Post by corsair67 on Jan 5, 2007 16:06:54 GMT 12
Does this mean the Royal Navy won't be getting the F-35 then?
What about the RAF?
Source: AFP
British warships to be mothballed
From correspondents in London
January 05, 2007.
ALMOST half of the British Royal Navy's warships would be mothballed to slash Ministry of Defence costs, the British Daily Telegraph reported today.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's Government had admitted that 13 warships were in a state of "reduced readiness" and six further destroyers and frigates were being proposed for cuts, the paper said.
The move comes as ministers reportedly try to cut the defence budget by £250 million ($621m) and amid major armed forces commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"What this means is that we are now no better than a coastal defence force or a fleet of dug-out canoes.
"The Dutch now have a better navy than us,'' said an unnamed senior officer.
It was likely that the six destroyers and frigates would eventually be sold or scrapped, while there were also fears that two new aircraft carriers promised in 1998 would never be built, the paper said.
Unnamed MoD sources told the paper it was possible the navy would discontinue one of its major commitments around the world to save money.
It also quoted unnamed defence sources saying that two of eight destroyers on the order books would not be bought and one of Britain's three major ports was under threat.
The former head of the Royal Navy, Sir Alan West, told the Sunday Telegraph last week that the Government was putting British interests at risk by reshaping the armed forces to wage long-term campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The MoD was behaving "like these tinpot countries'' which fail to invest in major equipment programs and was running the risk of turning the armed forces into "a gendarmerie''.
This latest embarrassing report of defence underfunding comes the day after the Government was criticised over claims that it was failing to provide decent accommodation for troops.
What about the RAF?
Source: AFP
British warships to be mothballed
From correspondents in London
January 05, 2007.
ALMOST half of the British Royal Navy's warships would be mothballed to slash Ministry of Defence costs, the British Daily Telegraph reported today.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's Government had admitted that 13 warships were in a state of "reduced readiness" and six further destroyers and frigates were being proposed for cuts, the paper said.
The move comes as ministers reportedly try to cut the defence budget by £250 million ($621m) and amid major armed forces commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"What this means is that we are now no better than a coastal defence force or a fleet of dug-out canoes.
"The Dutch now have a better navy than us,'' said an unnamed senior officer.
It was likely that the six destroyers and frigates would eventually be sold or scrapped, while there were also fears that two new aircraft carriers promised in 1998 would never be built, the paper said.
Unnamed MoD sources told the paper it was possible the navy would discontinue one of its major commitments around the world to save money.
It also quoted unnamed defence sources saying that two of eight destroyers on the order books would not be bought and one of Britain's three major ports was under threat.
The former head of the Royal Navy, Sir Alan West, told the Sunday Telegraph last week that the Government was putting British interests at risk by reshaping the armed forces to wage long-term campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The MoD was behaving "like these tinpot countries'' which fail to invest in major equipment programs and was running the risk of turning the armed forces into "a gendarmerie''.
This latest embarrassing report of defence underfunding comes the day after the Government was criticised over claims that it was failing to provide decent accommodation for troops.
