Britian to mothball 1/2 of its fleet

flywallyflyflywallyfly Posts: 1,453
edited January 2007 in A Moving Train
This is scary. Historically the British fleet has been their strength. I'm guessing they decided not to mortgage their kids' future to keep their military afloat.
Almost half of the British Royal Navy's warships are to be mothballed as the Ministry of Defence tries to slash costs, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has admitted that 13 warships are in a state of "reduced readiness" and six further destroyers and frigates are being proposed for cuts, the paper said.

The move comes as ministers reportedly try to cut the defence budget by 250 million pounds (371 million euros, 486 million dollars) 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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070105/wl_afp/britaindefencemilitarypolitics
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • tybirdtybird Posts: 17,388
    Surface ships, outside of aircraft carriers, lack their former importance. Things like Exocet & Silkworm missiles have made surface ships more of a large sea-going target than anything else. Submarines are probably more important than surface ships in this day and age.
    All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a thousand enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.
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