Brit navy sinks into further decline
With a smaller fleet thinly stretched around the world the UK navy is unable to mass it forces for effect against an enemy and is also unable to maintain its ships, much less produce modern ships that can dominate a battle. Similar things are happening to the British army. Money that should be spent on defense is going into a sinkhole investment in social programs like National Health Care which provides shoddy care on a rationed basis. All of this comes from the sickness of socialism.The Royal Navy can no longer fight a major war because of years of underfunding and cutbacks, a leaked Whitehall report has revealed.
With an "under-resourced" fleet composed of "ageing and operationally defective ships", the Navy would struggle even to repeat its role in the Iraq war and is now "far more vulnerable to unexpected shocks", the top-level Ministry of Defence document says.
The report was ordered by Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, who had intended to use it to "counter criticism" on the state of the Navy in the media and from opposition parties.
But in a damning conclusion, the report states: "The current material state of the fleet is not good; the Royal Navy would be challenged to mount a medium-scale operation in accordance with current policy against a technologically capable adversary." A medium-scale operation is similar to the naval involvement in the Iraq War.
The document adds that the Navy is too "thinly stretched", its fighting capability is being "eroded" and the fleet's ability to influence events at the strategic level is "under threat".
The document's findings come at a time of mounting pressure on the Prime Minister, who has been heavily criticised over claims that as Chancellor he failed to fund the military adequately.
Last night, Liam Fox, the shadow Tory defence secretary, said: "We have come all the way from Lord Nelson to a part-time defence secretary, with the consequence that the Royal Navy now finds itself in the most degenerated state in which it has ever been. Labour has done what none of this countries' enemies have been able to do: bring the Navy to its knees."
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If this report was supposed to make the Brits feel better about their defense, it failed badly.
Yep You are right about the over-stretch. The RN has been in a major decline since 1990 due to under-funding. Most of the blame for this lies with the Blair/Brown government who have little understanding of the armed forces and the RN in particular. As an island nation dependent on sea-bourn trade their negligence is endangering the UK. This latest report is just the culmination of years of cost-cutting, delays and incompetence in and even the government themselves can't hide the consequences anymore. There are a very few excellent new ships building but the RN needs hulls - quality cant replace quantity! I think underlying it all is the dangerous assuption amongst successive British governments that we can get away with cutting defence spending because the United States will always bale us out in the end. See also: http://www.savetheroyalnavy.org
ReplyDeleteIt is true the Blair government has poured too much money into the NHS with little result but most Brits are proud of the NHS and would be offended by the idea it is a "sickness of socialism".