The Illustrious with its Harriers
Posted on 12/15/2010 10:48:06 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
British Government to Scrap Aircraft Carrier
2010-12-16 06:59:44
Xinhua Web Editor: Luo
The British government announced on Wednesday that it would scrap an aircraft carrier in 2014.
The vessel, HMS Illustrious, will be scrapped as part of cuts in military spending that will total 7.8 percent of the overall budget of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) over the coming four years, Defense Secretary Liam Fox told members of parliament here.
The budget cuts in military spending have already seen another aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal, which is Illustrious' sister ship, retired last week, several years earlier than originally planned.
Wednesday also marked the final operational flights of the British air force's Harrier jump jet, the only plane in service capable of flying off aircraft carriers. The entire Harrier fleet, with about 75 jets, is retiring early as part of the cuts in military spending announced in October.
As there is now no aircraft capable of flying off Illustrious, it will remain in service until 2014 as a helicopter carrier, a role which it will then pass on to HMS Ocean, which has escaped the cuts to carry out this role.
Britain has embarked on a program to build two large aircraft carriers at a cost of 5.2 billion pounds (about 8 billion U.S. dollars). Plans to cancel one or both aircraft carriers to save money were abandoned when it became clear it would cost more money to break the construction contracts, and would also result in thousands of job losses and shipyard closures.
The two carriers are now set for completion in 2020 and 2023, more than four years later than originally planned as a result of budget restraints.
Fox also announced that four frigates and three supply/support vessels will also be scrapped in 2011 to save money, earlier than intended.
The Illustrious with its Harriers
Why should England need a navy? They can call us to save them...Again.
The Royal Navy is being whittled away to nothing. Where Napoleon, the Kaiser, and Hitler failed, the bean-counters have succeeded.
They can make a lot of Mini Coopers out of that.
Let’s buy a couple of them and give them to Japan. That’d scare the tea right out of ‘em!
More likely an unworkable, socialist political system, but yeah.
Britain won the greatest war in history in 1945 and immediately voted to commit economic suicide.
Whither Britannia.
Just think, just a hundred years ago, Britain was one of the most powerful countries in the world with the best navy the world has ever seen and controlled most of the globe through its navy.
Do you know what the British used to do with uppity foreigners?
Sent in the traders and negotiated deals that only benefited the British, then sent the army to enforce trade agreements if the local population resisted, and when the puppet regime was overthrown, the British would install direct control.
And this system worked and made the British Empire the envy of the globe.
In the US, we send our manufacturing overseas, we allow millions to invade our country, and we are the only superpower in the history of the world to negotiate trade deals that benefits our competitors at our expense.
The same fate awaits the US, because the free traitors are absolutely clueless about world history and trade and would sell the US Constitution to the highest bidder if it could make them a profit.
The RN’s loss could be the Australian Navy’s gain. We’re in the market for an amphib and a bunch of qualified sailors. Rumor has it that we’ve already sent a team over to ‘kick the tires’ of a couple of ships.
That is true. I only hope with our foreign policy insanity this does not become our fate as well. Through Israel nations can be blessed as our nation was for two hundred decades by his sons. Those who stand against Israel may well find themselves standing against GOD.
200 hundred years not decades.
No, we committed economic suicide BY fighting the greatest war in history.
You imply the one is related to the other?
As I recall you came in because you were attacked by Japan, and then Germany declared war on you a few days later, not because we “called” on you.
That’s true. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to underscore the pain Briton went through before The US entered the war. By the way. When can we expect back all those ships and guns and stuff we “lent” you before we belatedly got attacked by Japan?
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