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Britain has no major warships deployed on operations beyond home waters in what has been described as an "unprecedented" absence of the vessels on the world stage.

All six of the Royal Navy's

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are docked in Portsmouth, while 12 of 13 Type 23 frigates are either at Portsmouth or Devonport.

HMS St Albans is the only Type 23 on duty as the fleet ready escort, which protects home waters.

A dearth of major naval warships overseas has been attributed to cuts to the defence budget, raising concerns over Britain's ability to project power internationally.

Vice-Admiral John McAnally, national president of the Royal Naval Association, told The Times that the scarcity of frigates and destroyers overseas was unprecedented and indicates the fleet is too small.

"I am distressed and alarmed. I do not see that it is easily remedied," he said.

A spokeswoman said the Royal Navy is "deployed globally on operations and will be protecting our national interests throughout Christmas and New Year".

"There will be 13 ships and submarines deployed away and in home waters, as well as the at sea nuclear deterrent," she added.

The frigates and destroyers are said to have returned to port for a combination of maintenance and crew needs.

The UK's only aircraft carrier, the

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, is not due to enter active service until 2020.

It emerged on Tuesday that the vessel, the largest and most expensive in the Royal Navy's history, has a leak.

Helicopter carrier

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the fleet's flagship, is due to arrive back in Devonport after its final deployment before being decommissioned in 2018.

HMS Protector, a Royal Navy ice patrol ship joined the search for the missing Argentinian submarine, the ARA San Jan Juan, in November.

In early 2018 HMS Sutherland, a Type 23, is due to depart for the Far East and HMS Duncan, a Type 45, will also be deployed.

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• Britain's biggest ever warship, the new 3.1 billion pound ($4.2 billion) aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, has a leak and needs repairs, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Tuesday.
• The 65,000-ton ship, hailed as Britain's most advanced military vessel, was only was officially commissioned by the queen two weeks ago

Hendrik_2000 said:

Well well what happened here ...

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Jura said:

according to The Guardian HMS Queen Elizabeth, UK's newest and biggest aircraft carrier, springs a leak

Tuesday 19 December 2017 07.16 GMT

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Royal Navy Completes MBDA Sea Ceptor Missile Firing Trials

The Royal Navy has successfully conducted the final First of Class firing trials of the new Sea Ceptor air defence system – completing the qualification firings of this cutting-edge new capability for the Royal Navy.
Following on from the first round of trials this summer, the second set of trials from HMS Argyll saw the system tested against more complex scenarios, including rapidly engaging multiple simultaneous threats.

With HMS Argyll having completed development testing of Sea Ceptor, the weapon system is now being rolled out to the Royal Navy’s other Type 23 Frigates. The first of a series of installation test firings has been successfully completed on HMS Westminster. Each Sea Ceptor platform will similarly complete an installation test firing in due course as they prepare to re-join frontline service after their refits.
Sea Ceptor offers a step-change in capability compared with legacy systems like Sea Wolf, which it is replacing in Royal Navy service. While Sea Wolf gave Royal Navy warships the capability to protect themselves, with Sea Ceptor the navy’s frigates will now also be able protect other vessels.

Speaking following the success of the trials, Nick Neale, Sea Ceptor Programme Manager at MBDA said: “The performance and capabilities of Sea Ceptor have been fully demonstrated in these outstanding trials by the Royal Navy. Recognising the complexity of the new system, the consistent level of success achieved is quite remarkable and testament to the quality of MBDA’s verification and validation process”.
Sea Ceptor’s missile is called CAMM (Common Anti-air Modular Missile), and its unique features provide the key to this step-change in capability. These include its powerful rocket motor that provides double the range of Sea Wolf, and its active radar-seeker that allows the missile to engage targets without the need for complex and costly target illuminators.

CAMM also makes use of a soft-launch system that uses a gas generator to eject the missile from its canister, the benefits of which include: further increased range by saving all the rocket motor’s energy to power the intercept, reduced minimum intercept range, reduced stresses on the launch platform, significantly reduced maintenance requirements/costs, more compact installation on ship, and removes the need to manage the hot gas efflux on board.

Despite being brand new to the international market, the benefits that CAMM offers have already been widely acknowledged internationally; with a number of international customers having chosen it as the basis for their future local air defence capabilities.

As part of the Portfolio system of co-operation between the UK Ministry of Defence and MBDA, CAMM is also being brought into service as the weapon element of the Land Ceptor system to replace the British Army’s Rapier ground-based air defence systems. By operating a common missile, the UK armed forces will be able to take advantage of significant cost benefits throughout the lifecycle of the systems, including development, procurement, support costs and sharing a completely common stockpile.

MBDA statement in September:

Traditional air defence systems utilise semi-active radar guidance, meaning they rely on a surface-based fire control radar to illuminate the missile’s target. By using an active radar seeker and datalink on the missile CAMM does not require the dedicated fire control radar on which a semi-active system depends. This not only removes cost and weight from the vessel, it makes integration simpler and means that Sea Ceptor can intercept more targets simultaneously, and across 360 degrees – something a semi-active system cannot.

The missile’s clean aerodynamic design provides it with improved performance in the air, while also making it highly compact for installation onboard ship. Moreover Sea Ceptor uses an innovative soft vertical launch system that significantly reduces the impact of a traditional “hot launch” missile on both the ship and the crew.

Besides the Royal Navy and the British Army, CAMM is also the modern air defence weapon of choice for a further four nations’ armed services.

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Hendrik_2000 said:

Well well what happened here The QE II experience leak and need expensive repair. It look ugly with those bulbous nose

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Britain's new $4 billion warship has a leak

• Britain's biggest ever warship, the new 3.1 billion pound ($4.2 billion) aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, has a leak and needs repairs, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Tuesday.
• The 65,000-ton ship, hailed as Britain's most advanced military vessel, was only was officially commissioned by the queen two weeks ago

Published 3:58 AM ET Tue, 19 Dec 2017 Updated 21 Hours AgoReuters

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Britain's biggest ever warship, the new 3.1 billion pound ($4.2 billion) aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, has a leak and needs repairs, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Tuesday.

The 65,000-ton ship, hailed as Britain's most advanced military vessel and which was only officially commissioned by the queen two weeks ago, has an issue with a shaft seal which was identified during sea trials, the MoD said.

"This is scheduled for repair while she is alongside at Portsmouth," a Royal Navy spokesman said. "It does not prevent her from sailing again and her sea trials program will not be affected."

The Sun newspaper reported that the 280-meter (920-foot) warship was letting in 200 liters of water every hour and the fix would cost millions of pounds.


A defense source said the navy was aware the ship, which took eight years to build, had an issue when it was handed over by manufacturers and the Sun said the builders would have to foot the repair bill.

The Aircraft Carrier Alliance - a consortium including British engineering companies

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and

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, and the U.K. division of France's Thales - built the Queen Elizabeth and its sister aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, as apart of a 6.2 billion pound project.

No one from the Aircraft Carrier Alliance was immediately available for comment.

"Every ship takes on water. That's why you have pumps," Chris Parry, former senior Royal Navy officer told Sky News.

"When you get a brand new car not everything's perfect, you have to send it back to the garage to get a few things tweaked. This is exactly in that bracket."

On Tuesday, parliament's defence committee raised questions about the procurement of the F-35 fighter jets from a consortium led by Lockheed Martin which will eventually operate from the Queen Elizabeth.

The committee said there had been an "unacceptable lack of transparency" about the programme and the MoD had failed to provide details of the full cost of each aircraft which one newspaper had estimated could be as much as 155 million pounds.

"Our new aircraft carrier is the epitome of British design and dexterity, at the core of our efforts to build an Armed Forces fit for the future," British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said at the Queen Elizabeth's commissioning.


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Jura said:

"Alarm" As No Royal Navy Warships Deployed Overseas
20/12/2017

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...

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The Times reported yesterday that the Royal Navy has no major warships deployed outside of home waters for the first time in hundreds of years. This reflects a combination of factors including the unexpected return to the UK of a Type 45 from the Med, several deployments ending and the next planned batch of escorts sailing not due to occur until early in 2018.

There is a careful balancing act required in programming warship deployments, and historically the RN has tried to run its years on a ‘term’ concept, whereby there are three major periods of ‘block leave’ (usually Easter, Summer and Christmas) where operational tempo is significantly reduced, ships will usually be alongside and their crews on leave.

For ships deployed abroad, it is unusual to see them at sea over the Christmas period unless there is a very high priority operation going on. The move to 9 month deployments has seen a mandatory 4 week stand down period built into each programme, where the deployed ship will be alongside in a friendly port, with all the crew enjoying a two week period of leave. What this stand down (known as the MDSP) means is that even if a ship is deployed, there will be 4 weeks when she cannot go to sea.

The RN may be at a lower tempo of operations, but that does not mean it has abandoned all operations. This Christmas about 13 ships will be away from home, many in the Middle East and South Atlantic, deployed on live operations. It is highly unusual that a DD/FF isn’t among this group, but that does not mean the RN has somehow failed.

It is instead a reflection on the challenges facing RN planners, who have to balance the need to keep ships on station, with the need to keep crew available for the medium term. In this case, the RN appears to have decided not to sail ships early, or to programme them to be away at Christmas, instead deploying them in the New Year as required.

In practical terms this has very little impact on the UK ability to deliver force overseas. The Christmas period reflects a pause for many nations, who take a period of leave and as such, all operational patterns are reduced or suspended. It is not the case that while the RN escort fleet is at home, every ally of the UK will be at sea on 25 Dec ploughing through the ocean. Rather their ships too will be tied up and at a much lower state of readiness.

Christmas deployments are something which can be a major pressure point for a lot of people. Some people are ambivalent about the time of year, while others welcome being away. However many sailors naturally want to spend time with partners and family, and like everyone else have made plans in advance. To have a family Christmas ruined due to a short notice deployment to cover a gap to help commentators about the RN feel that the UK is somehow ‘relevant’ because there is a ship at sea, is an easy way to see people resign.

The RN is desperately short of manpower, particularly highly skilled and qualified senior rates in technical trades. This shortage is creating a vicious cycle where people are constantly drafted to be at sea to fill gaps, reducing time at home and increasing the likelihood that people will leave – this in turn means those who are left have to go to sea more often. There are an awful lot of RN personnel who have spent many Christmases away from home, and who want to see their families.

Balancing this need to keep ships ready for sea, but also ensuring that there are people to crew them is incredibly difficult. It perhaps explains why a Type 45 did not sail immediately before Christmas to go to the Gulf – an unexpected 4-6 month deployment is bad enough, but to do it right before Christmas would be the last straw for many.

It is worth remembering too that just because a ship is deployed does not mean that she is in the right place to actually have an effect. The Gulf is a remarkably big place – it can take two weeks to sail from Bahrain to Suez, so even if there was a crisis in the Red Sea, there is no guarantee that any deployed escort could be there faster than one sent from the UK.

Finally, being deployed on operations at Christmas does not mean everyone is conducting military operations. Humphrey recalls being deployed on TELIC where for about 72hrs over Christmas there was a complete operational pause, and many DVDs were watched and beers drunk by all. The force had effectively ceased operations for this period.

As we come to the end of the year, we can take stock on a very busy navy that has deployed across the world this year, achieving the tasks set of it by the Government and delivering a superb range of effects, often under very difficult circumstances. To have its escort fleet alongside in the UK at Christmas for the first time in hundreds of years is a reflection on how hard the RN works, and how unusual this is, particularly compared to other navies who are used to standing down now.

To the naysayers who assume the RN is doomed, perhaps focus on these positive points. Firstly, outside of the USN, the RN will have more ships, submarines, aircraft and people deployed away from home waters than any other navy in the world this Christmas (13) and they will be all over the world including the Gulf, South Atlantic, West Indies and the Med. Secondly, there are fully worked up escorts in the UK right now able to go to sea at very short notice in order to meet any credible task – the Fleet Ready Escort may be alongside, but it is still ready for sea, in the same way as the RAF Quick Reaction Alert force will be stood too as well. Finally, there are several escorts who will sail in the new year to deploy on task as required. The RN has not failed here, and in fact this pause is helpful as a reminder that the problem is not lack of ships, but lack of people. Pushing the fleet too hard doesn’t solve these problems but makes them worse.

2017 has been a long, hard and very busy year. Nothing in the global forward look suggests that 2018 will be easier. It is right and proper that our hard worked and very tired people get the time they need now with their families, because next year will be just as busy, just as operational and just as globally focused as ever for the Royal Navy.

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Jura said:

Yesterday at 1:01 PM
... and now noticed this wall of excuses:

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