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The Royal Navy (RN) of the 21st
Century is, of course, very much smaller and less important on the world
stage than the Royal Navies of the First or Second World Wars or, indeed
than that of Napoleonic times or earlier from which its traditions spring.
Nevertheless, the RN of today remains a First Division player. Like
football teams, Navies can be placed in Divisions and in the First Division
are those who boast a significant nuclear submarine force and there are just
four of these. These are the US Navy, by far the most powerful, the Russian
Navy, perhaps just beginning to recover from the end of the Cold War,
Britain and France. China has been trying to join the SSBN/SSN club for 20
years or more and does now have nuclear propelled Attack submarines (SSNs)
in service – therefore the Chinese Navy is on the edge of the First
Division.
We place these Navies in Division One because Navies without a
realistic nuclear submarine force simply cannot challenge them at sea –
the Falkands (Malvinas) conflict of 1982 is the most recent example. To
briefly complete the Football Division analogy, Second Division Navies are,
it might be said, those with realistic conventional submarine forces
(Germany, Italy, Scandanavians), Third Division are those with modern
surface ships and the rest are nowhere.
Thus, the Royal Navy remains
at the top table though much diminished from the 63 battleships of 1918 or
the 850,000 personnel of 1945. The RN reflects the times in which we live,
the UK of the first decade of the 21st century.
“The girls”
have been at sea in warships for over 10 years now and the system seems to
be settling down. There have been great changes in recent years and the RN
has shed most of its historical baggage. The ships are well armed, and
comparison between Jane’s Fighting Ships of 1981 and that of 1995
highlights stark differences – before the Falklands, though a strong
Anti-Submarine Navy, not really up for full land/sea/air conflict but post
Falklands with lessons learnt: YES. Furthermore, it is hardly coincidental
that the ambition of the “New Labour” Prime Minister (“Expedition
Warfare” with possible intervention almost anywhere) sees a considerable
building programme under way.
These are not paper promises but ships under
construction or on order now – some 27 of them from SSNs to large tankers
for fleet support and even less glamorous OPVs (Offshore Patrol Vessels).
Nor should we forget the promise of two new Aircraft Carriers of 40,000 tons
displacement plus. Contracts may be placed in early 2004, it is reported.
Elderly cynics may remember, however, the last carrier battle in Whitehall
when the RN lost its CVA 01, a vessel of similar size.
The force of five
fixed wing carriers of the 1960s speedily followed CVA 01 into oblivion, and
many in the Service lost heart. Forty years on and with a stronger economy,
perhaps the RN may see its bigger carriers again (the latest American Nimitz
class carriers displace 102,000 tons full load).
War, it has been said, is
about money, more money and yet more money – this is especially true about
warship construction but today’s British Naval Officers are more flexible
and realistic than some of their predecessors. Unless judged vital,
“Merchant Navy” building standards are accepted for large “Expedition
Warfare” vessels, allowing faster construction, and at a fraction of the
cost of full warships standards. However, the significant cost of two
“bigger” carriers together with appropriate aircraft cannot be minimised.
Will a nation that spends four times as much on Welfare as it does on its
Armed Forces accept the burden? Interestingly, the sheer
professionalism of the UK Armed Services has proved highly valuable to UK
governments post Cold War, where relatively small numbers of professionals
are wanted rather than the conscript millions of East/West confrontation.
The Royal Navy, as its size and importance on the world stage has
diminished, has developed its standards of training and professionalism to
very high levels. It is a most valuable asset both to the UK and to the
West.
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