Royal Navy is now 'too small' to protect Britain
CUTS to the Royal Navy have left it too small to meet its commitments, a naval historian warned yesterday.
Britain faces having to ask France and America to plug the gaps in its naval defences
Researcher Alexander Clarke said: "The cuts over the last 20 years have severely undermined the fleet's ability to deploy its forces, even to the levels that the government commits it to."
He said the 19 destroyers and frigates currently in service are not enough to deploy warships to the Falklands and Persian Gulf and maintain escort duties for the Reaction Group.
Mr Clarke said for every ship deployed the Navy needs at least another two because one will be on its way back from its tour and another will be in refit or training.
As a result of the shortages, said Mr Clarke, Britain faces having to ask France or America to plug the gaps by providing Air Defence escorts.
His analysis was produced for Major General Julian Thompson who commanded 3 Commando Brigade in the Falklands brigade.
Mr Clarke, a PhD student at King's College London, said: "We are short in submarines, we are short in air defence until we get the aircraft carriers and their F-35 warplanes, we have no outer air defence."
His warning was backed by retired naval officer Commander John Muxworthy of the UK National Defence Association who said that during the Falklands War in 1982 Britain had access to about 60 frigates and destroyers.
He said: "Now we have got 19. You have to use the rule of three with ships - one fighting, one training and one recovering.
"Just divide 19 by three to see how many we have got available for operations. People will fall about laughing if you claim we have enough.
The Royal Navy has been emaciated. It is no longer a fleet. It is a flotilla.
"The Royal Navy has been emaciated. It is no longer a fleet. It is a flotilla.
"Britain is disarming when many countries around the world are rearming. The consequence is that we will lose lives, lose operational capabilities and we will be a shadow of our former selves.
"Yet as an island nation 90 per cent of everything that comes and goes from here goes by sea. "
An MoD spokesman said the Navy is still powerful and can deploy worldwide.
He said: “Tough decisions had to be taken in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review to tackle to defence budget deficit. However, the Royal Navy remains a modern, powerful and capable force that can deploy a task force worldwide in support of our national interests. By 2020 the Royal Navy will be equipped with Type 45 Destroyers, the new
Type-26 Global Combat Ship, seven new Astute-class submarines and new carrier capability that will operate Joint Strike Fighter fast jets.”