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Royal Navy could lose 'beach-landing' ships in next round of defence cuts
The Telegraph ^ | 6 OCTOBER 2017

Posted on 10/07/2017 6:28:28 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki

The Royal Navy could be stripped of its ability to attack enemy-held beaches under cost-cutting plans.

The Senior Service could see its two amphibious assault ships, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, taken out of service in a new round of cuts to the Armed Forces, the BBC's Newsnight claimed.

It said such a move, which the Ministry of Defence described as "pure speculation", would save money and free up crew for the two new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

It comes days after Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, used a speech at the Conservative Party Conference to call for an increase in defence funding as his ministry announced a £1billion support package for the Royal Navy fleet.

Newsnight reported that the plan, coupled with the loss of 1,000 Royal Marines, had alarmed senior commando officers.

Marines of the HMS Bulwark greet the Queen during her trip on a traditional Maltese boat around the Mediterranean island in 2015 CREDIT: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP

The loss of Albion, a former flagship of the Royal Navy, and Bulwark would leave the Navy without a dedicated amphibious assault ship.

Beach landings in areas where the enemy controls the harbours have been used in many modern conflicts.

In his speech on Tuesday, Sir Michael said the Armed Forces must "modernise" the way it worked.

He said that as threats "intensify", his department was "now looking right across government to make sure we are doing enough, spending enough, to properly protect our country against all of those threats - cyber, hybrid warfare, rogue states, terrorist attacks."

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: amphibiouswarfare; royalnavy; unitedkingdom

HMS Albion is one of two amphibious assault ships that could be taken out of service CREDIT: ROYAL NAVY/PA

1 posted on 10/07/2017 6:28:28 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Cynically, this might be a good idea since Britain is going over to the Muslim hordes in the near future. Wouldn’t want to gift them with a functioning military.


2 posted on 10/07/2017 6:35:53 AM PDT by Truth29
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Well, good bye Falklands


3 posted on 10/07/2017 6:37:48 AM PDT by bert (K.E.; N.P.; GOPc;WASP .... The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

If you don’t have a legitimate army or a functional navy, why would you need landing ships, anyway.

Oh, yes. Humanitarian aid. Isn’t that the purpose of the western military these days?


4 posted on 10/07/2017 6:38:57 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: bert

If the Royal Navy is in bad shape, the Argentines are in far worse condition. They’ve pretty much had close to zero new acquisitions since ‘82.


5 posted on 10/07/2017 6:44:12 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
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To: sukhoi-30mki

I know, I know, but logic goes to hell in the face of an ambitious Argentine politico/general


6 posted on 10/07/2017 6:47:15 AM PDT by bert (K.E.; N.P.; GOPc;WASP .... The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column)
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To: PAR35

> If you don’t have a legitimate army or a functional navy, why would you need landing ships, anyway. <

Awhile back I came across an article (from late 2016) that said that Serbia now has more tanks than Britain. I doubt if the quality is the same, but still...

So yeah, I guess you’re right. No need for landing ships if you have nothing to land.

For the curious, here’s that article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3976390/Britain-left-fewer-tanks-Serbia-existing-war-machines-replaced-Ajax-armoured-vehicles-stand-Russian-attack.html


7 posted on 10/07/2017 6:56:39 AM PDT by Leaning Right (aWHIL)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

France lets out a sigh of relief.


8 posted on 10/07/2017 7:07:03 AM PDT by o-n-money (We should rename California to Newer Mexico.)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Their fight will be block by block. No need for am-hubs- they won’t have an appetite for force projection away from her shores.


9 posted on 10/07/2017 7:12:12 AM PDT by Salvavida (The Missouri citizen's militia sends its regards.)
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To: bert
Well, good bye Falklands

Argentina has nothing to perform an invasion with. 1982 was a long time ago and that LST is long gone.

10 posted on 10/07/2017 7:22:27 AM PDT by Snickering Hound
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To: sukhoi-30mki

At this point, seeing all of this pomp is about as meaningless as the costumes at a Renaissance Fair.

Like what the hell is all of this show for when you cant even protect your cities from within.


11 posted on 10/07/2017 7:24:34 AM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: sukhoi-30mki

The money to support all those immigrants, with all their multiple wives, has to come from somewhere.


12 posted on 10/07/2017 7:29:57 AM PDT by odawg
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Cutting your defense budget so you can pay for welfare is a losing proposition.

Welfare is not compassion, it is the opposite as it destroys individuals ability to make it on their own.

Welfare is like a parasite sucking the life out of a nation.

There is a day of reckoning coming and when it arrives, the billions spent on welfare will not save Great Britain.


13 posted on 10/07/2017 7:30:02 AM PDT by CIB-173RDABN (US out of the UN, UN out of the US)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Gotta pay for the muzzie welfare state somehow.


14 posted on 10/07/2017 7:34:47 AM PDT by mikefive (RLTW/DOL)
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To: CIB-173RDABN

Welfare and compassion for ILLEGAL immigrants is akin to planting your own: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strangler_fig


15 posted on 10/07/2017 7:42:20 AM PDT by GOYAKLA (" Winning not Whining"!)
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To: sukhoi-30mki

Pantywaists are in charge.


16 posted on 10/07/2017 1:30:56 PM PDT by Seruzawa (TANSTAAFL!)
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