As one of the oldest frigates, she might be a candidate for scrapping early to save the cost of refit. Submarine factory would need to up it’s production rate from it’s current rate 6 3/4 boats to 8 boats for the next 20 years. Since 1989, NATO’s borders have shifted a thousand miles to the East. All escorts need a gun for willy waving. The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said the spending review  would "deliver on the Government's manifesto commitments" and "confirm multi-year capital spending for some key programmes which will help transform the country and spread opportunity across the UK”. Labour has moved so far left in recent times, it is in danger of falling off the wall. Laws are only words on paper. I think You mean Front-line defence, of which I agree is Not 2% of GNP.

No – they can’t outsource. If the SDSR is to be credible, it should be founded on a grand strategy that defines what the UK wants to be in the world, foreign policy should dictate defence policy. The last time that was tried was the Bays (Schelde Enforcer concept) and that went well didn’t it? They discuss the collapse of the Soviet Union, 9/11 and even... Dr Jack Watling, Research Fellow at RUSI, discusses what the new agenda might be for the new Defence Secretary, Penny Mordaunt. The findings will feed into the broader Integrated review of foreign policy, defence, security and international development that the government is currently conducting. Any lower would basically make them undeployable. Find out more about how we use cookies. ... British Army not scrapping all tanks in defence review, Wallace says . This country used to have a Coastal Command…you could always re-form it. Remove the 2nd LPD and sell it to Brazil who need it and more importantly can afford to man it. https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=lords&use-dates=True&answered-from=2019-07-29&answered-to=2019-12-30&member=4306&keywords=refits . It is the only way you will get 5 hulls for the budget. – Take a chainsaw to bloated and top-heavy structure (Navy believed to have 34 admirals and less than 10 working warships). That extends to the naval front as well, just last year we saw fantastic cooperation and interoperability between the RN and USN, which I think will only strengthen with time. Then again they are only ‘predictions’ but you dont seem to have seen the whole picture only the bits that confirm your opinions. Of the 44 built, 6 have been written-off or deregistered and 8 (not converted to HMA2 and xmas-treed to help the HC4 programme) are in deep storage. Tories like clever solutions, effects not platforms. I think the Australians are getting better deal with the Hobarts. Ugh! and defence procurement (by fast tracking F35s, building new frigates etc in the UK!)

The next 20 years have been planned for. You only have to look at how difficult it is to keep a small under equipped battlegroup in the Baltics operational shows how difficult the Army is finding it to mainstain, sustain, adapt and grow. Basically enough to give HMS Queen Elizabeth a decent escort but do absolutely nothing else, including protecting CASD or shipping in the Gulf. The selling young ships argument is often trotted out. Wholehearted support from all three services for CEPP would make it extremely difficult for Cummings and friends to dispose of them. The question is whether anyone can breach the wall the ‘cap-badge mafia’ have put around the idea of cutting anymore infantry units. We’ll send you a link to a feedback form. It isn’t an inter-service zero-sum game, nor should it be treated as such — for all the Treasury might want you to believe otherwise. The Ministry of Defence will lead a cross-government team, engaging closely with industry, Parliament, and other stakeholders over the course of the review. Time and again the UK finds itself at the centre of money laundering and corruption scandals, most recently highlighted by the Russia Report.