PA Media
Navy needs to build more warships to counter future threats, say MPs
Geraldine Scott, PA Political Correspondent
Mon., December 13, 2021, 4:01 p.m.�4 min read
A successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia will bring no advantage to the Navy, MPs have warned, as a new report urged the UK must build more warships to protect the country against an �increasingly hostile and unpredictable international environment�.
A report released on Tuesday by the Commons Defence Committee revealed how at one point last year, just one of six Type 45 destroyers was not undergoing maintenance.
And it warned that a new �250 million �national flagship�, which is expected to replace the Royal Yacht Britannia, would add an �ongoing pressure on an already constrained naval budget�.
Chairman of the Defence Committee, former minister Tobias Ellwood, warned: �Overall our Navy needs more ships, armed with more lethal weapons and the most up-to-date technology.
�We have the shipyards and the know-how to build them: the Government just needs to place the orders and give UK shipbuilding the commitment and confidence it needs to deliver.�
And the report concluded: �Government�s failure to fund the ha�porth of tar the Royal Navy needs has literally spoiled the ships.�
The report said that budget cuts had meant procurement was slow, and then when ships were built and got to sea, they acted �like porcupines � well-defended herbivores with limited offensive capabilities�.
And it said the UK was increasingly reliant on allies to support its capabilities.
Experts had warned the committee that the Navy could be needed in the future to fight for control of the sea, or to deny adversaries access to UK waters.
(...SNIPPED)