Just out of curiousity I did a Google search for WEBF. Amongst other results was the
Sea Jet thread. The page numbers seemed odd though, investigation proved that whilst the PPRuNe default is twenty posts per page, the Google cache has fifteen per page. I lead such an exciting life!
The number of frigates and destroyers we have has been cut down to below SDR levels. Yet has the number of frigate/destroyer tasks reduced? The war against terror places demands on the fleet, and it would appear that we are now making more of an effort to keep one in the South Atlantic most of the time. The numbers cannot be cut any more without making the current level of tasking impossible AND exposing high value assets to increased risks.
See this
Telegraph story:
Navy too weak
But senior Royal Navy officers last night cast serious doubt over Britain's ability to make a significant naval contribution to the proposed UN force, claiming that drastic cuts in government spending on the navy over the past decade had severely reduced their ability to participate in major foreign operations.
"I am staggered that the Government is trying to make this commitment when it knows what our Armed Forces are going through," a senior Royal Navy officer last night told The Daily Telegraph.
"But it knows that to keep our presence on the Security Council Britain needs to demonstrate what we can do."
Defence experts predicted that the most the Royal Navy could contribute was a single frigate, a Royal Fleet auxiliary support vessel and a Trafalgar class hunter killer submarine.