparently had.</p><p>The FCA says: "There was a lack of centralised coordination within Barclays to ensure that roles and responsibilities were apportioned appropriately and that the right people had the relevant information to make informed and appropriate decisions about these financial crime risks."</p><p>Barclays also didn't carry out a proper risk assessment on the deal, bypassing "standard processes for reviewing such risks because of the confidentiality obligations." In terms of risk assessment, the bank "applied lower standards for giving such approval than it did for its other business relationships."</p><p>Senior managers just wanted to get the deal done, rather than risk losing the fat fee, and one senior manager said they had to "race this through" when it came to due diligence.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table center"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS</span></p><p class="caption">The 'deal of the century' happened on Bob Diamond's watch.</p></div><p></p></div></div>No senior managers are identified in the report, but the deal took place during the Bob Diamond era of Barclays.</p><p>Diamond, who became CEO in January 2011, cut his teeth in the world of US investment banking and tried to steer Barclays more towards that style of banking. His successor, Antony Jenkins, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21339245">told MPs that the banks culture at the time was "aggressive" and "self-serving."</a></p><p>There is no suggestion of any involvement from Diamond in the deal, but it gives an idea of the atmosphere in the bank at that time. (Diamond was forced out in 2012 amid the Libor scandal and a pay controversy that led Lord Mandelson to dub him "the unacceptable face of Banking.")</p><p>The FCA says Barclays failed to adequately satisfy what the "the deal of the century" was for, where the clients' wealth came from, and where the specific funds used in the deal came from - across the board anti-money laundering failings.<span><br /></span></p><p>The clients said their wealth came from "landholdings, real estate and business and commercial activities," an explanation the FCA calls "wholly inadequate and virtually meaningless." To back this up, Barclays printed off pages and articles from the internet.</p><p>One of the measures Barclays satisfied itself would verify where the money was coming from were transfers to the bank that would fund the transaction. The bank and its clients had agreed beforehand that the transfers would come from named bank accounts to verify who was sending the money.</p><p>But "the names were omitted on the transfers." Instead, Barclays relied on letters that "were too general in nature and insufficient."</p><p>Barclays also had a duty to keep check on the deal after it had done the initial structuring - remember, it pays out over decades.</p><p>But given the inadequate checks, the secrecy around the deal, and poor record keeping, "Barclays was never in a position to monitor such risks appropriately on an ongoing basis." Barclays had no adequate way of checking if the clients had been added to sanction or court order lists, for example.</p><p>If it had been looking, Barclays would have spotted even more red flags. The FCA says: "A number of significantly large payments made in connection with the Transaction passed through Barclays monitoring system without triggering any alerts."</p><h2>The biggest financial crime failings fine in history</h2><p>It's not hard to see, then, why the FCA has hit Barclays with the largest ever fine for financial crime failings.</p><p>While the FCA is not alleging any financial crimes, Barclays failed to properly safeguard them on pretty much every level and the failings reached right up to senior management.</p><p>The fine takes into account the £53.7 million ($81.1 million) the bank earned from the deal, but the FCA also hiked the fine because of the volume of guidance published specifically highlighting the danger of financial crime associated with politically exposed people, and because of Barclays' dreadful track record. Barclays has been fined a collective £417.8 million ($631.7 million) since 2009 for various failings.</p><p><a href="http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/final-notices/barclays-bank-nov-2015.pdf">You can read the full FCA report here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-investment-james-altucher-buy-rent-2015-11">JAMES ALTUCHER: This is why owning a home is financial suicide</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="0yNjBzeDo1bPwt1rmBJ8yS7MxZE2di07" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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The US Navy's top sub-hunting plane conducted a first-of-its-kind missile launch in Europe's high north

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THE SUPER-ELEPHANT: Inside Barclays' disastrous 'deal of the century' which cost it £72 million