The Royal Navy, recently the world’s second navy after the U.S. Navy, has seen ruthless cutbacks in recent years to fund the U.K.’s contributions to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The British fleet is down to just 22 surface warships, 10 shy of the late-’90s requirement. Anti-submarine skills are said to be waning. And for years, British amphibious ships and carriers have often sailed without significant numbers of Marines or jets aboard, as those forces are tied up in Afghanistan.
To prove it can still do its many difficult jobs despite operational and fiscal pressures, last month the Royal Navy cobbled together a powerful, multi-national amphibious and anti-submarine group comprising the assault ship Ocean, the landing dock Bulwark (pictured), several auxiliary ships, two British frigates, a French frigate, an American destroyer and two British submarines — plus a full battalion of Marines. Over several months, the task force will sail through the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, conducting amphibious and anti-submarine exercises. “We have to be prepared for the future,” Admiral Mark Stanhope told Warships International Fleet Review.
The move echoes the U.S. Navy’s and Marines’ decision, last fall, to begin deploying Marines aboard Navy amphibious ships after several years during which the Marines were too invested in Iraq to spend months at a time at sea. The British exercise also offers a tantalizing glimpse at the future British fleet. Despite deep cuts to frigates and destroyers, the Royal Navy has retained and even expanded its amphibious and aviation-ship capabilities, leading some to question how the U.K. will protect a large number of capital ships with only a small force of escorts.
The presence of American and French warships in the task force hints at one possible answer: In the future, the U.K. might provide heavy specialty ships to multi-national naval forces, while other nations provide escorts. That would jibe with the U.S. Navy’s concept of the “1,000-ship navy” comprising mixed-and-matched vessels from all over the world.
(Photo: RN)
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‘Anti-submarine skills are said to be waning. ‘
Not sure who spouted that ignorance but the Duke class have just started receiving one of the most sophisticated ASW sensor suite in world.
If there is one thing the RN leads the way in it’s ASW. No other country in the world currently has ships dedicated to this role with such a high standard of equipment and training.
As badly the Royal Navy has been hit it’s training is still second to no-one!
[...] Internationalism and the Death of the Navy 2009 March 25 by Mike Burleson We consider budget cuts as vital to bring sanity back to defense spending. By forcing the services to prioritize, we may yet see the end of weapons little different than their Cold War ancestors, forced to fight a new kind of warfare in a new era where giant aircraft carriers, air superiority fighters, and main battle tanks are less vital. Concerning the Navy however, blogger David Axe at War is Boring notices how the Big Ship advocates might circumvent any impending loss of revenue: The presence of American and French warships in the task force hints at one possible answer: In the future, the U.K. might provide heavy specialty ships to multi-national naval forces, while other nations provide escorts. That would jibe with the U.S. Navy’s concept of the “1,000-ship navy” comprising mixed-and-matched vessels from all over the world. [...]
[...] Royal Navy Proves It Can Still Deploy, with Help. [...]