BRITAIN will only have a lone aircraft carrier to deploy rapidly if we are attacked by a hostile power like Russia due to budget cuts and a shortage of sailors.
The Royal Navy currently has two super-carriers – the slightly newer HMS Prince of Wales and the bigger HMS Queen Elizabeth – which can be readied for active service within a few days.
But the Sunday Express can reveal the status of the flagship vessel named after the late Queen is being downgraded to effectively leave it sitting in a dock, from where it will require a full six months’ notice to properly deploy.
A leading naval expert last night said: “I hope Russia or China are gracious enough to give us the half a year we need.”
It comes just seven years after the £3.5billion super carrier entered service and has been forced, senior sources say, by budget concerns, an ongoing struggle to find crew for both carriers and an ageing fleet of warships that needs constant maintenance.
This has left First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key facing a perfect storm of personnel shortages across the Navy and Royal Marines, while overseeing the smallest number of warships since Nelson’s day.
Last month it was revealed the Ministry of Defence was in heated discussions with the Treasury about the possibility of scrapping both carriers as part of a defence review being led by former Nato secretary general Lord Robertson.
We can reveal the decision has now been taken to focus capacity on the newer carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, which is due to sail to the Far East next year. Each carrier costs £96million a year to operate.
Last night the Ministry of Defence insisted the Royal Navy remained “fully committed to operating both carriers.”
While this remains technically true, the definition of operational readiness has drastically changed.
As things stand, both carriers stand at R2-R3 “very high readiness” levels – which means they are supposed to be able to sail on operations with just five to 10 days’ notice.
This was demonstrated in February, when HMS Queen Elizabeth experienced technical issues and was forced to withdraw from Exercise Steadfast Defender. She was replaced by HMS Prince of Wales in just seven days.
Under the new plans the 80,600-tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth will be relegated to R8 “low readiness” – giving it a full 180 days to prepare to go to sea.
She was chosen because she was already scheduled to undergo a period of maintenance next year and is the older of the two, with HMS Prince of Wales commissioned two years later in 2019.
But senior naval sources say the new status will go beyond the end of the maintenance cycle.
One said: “HMS Queen Elizabeth will go into refit early next year for what is termed an extended maintenance period.
“If the Navy had the personnel to crew QE we could regenerate her at short notice, but we simply don’t have the sailors.
“A budget increase is desperately needed to ensure that we can crew both carriers, boost recruiting and stay ahead of our adversaries in Russia and China.”
The news emerged after the defence review was passed to the Government last week.
Informed sources say the proposals have caused consternation for both Defence Secretary John Healey and Admiral Key, who have demanded a “rethink”.
Only last month Mr Healey justified the scrapping of amphibious ships HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion because the last government had held them at low readiness, saying: “We do not have the capability, if (a vessel) is incapable of sailing.
“We do not have the facility to train effectively on it, if all it can do is stay alongside. In practice, Bulwark and Albion had been taken out of action.”
Commissioned by a Labour Government in 2008 the carriers, which cost £3.5billion each to build, are the fleet’s biggest running cost after the submarines which carry Britain’s nuclear deterrent.
While cost is the main driver, other factors include the Royal Navy’s inability to generate sufficient crew for both.
According to official figures, the Royal Navy currently has 28,000 fully-trained personnel – 6,000 of which are Royal Marines. This represents a shortfall of 7,000.
With an embarked air group, the carrier’s force swells to 1,200, and senior sources have revealed naval drafting officers – the department which assigns personnel to ships – are struggling to generate enough personnel for one carrier, let alone two.
A lack of enough escort vessels and F-35s fighter jets for both vessels are also crucial factors.
HMS Prince of Wales is due to sail to the Far East next year but will be supported by a Norwegian supply vessel and frigates from Nato nations.
New Type 26 frigates, designed for advanced anti-submarine warfare, are expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035, while the delayed Type 31 frigates are expected to be in service by the early 2030s.
Maritime expert Commander Tom Sharpe said: “This is Treasury-led defence accounting. The mind boggles at the idea that we are about to do this with one of our prime bits of real estate.
“It is being placed at R8 low readiness. To give you context, once it is at the R9 very low readiness status – 12 months to deploy – you don’t come back out of it. You lose that flexibility, you lose those people.”
Professor Alessio Patalano, of King’s College London, said: “I don’t see what the point is of having a carrier that is only deployable with six months’ notice.
“On the one hand, the Government tells you we need to be ready to fight the Russians tomorrow. And on the other hand, it’s behaving as if we’ve got six months to think it over.
“I’m not sure Russia and China will be gracious enough to give us the time we need.”
Shadow Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois said: “If these reports, that MoD Ministers are seriously considering placing one of our £3 billion plus aircraft carriers in extended readiness, are true, then the Defence Secretary would be highly embarrassed, given how he derided the concept himself in the Commons, only just last month, when deciding to scrap HMS Albion and Bulwark.
“It’s tragic that ministers are even having to consider such undesirable options, all because we have a Chancellor who knows virtually nothing about defence – and cares even less.”
A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to operating both HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.”
