UKNDA (UK National Defence Association)
To campaign for sufficient, appropriate and fully funded Armed Forces that the United Kingdom needs to defend effectively this Country, its people, their vital interests and security at home and throughout the world.
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UKNDA
FOR THE UKNDA TO CAMPAIGN EFFECTIVELY FOR
SUFFICIENT, APPROPRIATE &
FULLY FUNDED ARMED FORCES
WE NEED TO DO THREE THINGS
To promote our MESSAGE
To acquire MANY MORE MEMBERS
To gather in MORE MONEY
To support our
"SUPPORT OUR ARMED FORCES CAMPAIGN"
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STATE & NEEDS OF THE ROYAL NAVY
The Royal Navy in both its numbers of ships and personnel is smaller than it has ever been in the last Century.
THE SHRINKING ROYAL NAVY 1987 - 2007
The 1998 Strategic Defence Review, conducted before the current Iraq and Afghanistan operations began, stated a requirement for two large aircraft carriers (the order was finally placed in 2008), 32 escorts (including 12 Daring class large Destroyers) and 10 SSNs (Submarines, nuclear powered, hunter killers). Today the carriers are still seven years away, the number of escorts is 25 and declining further, while the number of SSNs is dropping to eight.
Only six Type 45s (Darings) are being built with no follow-on class until 2017. The escort Fleet will inevitably decline to about 15-17 ships and their average age will rise.
In 2006, due to insufficient funds to upgrade the aircraft, the Navy withdrew from service its Sea Harrier FA2 air defence aircraft. These aircraft were designed specifically to provide air cover for the Fleet. There is now, and will be for at least another nine years, an “air gap” over the Fleet, unless the RN has a large US Navy carrier battle-group present to provide overhead protection.
Destroyers and Frigates with much operational life left in them have been sold. The modern Type 23 Frigate HMS GRAFTON and two of her sister ships were sold off for a fraction of their build cost while they all had considerable operational life left in them. Patrol vessels, no longer required in Hong Kong, but highly suitable to patrol the waters in the Persian Gulf and other maritime security duties, have been sold. All this is happening at a time when the maritime security problem is rapidly increasing. Maritime trade is increasing as Far Eastern economies grow. Fossil Fuel transportation is growing exponentially and 80% of it travels by sea. For the West this includes the trade in LPG (liquid petroleum gas), which is increasing at a rate of 8% p.a. All this traffic passes through a handful of choke points, several of them in very unstable areas. Trafficking of immigrants, narcotics and arms is growing. Piracy and terrorism at sea are on the increase as are disputes over seabed resources, including now in the Arctic and probably soon the Antarctic where the UK has traditional interests. In response to this situation many nations are increasing their defence budgets and, especially east of Suez, building up their navies. We cannot be sure that our vital interests are secure in a world that is becoming daily more dangerous.
On the personnel front, numbers in the Navy – about 70,000 in 1982 – are now down to 32,000 – and still shrinking. Opportunities for promotion and thus for improved pay and living standards for Officers and Ratings alike are being reduced with damaging effects on morale. As in other Services the rate of deployment of the declining numbers of people has put a strain on them unsurpassed since WWII. The disparity between the quality of life of Naval personnel, particularly married personnel, and the rest of the UK community is now so great as to adversely affect recruiting.
All of these, and more, so-called “efficiency measures” are simply cuts to save money. There are fewer submarines, minesweepers and patrol vessels than ever before. There are insufficient small ship sea going training opportunities for younger officers and ratings, with the result that operational and command experience is lacking and consequently standards are falling.
To save money, and again for no other reason – other than shortage of trained personnel – ships are being secured alongside in a state of “extended readiness” which, experience has shown, all too often results in such ships never again going to sea.
Ship replacements are not being planned or ordered in sufficient numbers to sustain the Fleet at even its existing low numbers. At worst, by 2020, on present trends the Fleet could be half of its current size. As shown by our long-promised two new large aircraft carriers, ships can take fifteen years, or more, to plan, obtain resources for, build and become operational. In any present day conflict we are operating ships built five, ten, or even 20 years ago. We must look, plan and allocate adequate resources that far ahead.
The security, prosperity and well being of our Country and of future generations will be increasingly threatened by what amounts to neglect of our Navy. We live in a dangerous world situation and we are repeating the mistakes of the 1930s.
Ours is a maritime country yet our Navy is being continually weakened.
Over 90% of all our international trade comes and goes by sea. Our very existence depends upon our being able to defend our shores and our sea lines of communication around our island and throughout the world. We are under threat now and for the foreseeable future and we do not have the forces effectively to defend our shores and other vital interests from the growing terrorist threat or other hostile action.