In wartime, UK may be forced to put missiles on River class

[Haijun watcher]

Forbes

In an Emergency, The Royal Navy Might Have No Choice But To Stick Missiles On Its Patrol Ships
David AxeForbes Staff
Aerospace & Defense
I write about ships, planes, tanks, drones, missiles and satellites.
As successive rounds of budget cuts bit deeply into the Royal Navy�s front-line strength a few years back, the British fleet got a consolation prize: five new small, lightly-armed offshore patrol vessels that the government claimed would offset reductions in frigates and destroyers.
As currently equipped, the BAE Systems-built Batch 2 River-class OPVs, the last of which was commissioned in January, aren�t capable of fighting and surviving in a major war. �None of those gap-fillers provide the full capabilities or presence that additional high-end surface combatants would bring,� said naval analyst Eric Wertheim, author of Combat Fleets of the World.
But a few key additions could transform the $160-million-apiece OPVs into credible combatants. Albeit very small ones.
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[maxim]

Would that be not normal? That under normal conditions, offshore patrol ships are used to increase numbers and avoid to buy expensive ships? And in wartime, the patrol ships would have to be more heavily armed? In several of the last wars, even former civilian ships were armed...