Aircraft Carrier Orders Likely To Survive

David Cameron,  the British Prime Minister is likely to go ahead with a £5.2bn order for two new aircraft carriers, in spite of defence chiefs      recommending that one should be scrapped.

The prime minister is expected to spare the second 65,000-tonne carrier, according to senior Whitehall figures, because to cancel the contract would cost more than to build both during the next four years.

Such a decision runs counter to Ministry of Defence proposals put to the National Security Council on Thursday, which endorsed maintaining an operational carrier but concluded that the military requirement was satisfied by a single vessel.

Mr Cameron had pressed Liam Fox, defence secretary, to recheck costs of the programme after expressing bafflement about one carrier being more expensive than two. 

The anomaly is caused by a “terms of business agreement” with BAE Systems that requires substitute work to be provided if the second carrier were to be cancelled.

Officials examined fast-tracking production of Type-26 frigates or lightly armed corvettes as an alternative that satisfied contractual obligations and provided the navy with more warships.

Defence figures said this was unlikely to be satisfactory. The navy does not want the corvettes – warships they deride as “snatch frigates” – and the Type-26 cannot be designed in time to avoid shipyards closing for lack of work. 

It leaves Mr Cameron and George Osborne, chancellor, facing an unpalatable set of options. “If you’re determined to get rid of the second one, it certainly makes the spending review a great deal harder,” said one senior defence figure.

If the second carrier were to be built it would not be equipped with fighter jets and would instead be put on “extended readiness” or used as a platform for amphibious warfare. 

But since the vessel would not come into service before the next defence review in 2015, its future is likely to be open for debate.It is poised to be one of the most difficult decisions in an NSC meeting that will reshape the armed forces for the next decade. 

Senior figures expect the fast-jet fleet to be dramatically scaled back, including big reductions in Tornados, the backbone of the air force.If the NSC were to back keeping an operational carrier, the Harrier would probably be retained and its lifespan extended. 

Some Tornados might also be kept in service to fulfil tasks the Harrier was unable to complete, particularly in Afghanistan. 

The third main question for the NSC will be the shape, forms of armour and size of “multi-role brigades” envisaged by the army. Mr Cameron has ruled out big cuts to army numbers before leaving Afghanistan but Mr Fox is pressing to announce manpower reductions after 2015 of up to 20,000.

The Treasury wants real-terms cuts of 10 per cent but military advice is that would require axing a range of capabilities. “Sensitive decisions” outlined to the NSC include loss of amphibious warfare capability and deep cuts to frigate and destroyer numbers.Senior defence figures expect stark choices will convince the Treasury to impose single-figures cuts.

The Financial Times