At the weekend the frigate HMS Richmond left Devonport to join HMS Diamond in the task force protecting international shipping from attacks by Houthi militias. The Royal Navy now has ships and forces on operations from the Baltic to the eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea, the Gulf and beyond.
The offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent is standing off Guyana to offer Britain’s support in a tussle with Venezuela over oil-rich territory. Not that such a lightly-armed vessel could do much if it came to a shooting war with Nicolas Maduro’s forces.
Though unseasonably busy, the Navy is facing the worst crisis in resources and manning in living memory. Ships are being laid up or taken out of service early for lack of skilled crew. More are leaving than joining — and the same is happening in all three services now. For the Army and Navy the crisis is becoming acute. In the past few days an advert appeared on LinkedIn to recruit a rear admiral, at a handsome salary, to head up the submarine service. Apparently no suitable candidates could be found from those currently serving. The agency Serco advertised for deckhands for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary — which provides vital support tankers, freighters and assault mother ships. The ad was swiftly removed as inappropriate for a supporting arm to His Majesty’s fighting forces.
Though unseasonably busy, the Navy is facing the worst crisis in resources and manning in living memory
The crisis for the Navy and the forces is summed up simply as personnel and procurement, or man (and woman) power and money. The war in Ukraine, the crisis in Gaza, the attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the threats to underwater communications closer to home, are just a few of the reasons why any government elected this year will need to generate a new, and credible, National Security Strategy as a priority.
The UK now spends something over £50 billion a year in one of the world’s largest defence budgets. It is not being spent well, as the National Audit Office pointed out in its report last November on the MoD’s equipment programme. “The plan is unaffordable,” the report states tersely, with a 27 per cent increase on the projections made only the year before, 2022.
The biggest increase in costs is in the Defence Nuclear Organisation, responsible for the nuclear deterrent, where the projected cost has gone up 67 per cent according to the NAO. “The nuclear programme is now eating through the rest of the defence budget,” a senior officer commented.
The National Security Strategy will have to cover more than just defence, and include public security in the new context of threats of pandemics, climate-driven disaster, social disorder and the stresses in an ageing society. The new government should look at the Blair defence review of 1998 and the Cameron strategic defence review of 2010 — especially for their mistakes. After all, we are still suffering their consequences.
