'Halving of navy ships being planned'
The Ministry of Defence is considering halving the number of fleets in the navy in 20 years, according to reports
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Sunday, 30, Sep 2007 08:53
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is planning to decommission five warships and to halve the total number of ships serving in the fleet by 2027, according to reports.
A report in the Sunday Telegraph claim that the defence department is hoping to cut the number of vessels in the Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary from the present 103 to 76 in the next ten years and by a further 26 ships by 2027.
The move which would halve the navy's fleet in 20 years comes after an apparent row between MoD officials and the treasury.
The paper cites an email from a whistleblower stating that spending cuts had to be made elsewhere in the department to make way for the purchase of aircraft carriers under the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).
The email reads: "The Chief Sec directed that no further money from the CSR would be allocated to Defence and to maintain force levels the Dept must find the savings/cuts.
"For the RN [Royal Navy], the poor CSR deal and the commitment to 2 carriers is such that a proposal for the immediate decommissioning of 5 ships (frigates and destroyers) from April next year has been considered.
"This would reduce the RN's capabilities to just one small scale operation and that is it," the email stated.
The Telegraph reports that no further commissioning of ships would result in a fall in the number of submarines, frigates, minesweepers, patrol ships and landing vessels in the next 20 years.
Speaking to the paper, shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said: "Any reduction in our forces' size at present would be insane, given our unsafe world and the level of our current deployments. No wonder there are suggestions Gordon Brown is considering a complete withdrawal from Iraq. His own cuts to our Armed Forces may leave him with no option."
An MoD spokesman told the Telegraph: "No decisions have been taken to make changes to force structures. As ever, we continually review the defence programme.
"The CSR settlement sees the continuation of the longest period of sustained real-terms growth in planned defence spending since the 1980s," he added.