The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) has drawn up secret proposals to slash the number of ships in the Royal Navy, a British newspaper said on Sunday.
According to The Sunday Telegraph, the MoD has produced a plan to decommission five warships from next April, which would reduce the Navy's capability to the level where it could carry out only "one small-scale operation", said the report, citing an email from a whistleblowing official inside the department.
The official gave details of a row between senior officials in the department and Andy Burnham, the Treasury Chief Secretary, over the allocation of money to the MoD over the next three years, said the report.
The deal, sealed under the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and announced in July, gave the MoD an annual increase of 1.5 per cent above inflation for the years 2008-11, added the report.
"The Chief Sec directed that no further money from the CSR would be allocated to Defense and to maintain force levels the Dept must find the savings/cuts." the email said.
"For the RN (Royal Navy), the poor CSR deal and the commitment to two carriers is such that a proposal for the immediate decommissioning of five ships (frigates and destroyers) from April next year has been considered."
"This would reduce the RN's capabilities to just one small scale operation and that is it." said the email.
According to the separate documentation from inside the MoD, the total number of ships in the Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary could fall from the present level of 103 to 76 in 2017 and only 50 in 2027 -- a reduction of more than half.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article