Details of the latest cuts to the Royal Navy were announced today.
The aircraft carrier H.M.S.Illustrious will remain in service only until 2014 when she will be retired,leaving H.M.S.Ocean as the Royal Navy's only "flat top" until the Queen Elizabeth class enters service.
The 4 Type 22 batch 3 frigates Chatham,Campbeltown,Cumberland and Cornwall will be retired.
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary dock ship Largs Bay will be withdrawn,just 4 years after entering service.
The replenishment vessel R.F.A. Fort George will retire just 17 years in to her service life.
The large oiler R.F.A. Bay Leaf will retire after 28 years service.
In addition,the assault ship H.M.S.Albion will be held at extended readiness untill 2016 when H.M.S.Bulwark goes in to refit.
We have looked at the implications of the decision to cut the Royal Navy's carrier capability in an earlier post.
The politics behind this decision was covered in this post.
Here we will look further at the question of which particular ships should be cut given the political decisions which have been taken.
We have looked at the implications of the decision to cut the Royal Navy's carrier capability in an earlier post.
The politics behind this decision was covered in this post.
Here we will look further at the question of which particular ships should be cut given the political decisions which have been taken.
Since David Cameron decided to eliminate the United Kingdom's ability to conduct independent warfighting operations,in line with the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy,a reduction in the number of Royal Navy "flat tops" was inevitable.
It is not a simple matter to decide which vessel to cut.
The two Invincible class ships,H.M.S.Ark Royal and H.M.S.Illustrious are true warships,superior to the assault ship H.M.S.Ocean in terms of sensors,command systems,survivability and speed.
However,Ocean has superior amphibious capabilities and is cheaper to operate.
Retaining the two Invincible class ships would ensure that the same capability can be maintained if one ship is unavailable and would simplify support.
However,Ocean is cheaper to run and has better amphibious capabilities but won't always be available.
But with a mixed fleet of Ocean and Illustrious retained there will be capability gaps when one ship is in refit.
This problem may be mitigated to some extent if H.M.S.Ark Royal is held at extended readiness.
Here we see the problem with bespoke to role "flat tops".
This is why future aircraft carriers should be a single class of mutli-role air attack/air assault ships.
Arguably,the Type 22 frigates should have been retired during the last round of defence cuts instead of the 3 newer Type 23s.
This would have eliminated the inefficiencies of a 2 class frigate fleet.
The Type 23s would also have been cheaper to operate than the Type 22s with their larger crews.
However,the Type 22s are larger and more capable ships.
Boxes on their hulls and superstructures are evidence of intelligence gathering equipment which the Type 23s lack.
They also have Goalkeeper Close In Weapon Systems.
Nevertheless,their retirement will save more than retiring Type 23s and allow the navy to have a single class frigate fleet.
If the frigate fleet had to be cut then these were the vessels to cut.
It was inevitable that one of the Bay class dock ships would be retired as a result of the reduction in the amphibious requirement.
There will in future be 3 ships of the Bay class in service.
All of these vessels are almost new,R.F.A.Largs Bay has been in service for exactly 4 years today (17th of December 2010).
It would be sensible for the ship which is most in need of maintenance to be retired.
Largs Bay is the second oldest of the 4 Bay class ships,having entered service after Royal Fleet Auxiliary Mounts Bay.
However,all options should be considered for using this vessel as a replacement for older vessels such as R.F.A.Argus or Diligence if it can practically and economically be converted for those roles.
If not,Largs Bay should be in demand on the second hand warship market,the Malaysian Navy are currently looking for a replacement for KD Sri Inderapura for example.
Having been in service for just 16 years,R.F.A.Fort George is in the middle of her service life.
She recently went in to refit.
One of the most capable replenishment vessels in service,it is surprising that she was retired instead of the much older R.F.A.Fort Rosalie.
These vessels are from two separate classes despite both being "Fort class" ships.
This decision will force the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to operate 2 single ship classes of replenishment vessel,which is inefficient.
It will also mean that there will be "capability gaps" when either of these ships goes in to refit,unless their retired sister ships are retained at extended readiness.
While this decision is difficult to understand,it may be that Fort Rosalie has some particular capacity which Fort George lacks.
This situation serves to emphasise the importance of the next generation of replenishment vessels being a single class of large,single stop,multi-role replenishment vessels designed for both shuttle and station ship duties.
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary oiler Bayleaf has been in service for 28 years and is due to be replaced.
However,she is considerably younger than the 1970s era Rover class oilers and has far greater capacity.
Though Bayleaf does lack helicopter facilities which the Rovers have.
Bayleaf has recently be refitted,as have the small Rover class.
It appears odd that much smaller and older vessels should be retained in preference to a younger Leaf class ship.
Given the reduction in the size of Britain's amphibious forces,placing H.M.S.Albion in extended readiness is a sensible decision.
This will allow one assault ship to be available at all times which is important as this class has capabilities which are found on no other ships in the fleet.
This will allow one assault ship to be available at all times which is important as this class has capabilities which are found on no other ships in the fleet.
