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Britannia Flees the Seas
January
3, 2007: Continuing budget problems have already forced Britians Royal Navy to
mothball (put into inactive reserve) 13 of its 44 warships. Now it has been decided
to mothball another eight, and to cancel construction of two Type-45
destroyers. That will leave only six new Type-45s, plus two new aircraft
carriers being built. The government is also considering closing one of the
three bases the navy maintains. The budget problems are caused by cost overruns
in procurement problems for new ships (destroyers and nuclear subs) and
aircraft (the new Eurofighter), as well as training costs associated with
troops being sent to Afghanistan and Iraq. The government believes it can get
away with these cuts because, well, the U.S. Navy is more powerful than all the
world's navies combined, and a close ally of Britain. So if there's an
emergency requiring warships?
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