Monday, June 13, 2011

Royal Navy Chief: Britain too weak to support Libya operations

The British military intervention in Libya is unsustainable, the head of the Navy has said.

Adml Sir Mark Stanhope said the campaign would have been more effective without the Government's defence cuts.

The aircraft carrier and the Harrier jump-jets scrapped under last year's strategic defence review would have made the mission more effective, faster and cheaper, he said.

Sir Mark warned that the Navy would not be able to sustain its operations in Libya for another three months without making cuts elsewhere.

The First Sea Lord's comments will stir the debate over defence cuts that have left Britain without a working aircraft carrier and forced the Royal Navy's Harrier jump jets to be mothballed.

Highlighting military anger over the shrinking Armed Forces, another admiral warned that "comical" defence cuts would leave the Navy without enough ships to be effective.
Read the rest here.

What I wonder, would Britain do if they were suddenly obliged to fight someone other than a 5th rate military power?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"What I wonder, would Britain do if they were suddenly obliged to fight someone other than a 5th rate military power? "

like who??? the Czech republic is ranked higher on the economic index than Britain... Empire ended 63 years ago and the last remnant of that that would of require any blue water navy military to protect was given back to the Chinese in 1999, UK is just another northern European protesant Kingdom like Sweden, Denmark, or Norway.. only with more people and a legacy of empire

John (Ad Orientem) said...

like who???

Argentina comes to mind rather quickly.