Britains Naval Chief says security at home is at risk if Libyan conflict goes on more than 90 days.

In an unprecedented outburst against Naval defence cuts,he spells out the Government has got it wrong.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Here's some of the article for ease of viewing....

Britain's defences are at risk if the war in Libya drags on for another three months, the head of the Royal Navy warned last night. First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope said the Fleet will only be able to fight for 90 days more before it has to make serious cuts in firepower elsewhere. He said warships patrolling ‘home waters’ around the British Isles may have to be diverted to the Mediterranean to shore up Britain’s faltering war effort. In an unprecedented attack, Sir Mark also made it clear that the decision to axe the Harrier jump jet and Britain’s last aircraft carrier has undermined the war effort against Colonel Gaddafi. He said it would have been far cheaper and more effective militarily to fly from HMS Ark Royal, rather than launching air attacks from bases in Italy. Sir Mark said the loss of the combination that won the Falklands War has had a ‘corrosive’ effect on morale. Embarrassingly for ministers, Admiral Stanhope believes the Navy is almost stretched to its limit even though it has only four warships involved in the Libyan conflict. These are the destroyer HMS Liverpool, the mine clearance vessel HMS Bangor, a Trafalgar class submarine and the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean off the coast. HMS Cumberland, which played a key role evacuating scores of Britons from Libya, recently returned to Britain to be decommissioned on June 23 because of cuts to the defence budget. Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

Scary to think they are this unprepared... The US made a comment the other day of how cheap the UN has been in supplying its own resources. We can't support everybody and that is what it is coming down to with our allies. Seriously! Did they really think there would be peace for the rest of eternity....3 months and they are in trouble

*EDIT double post??

What is ironic is that the Politicians are scrapping perfectly good kit,and making massive cuts in UK defence capability,when Russia has quadrupled its spending in Naval and land based weaponary.
People say...well Russia are just rebuilding after a long period of neglect,but lets not forget we are not talking of tanks.
Some of the stuff is pretty awesome -the s300s were no pushover,now they have s400s and are working on the s500s.
Putin has re-commissioned the bears and blackjacks,and in the last 2 or 3 years,have had to be chased away from UK airspace on at least 6 times.
They have new subs being made,and aircraft carriers coming from France.
No wonder the British Navy are worried.

reply to post by martin3030


All the UK has left is its nuclear arsenal and Big Little Bro America!!!

France is probably selling to Russia hoping that they can settle the old score of Waterloo

Navy's are becoming more obsolete every year actually and especially for country's like Briton. They don't have the Empire they used to so they don't need the Navy as much as they once did. Also look at where they are located. Any Navy approaching them is easy reach for fighters or missles so more ships is sort of irrrelevant. They will probably always be allies with the U.S. who can take care of any ship to ship warfare.

Think this artical ties in nicely aswell.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Not able to create a seperate thread myself so maybe another member could do the honours???
Maybe the US arent the friends we thought they where, especially when oil maybe up for grabs!!

Dave.

Yes a good article-that sums up the situation perfectly.