Lord West of Spithead (Lab):...A carrier battle group, if facing a
peer threat, needs a nuclear attack submarine, two type 45
destroyers and two to three Type 26 frigates in company. At
present our great maritime nation with its huge maritime history
has in effect only 11 escorts fully capable of operations. When I
joined the Navy it was 110. Today we have 19 altogether in our
order of battle, which is a national disgrace—something I have said
before. If five of the 19 are needed...Request free trial
(Lab):...A carrier battle group, if facing a peer threat,
needs a nuclear attack submarine, two type 45 destroyers and two to three Type 26
frigates in company. At present our great maritime nation with its
huge maritime history has in effect only 11 escorts fully capable
of operations. When I joined the Navy it was 110. Today we have 19
altogether in our order of battle, which is a national
disgrace—something I have said before. If five of the 19 are needed
for the battle group, 14 are left to provide presence and stability
in the south Atlantic, around the UK, around the Horn of Africa, in
the Gulf, in the Mediterranean and the Far East. To provide one
ship on task you need three, so simple arithmetic shows that we
need 30, not 19—and there is no allowance in that for
attrition...
The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Earl
Howe) (Con):...I agree with much of what the noble Lord,
Lord Levene, said about the principles underpinning our approach to
defence procurement, and the same applies to the remarks of the
noble Lord, . The noble Lord,
Lord Davies, spoke about the propulsion issues affecting the Type
45 class. There is good news on that front about which I will write
to him, and I will write to the noble Lord, Lord West, about Type
31E. The noble Baroness, Lady Crawley, asked about Plymouth
Devonport. The naval service is developing a strategy that will
focus on centres of specialisation. This includes an amphibious
centre of specialisation in the south-west based around
Devonport...
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