GTFPDQ
10-26-2009, 09:22 AM
Navy To Sacrifice Fast-Jet Aircraft Carrier
Monday, October 26, 2009
Defence chiefs are considering scrapping plans to have two large aircraft carriers equipped with fast jets, a move that could save billions of pounds, Whitehall officials have said.
The idea would be to have just one carrier holding US-made joint strike fighters, with the second, more basic, ship, being used only as a platform for helicopters and possibly unmanned drones equipped with missiles and cameras.
The two proposed carriers, the Queen Elizabeth, due to go into service in 2016, and the Prince of Wales, to follow in 2018, are already running £1bn over budget. The original estimated cost was £3.9bn.
Consideration is being given to cutting the number of joint strike fighters to be flown from the carriers, from 138 to about 50, saving more than £7bn.
The head of the Royal Navy last month conceded that the decision to build two large aircraft carriers could be overturned. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope said that though contracts had been signed to build the carriers, next year's defence review could cause those plans to change.
Stanhope said that the navy was bracing itself for cuts. "Alongside the other two services we will have to make some difficult decisions," he said, adding that a balance was needed between the number of ships the nation could afford and the range of capabilities they offered.
George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, appeared to cast doubt on the Tories' commitment to build the carriers in September, saying he did not know what the "break clauses" were in the contracts.
Army chiefs in particular doubt the relevance of large aircraft carriers equipped with fast jets when the main enemy for the foreseeable future is likely to consist of insurgent groups.
MPs said this month that the number of aircrew being trained to land on carriers had been reduced. The Commons public accounts committee said a shortage of equipment had affected training, with the RAF having to "hibernate" some skills by cutting air crew trained for specific tasks, such as Harrier fighter pilots practising landing at night on carriers.
Also this month a report criticised the Ministry of Defence's spending on weapons and equipment, saying the MoD's weapons procurement was "unaffordable on any likely projection of future budgets". That report, by the former ministerial adviser Bernard Gray, drew attention to failings in the air defence programme, noting that delays meant the UK could not have carried out a Falklands-style mission over the past 20 years without risking significant casualties and the costs of acquiring adequate equipment at short notice, "or the embarrassment of not fighting at all". The Gray report said: "Our blushes have in part been spared by the fact that we have not generally been called upon in recent years to fight the kind of campaigns that have required the services of some of our most expensive and delayed weapons systems."
The new proposal to downgrade one carrier, modelling it on the existing commando and helicopter-carrying HMS Ocean, could be included in the government's defence review green paper in the spring. The MoD said today that no final decisions had been made.
http://www.apacheclips.com/boards/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=122
Monday, October 26, 2009
Defence chiefs are considering scrapping plans to have two large aircraft carriers equipped with fast jets, a move that could save billions of pounds, Whitehall officials have said.
The idea would be to have just one carrier holding US-made joint strike fighters, with the second, more basic, ship, being used only as a platform for helicopters and possibly unmanned drones equipped with missiles and cameras.
The two proposed carriers, the Queen Elizabeth, due to go into service in 2016, and the Prince of Wales, to follow in 2018, are already running £1bn over budget. The original estimated cost was £3.9bn.
Consideration is being given to cutting the number of joint strike fighters to be flown from the carriers, from 138 to about 50, saving more than £7bn.
The head of the Royal Navy last month conceded that the decision to build two large aircraft carriers could be overturned. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope said that though contracts had been signed to build the carriers, next year's defence review could cause those plans to change.
Stanhope said that the navy was bracing itself for cuts. "Alongside the other two services we will have to make some difficult decisions," he said, adding that a balance was needed between the number of ships the nation could afford and the range of capabilities they offered.
George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, appeared to cast doubt on the Tories' commitment to build the carriers in September, saying he did not know what the "break clauses" were in the contracts.
Army chiefs in particular doubt the relevance of large aircraft carriers equipped with fast jets when the main enemy for the foreseeable future is likely to consist of insurgent groups.
MPs said this month that the number of aircrew being trained to land on carriers had been reduced. The Commons public accounts committee said a shortage of equipment had affected training, with the RAF having to "hibernate" some skills by cutting air crew trained for specific tasks, such as Harrier fighter pilots practising landing at night on carriers.
Also this month a report criticised the Ministry of Defence's spending on weapons and equipment, saying the MoD's weapons procurement was "unaffordable on any likely projection of future budgets". That report, by the former ministerial adviser Bernard Gray, drew attention to failings in the air defence programme, noting that delays meant the UK could not have carried out a Falklands-style mission over the past 20 years without risking significant casualties and the costs of acquiring adequate equipment at short notice, "or the embarrassment of not fighting at all". The Gray report said: "Our blushes have in part been spared by the fact that we have not generally been called upon in recent years to fight the kind of campaigns that have required the services of some of our most expensive and delayed weapons systems."
The new proposal to downgrade one carrier, modelling it on the existing commando and helicopter-carrying HMS Ocean, could be included in the government's defence review green paper in the spring. The MoD said today that no final decisions had been made.
http://www.apacheclips.com/boards/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=122