Source: China National Defense News
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| “Queen Elizabeth” aircraft carrier with F-35B carrier aircraft |
According to foreign media reports, recently, the British government issued an assessment report, degrading the overall naval power, saying that the British navy is in the “worst stage in history.” At the same time, frequent negative news about the British Navy caused widespread criticism from the public opinion.
Official bad news overall combat power
On December 14, the Defense Committee of the British Parliament issued an assessment report stating that the British Navy was at the “worst stage in history” and there were major concerns about its overall capabilities and scale structure. The report compares British warships to “porcupines”, calling them a group of “herbivores” with good defenses and limited offensive power.
On the one hand, the overall strength is weak. According to the report, the current number of ships owned by the British Navy is small, the offensive capability is limited, and the future use of F-35B carrier-based aircraft is unclear. There are only 18 surface warships in service in the British Navy, which is the lowest level in history. This includes ships that are under maintenance or overhaul, and the actual number of ships available is even smaller.
The report believes that even if the UK’s new fleet construction plan is completed, five Type 31 general-purpose frigates and eight Type 26 anti-submarine frigates can only fill the vacancies after the retirement of Type 23 frigates, and the total number of surface ships of the British Navy will hardly increase.
On the other hand, combat shortcomings are prominent. According to the report, the slow maintenance speed, the overly partiality of the British shipbuilding industry, the heavy reliance on allied support for combat effectiveness, and the reduction of support ships without any replacement plan are the shortcomings of the British navy. Although the British Ministry of Defence is racking its brains to improve “ship availability”, tight operating and maintenance budgets may cause more ships to “lay down” in ports.
According to the report, in July 2021, as the core of the British Navy’s surface fleet, three of the six Type 45 destroyers were refitted, one was repaired, one encountered technical failure, and only one was able to sail. In addition, the British Navy’s Harpoon anti-ship missiles will be retired in the next three years. If new missiles are not replaced in time, the British Navy’s combat capabilities will further decline.
The media exposes internal issues
At the same time that the British official release of the assessment report, various negative news about the British Navy was exposed by the media, causing its overall image to suffer severe damage.
First, the future fleet plan was approved to “expose the status quo.” Recently, the British Navy’s “Future Autonomous Fleet” conceptual design was exposed by the media. The plan introduces a large number of unmanned systems and intends to change its way of fighting in the next 50 years. The British media believe that in recent years, the overall size and strength of the British Navy have continued to shrink. After the installation of two new aircraft carriers, some surface ships are difficult to maintain in the face of limited resources and plan to retire ahead of schedule. The “Future Autonomous Fleet” introduces the concept of “unmanned”, to a certain extent, exposing the current situation of its insufficient strength.
Second, the fighter salvage operation was criticized as “slow progress.” On November 17, a British F-35B carrier aircraft crashed into the Eastern Mediterranean after taking off from the “Queen Elizabeth” aircraft carrier due to a low-level error. Britain successively coordinated the United States, Italy and other countries to help salvage the wreckage of the fighter plane to avoid “the wreckage of the fighter plane falling into the hands of other countries to pose a threat.” It was not until December 8th that the British Ministry of Defense confirmed that the wreckage of the fallen F-35B carrier plane was recovered. The British media criticized the “slow progress” of the salvage operation.
Development prospects are not optimistic
Whether it is the British official bad news or the British media’s shortcomings, they all reflect the deep-seated problems and embarrassing development status facing the British naval construction. The development prospects of the British Navy are not optimistic and face many constraints.
First, it is difficult to achieve strategic goals. The report believes that the British Navy “cannot achieve all its predetermined goals” in the future. If the British government continues to reduce military expenditures, the British navy will have to “maintain operations” with old ships in the next five years. At that time, the British Navy will not be able to cope with the “hostile world and unpredictable danger.”
Second, global expansion is difficult to advance. The British Navy continues to increase its force deployment in the Asia-Pacific and Arctic directions. It has announced that it will deploy two warships in the Asia-Pacific region and station naval forces in the Arctic Circle to respond to regional security challenges and “global warming issues.” Considering the overall strength, scale and structure of the British Navy, and the possible future budget support, the “expansion-oriented” development path is obviously not its optimal choice. British scholars commented that the British navy is addicted to an arrogant and military-dangerous “imperial fantasy”.
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