This week on the channel +3.6M views this week

Folding a Merlin into a frigate on Daily Mail World

Chris Pleasance boards HMS Richmond for a guided look at the helicopter's sensors, cabin and tightly packed hangar.

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Daily Mail World Story of October 30, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

The helicopter hunting Iranian drones for the royal navy | War On Tape

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0:28Folding rotor blades and a folding tail allow the Merlin to fit aboard a Type 23 frigate.
2:18Graphics explain the helicopter's sensors, sonobuoys, dipping sonar and crew roles.
9:18The Crowsnest radar system gives Merlins an airborne early-warning role supporting aircraft carriers.
11:41Pleasance boards HMS Richmond for the deployed Merlin Mk2 tour.
18:17The observer opens the cabin to show seating, search-and-rescue gear and sonar equipment.
20:00A rotary dispenser releases sonobuoys; the tour then reaches the mission console and cockpit.

The rotor blades fold, the tail folds, and a large naval helicopter becomes something a frigate can put away. That practical engineering problem gives Daily Mail World's most watched new upload its starting point, before the episode expands into submarine detection and airborne surveillance.

In "The helicopter hunting Iranian drones for the royal navy | War On Tape," Chris Pleasance combines animated explanations with a tour aboard HMS Richmond. The onboard visit begins nearly twelve minutes in. A Royal Navy observer then walks him through the Merlin Mk2's folding features, defensive equipment and interior, eventually reaching the mission console and cockpit. One particularly tangible detail: the sonobuoy dispenser works like a revolver cylinder, releasing its listening devices into the sea.

The episode has drawn about 51,000 views, the largest total among the channel's five uploads this week. Elsewhere, Nicki Minaj's appearance at Trump's Michigan rally supplied three posts, including an explainer that explicitly says there is no evidence she has been offered the White House press secretary role. Another upload covered Kim Jong Un crossing the New Yalu River Bridge into China.

Channel-wide viewing is running at less than half its usual daily pace, while subscribers were unchanged over the week. Among nearby broadcasters, PBS NewsHour and NowThis Impact are seeing stronger-than-usual daily viewing.

The busiest individual upload remains the earlier Battle Board examination of Pokrovsk, now past 760,000 views. Its account of drone warfare gives the Merlin episode a companion subject: how surveillance changes what military crews can do, whether on land or above the sea.

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