Where Is Our Navy?
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Discussion

TorqueVR

Original Poster:

1,922 posts

222 months

With what's going on in the Gulf and the Mediterranean i have been wondering exactly where our navy is. It has 63 vessels including 9 subs, 26 patrol vessels, 18 mine warfare boats and 4 "others".

The ones that really count are the 2 aircraft carriers, the 6 destroyers and the 8 frigates. We know about HMS Dragon and I understand the HMS Duncan is ready to go, but what's the state of readiness of all the rest? If the st hits the fan how many could put to see in the next few days?

kuro

1,630 posts

142 months

Jacob Rees Mogg did a piece on this yesterday.

https://youtu.be/XP_dEkbJnCs?si=0YvAM7j1761UQT-d

RedWhiteMonkey

8,553 posts

205 months

TorqueVR said:
With what's going on in the Gulf and the Mediterranean i have been wondering exactly where our navy is. It has 63 vessels including 9 subs, 26 patrol vessels, 18 mine warfare boats and 4 "others".

The ones that really count are the 2 aircraft carriers, the 6 destroyers and the 8 frigates. We know about HMS Dragon and I understand the HMS Duncan is ready to go, but what's the state of readiness of all the rest? If the st hits the fan how many could put to see in the next few days?
Are we at war? Isn't this Trump's folly?

nigelpugh7

6,486 posts

213 months

It really is a truly dreadful situation we find ourselves in right now.

A few years ago I worked on the Dragonfire Directed Energy Weapon system, which was designed to be installed on our type 45 destroyer ships.

It seems amazing to hear that only one of those ships is ready for active service.

Surely it’s not just down to poor political leaders and a lack of funding?

Why aren’t the Senior Commanders of the Navy addressing this ?

BikeBikeBIke

13,350 posts

138 months

TorqueVR said:
With what's going on in the Gulf and the Mediterranean i have been wondering exactly where our navy is. It has 63 vessels including 9 subs, 26 patrol vessels, 18 mine warfare boats and 4 "others".

The ones that really count are the 2 aircraft carriers, the 6 destroyers and the 8 frigates. We know about HMS Dragon and I understand the HMS Duncan is ready to go, but what's the state of readiness of all the rest? If the st hits the fan how many could put to see in the next few days?
See also helicopters, tanks and even lorries. We've got this kit lined up looking shiney but not usable.

Ronstein

1,620 posts

60 months

nigelpugh7 said:
It really is a truly dreadful situation we find ourselves in right now.

A few years ago I worked on the Dragonfire Directed Energy Weapon system, which was designed to be installed on our type 45 destroyer ships.

It seems amazing to hear that only one of those ships is ready for active service.

Surely it s not just down to poor political leaders and a lack of funding?

Why aren t the Senior Commanders of the Navy addressing this ?
One Type 45 and one nuclear sub ready for active service because on taking office, John Healey put a total freeze on MOD spending and then set out where cuts needed to be made. One of the parts of MOD that I deal with has been running at 30% of required resource for the last 15 years, so its not just the current lot that have utterly undermined our defenses. The difference is that Labour have claimed they are increasing Defence spending when in actual fact there is no spend planned until the next parliament, when they'll almost certainly be out of office. Classic 'kick the can down the road' behavior claiming an aspiration as a success.

Peterpetrole

1,461 posts

20 months

BikeBikeBIke said:
See also helicopters, tanks and even lorries. We've got this kit lined up looking shiney but not usable.
I had a small involvement in engineering for a fleet of I think at least 220 militarized road tankers, I think they were for Wattisham Apache ops etc.
I kept tabs on them for a few years, none of them ever turned a wheel and probably all scrapped by now.

andy43

12,510 posts

277 months

Apparently the Navy’s mum has sent a sick note in.

XCP

17,599 posts

251 months

Recruiting ads on the TV last night, ironically.

Garvin

5,503 posts

200 months

The British population voted for the current clusterfk prioritising over-fat, dumb and happy health, welfare and bureaucratic systems and allowing the security of the nation to atrophy because, in general, the UK population is fat, dumb and happy. We voted for this and must now suck up the result . . . tis our own fault. Until we Brits really ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ the UK will continue its inexorable decline.

FiF

47,856 posts

274 months

XCP said:
Recruiting ads on the TV last night, ironically.
And the 3 part documentary covering the commissioning, manning and work up of HMS Queen Elizabeth started a rerun yesterday evening too.

Tbh I turned it off. A sick joke.

gotoPzero

19,868 posts

212 months

We lost it in an unfortunate boating accident.


Zetec-S

6,613 posts

116 months

Garvin said:
The British population voted for the current clusterfk prioritising over-fat, dumb and happy health, welfare and bureaucratic systems and allowing the security of the nation to atrophy because, in general, the UK population is fat, dumb and happy. We voted for this and must now suck up the result . . . tis our own fault. Until we Brits really wake up and smell the coffee the UK will continue its inexorable decline.
It doesn't matter who you vote for - we've under invested for decades. The problem is we want to have a big willy-waving fleet but are not prepared to pay for it.

Cold

16,391 posts

113 months

The best thing about this war of Trump's is how it's made the public sit up and take notice of how unprepared our armed forces are - and have been for some time.
Despite a few well meaning local politicians doing their best to highlight this over the years to no avail, it's taken a small building on Cyprus being damaged to start the shouting and cries of indignation by the taxpayer and point-scoring journalists.

Our service personnel are some of the best in the world, their commitment and abilities are not under any criticism or scrutiny. I've no doubt everyone involved with preparing HMS Dragon for her voyage this weekend will be flat out at their respective tasks while maintaining utmost professionalism.
However, they can't operate without the correct resources and those resources require funding along with a clear leadership and direction. And that's before we mention the need for a recruitment drive with associated budget.

Hopefully this situation will actually be addressed now. It's been ignored for far too long.

FiF

47,856 posts

274 months

Zetec-S said:
It doesn't matter who you vote for - we've under invested for decades. The problem is we want to have a big willy-waving fleet but are not prepared to pay for it.
Considering we are an island nation the hollowing out of the Navy has been an utter disgrace.

We don't need a massive Army unless we're going to engage in significant operations overseas.


Sheepshanks

39,158 posts

142 months

I don't know the original source, but this was posted in another thread a few days ago:


deadslow

8,738 posts

246 months

Garvin said:
The British population voted for the current clusterfk prioritising over-fat, dumb and happy health, welfare and bureaucratic systems and allowing the security of the nation to atrophy because, in general, the UK population is fat, dumb and happy. We voted for this and must now suck up the result . . . tis our own fault. Until we Brits really wake up and smell the coffee the UK will continue its inexorable decline.
you would honestly have thought the Tories might have supported the armed forces better, but no. The whole British Army wouldn't fill Wembley Stadium, apparently. Woo woo for the red, white and blue.

ettore

4,848 posts

275 months

deadslow said:
you would honestly have thought the Tories might have supported the armed forces better, but no. The whole British Army wouldn't fill Wembley Stadium, apparently. Woo woo for the red, white and blue.
It's genuinely a source of humiliation and shame.

This needs sorting - our economy and tax take is perfectly capable of properly funding an appropriate level of defence and security. We need to get deadly serious in our examination of where our ££'s get spent.

We need to get even more serious in examining and deciding what we want government to be.

I feel like a revolution!

AmyRichardson

1,883 posts

65 months

Sheepshanks said:
I don't know the original source, but this was posted in another thread a few days ago:

It would be interesting to see a 10+Yr gantt for fleet repair/refit/maintenance, plus the rationale behind the multi-year grand refits.

GetCarter

30,738 posts

302 months

We could get the Belfast out.

... lick 'a paint.