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of the British Armed Forces
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| Components |
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Surface fleet Fleet Air Arm Submarine Service Royal Naval Reserve Nursing Service (QARNNS) Royal Fleet Auxiliary |
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Royal Marines Reserve Special Boat Service |
| History and future |
| History of the Royal Navy History of the Royal Marines Customs and traditions Future of the Royal Navy |
| Ships |
| Current fleet Current deployments Historic ships |
| Personnel |
| The Admiralty Senior officers Uniforms Officer rank insignia Ratings rank insignia |
| Related civilian agencies of the Ministry of Defence |
| Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service (now privatised) |
At the beginning of the 1990s, the Royal Navy was a force designed for the Cold War - with its three small aircraft carriers and a force of anti-submarine frigates and destroyers, its main purpose was to search for - and in the event of an actual declaration of war, to destroy - Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic. The 1982 Falklands War proved a need for the Royal Navy to maintain an expeditionary capability.
However, since the end of the Cold war in the early 1990s, the Royal Navy has been forced to make an ever increasing number of commitments, while suffering a gradual reduction in the size of its surface fleet. Recent cuts have seen the retirement of the Sea Harrier with the Royal Navy sharing the Royal Air Force's Harrier GR7/GR9, until 2010, when the Harrier GR7/GR9 was retired. Until delivery of the Joint Combat Aircraft (F-35) and the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers Britain will have no carrier strike capability. Cuts have also seen the early paying-off of three Type 23 frigates.
Over the course of the 1990s and the 2000s, the navy has begun a series of projects to improve its fleet, with a view to providing enhanced capabilities, although many of these have been cut or cancelled. This has led to the replacement of smaller and more numerous units with fewer, but larger, units. The main examples of this are the replacement of Type 42 destroyers with half as many Type 45s and the confirmed replacement of the three 20,000 tonne Invincible-class aircraft carriers with two 65,000 tonne Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.
There are currently 8 ships and submarines under construction: four Astute-class submarines (boats 3-6), the final two Type 45 destroyers (ships 5 & 6), and the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, which began construction in July 2009 and May 2011. Preparatory and design work has begun on the Type 26 frigate programme, which will replace the existing frigate fleet from 2020, as well as a (now separate) scheme to replace a large number of the Royal Navy's minor vessels.
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A major source of naval power projection is the aircraft carrier. The one remaining ship of the Invincible class has limited capabilities, due not only to her small size, but also to the retirement in 2010 of the main type of aircraft on board - the Harrier GR7/GR9. In the 1998 Strategic Defence Review the Ministry of Defence announced that it would replace the Invincible class with a pair of much larger vessels of the Queen Elizabeth class, in a project that was originally designated as "CVF" (Carrier Vessel Future).
These two ships, Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, were ordered in 2007 and will each displace approximately 65,000 tonnes and be some 280 metres long, making them the largest vessels ever operated by the Royal Navy. They will operate the F-35 Lightning II Joint Combat Aircraft, which is planned for both the Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Air Force to replace the Harrier.
They will also operate the Merlin ASW helicopter, and a platform for Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control (MASC), among the contenders for which are a modified version of the Merlin, the E-2 Hawkeye or a modified version of the V-22 Osprey.
The Royal Navy began looking at ways of replacing the small and dated Type 42 air defence destroyers in the mid-1980s. After two failed collaborative efforts - the NFR-90 project and Project Horizon (in association with France and Italy), the government decided that a new class of destroyer, the Type 45, would replace them.
Type 45 destroyers displace approximately 7350 tonnes, which is considerably larger than their predecessors, and they are the largest combat ships (except aircraft carriers and amphibious vessels) built since the Tiger class of the mid 1950s. For its primary mission, it is equipped with the Sea Viper integrated anti-aircraft system. As with the Type 42, the Type 45 will also have a limited anti-surface/anti-submarine role, being equipped with a 4.5in gun and a helicopter, which can be either a Lynx, Lynx Wildcat or Merlin.
Although they have not initially been fitted with anti-ship or land attack missiles, their size allows upgrades to be made if required, giving it an enhanced multi-role capability. Type 45s have a crew of 190, around one hundred less than the Type 42. Together with the larger size of the vessel, this allows for much better living quarters.
The first unit of the class, Daring was launched in February 2006, handed over to the MoD in December 2008 and commissioned in July 2009. The second, Dauntless, was commissioned on 3 June 2010, while the third, Diamond, began sea trials on 10 September 2009. The three remaining units, Dragon, Defender and Duncan are, as of 2010[update], in various stages of fitting out.
As of July 2011[update], three Type 42s remain in service; Liverpool, Edinburgh and York. These will be withdrawn as the Type 45s enter service.
In November 2010, the class saw its first firing of the ships' primary weapon, the Sea Viper SAM. HMS Dauntless, the 2nd ship of the class, had the honour of firing Sea Viper in the Outer Hebrides. The launch(es) went ahead without fault and the weapon should be declared operational in the near future.
The majority of the navy's escorts are thirteen Type 23s, eight of the Type 23s are to be refitted and equipped with the highly capable Type 2087 towed-array sonar.
BAE Systems at the request of the MoD, is under a 4 year contract to design the Type 26 Global Combat Ship (Type 26 frigate) formerly known as the Future Surface Combatant programme.
The October 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) outlined a total frigate force of 13 Type 23 frigates and the decommissioning of the 4 remaining Type 22 frigates. The SDSR further plans to replace the 13 Type 23 frigates with the new Type 26 frigate. The first Type 26 will enter service in 2020 and will start replacing older, non-upgraded, Type 23s.
The MCM, Hydrographic and Patrol Capability is stated to complete the future surface fleet. MHPC, previously known as C3, will replace a number of existing patrol, survey and minehunter vessels.
The Navy's surveying service has responsibility for surveying and charting the oceans, the information from which goes into the numerous Admiralty produced charts and publications that are used all over the world. As a consequence, the work that the service does must be as accurate as possible, which requires the best equipment available.
The Royal Navy has a mandate to provide support to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), which comes in the form of the dedicated Antarctic Patrol Ship. However, in 1990, HMS Endurance was over 30 years old and, having been repaired following collision with an iceberg, was found to be unsafe to return to the Antarctic. The vessel that was chosen to replace her was chartered from a Norwegian shipping company and commissioned as HMS Polar Circle. After a successful deployment, it was decided to purchase the ship outright, and she was renamed HMS Endurance in honour of her predecessor. The new Endurance's mission is twofold: to assist the BAS in charting and surveying the waters around the Antarctic (a task for which she is well suited thanks to her strengthened bow), and to provide a semi-permanent naval presence in the South Atlantic in support of the Atlantic Patrol Task (South) deployment. Endurance suffered severe flooding in early 2008 and as of May 2010 is in Portsmouth awaiting repairs. Press speculation suggests she may be scrapped as a result of the 2010 Strategic Defence Review. Initially, Endurance was replaced by Scott; however, Scott was limited in the locations it could proceed to by its lack of icebreaking capability. As a consequence, a Norwegian icebreaker was chartered in 2011 for three years and named as HMS Protector.
The navy's oceangoing survey needs were served by the four ships of the Hecla class, all built in the 1960s and 70s. Two were paid off in the late 1980s, while HMS Hecla left the service in 1997. She was replaced by the brand new survey vessel HMS Scott. Scott is the largest ocean survey vessel in Western Europe and, at over 13,000 tonnes, was at the time the seventh largest vessel in the Royal Navy (only the three carriers and three amphibious vessels displaced more).[Note 1] Despite replacing four ships with only one, Scott is able to spend over 300 days a year at sea, thanks to its crew rotation system, whereby the total complement of 63 is divided into three teams - two man the ship, while the third remains ashore on leave or in training and rotating back on board when the ship returns. In 2009 Scott deployed to the South Atlantic and Antarctic in place of the unservicable Endurance.
In addition to Scott and following the early decommissioning of HMS Roebuck in 2010, the remainder of the survey fleet has been replaced by the two brand new multi-role ships of the Echo class, which commissioned in 2002 and 2003. HMS Echo and HMS Enterprise build on the success of the Scott by utilising similar methods of operation and technology. These ships are joined in service by the smallest commissioned vessel in the RN, the survey launch HMS Gleaner.
In the early 1990s, the Royal Navy's submarine force was already in the process of being upgraded. The Trafalgar-class SSNs, fitted with an ultra quiet pump-jet propulsion system, were still entering service, while the first of the Vanguard-class SSBNs was close to completion. Today, the modernisation of the Royal Navy's submarine force centres on the Astute-class SSNs and the Swiftsure & Trafalgar Update Final Phase (S&TUFP). In 1997, an order was placed for three units of the Astute class, which was designed as the SSN replacement for the Swiftsure class, with an option for a further two. The fourth boat was ordered in 2007, with boats number 5 and 6 being authorised in April 2010. Eight boats were the official target until 2008; now the MOD officially plans to acquire seven Astute-class submarines: it remains to be seen if this target will be maintained and reached despite the high demands on defence spending. The Defence Industrial Strategy states that a 24 month build drumbeat is needed to maintain the long-term viability of the nuclear submarine building business in the UK.[1]
However, under the Strategic Defence Review, the Astute-class boats, which are larger and quieter than the existing SSNs, will replace five unmodernised Swiftsure- and Trafalgar-class submarines. S&TUFP will see the remaining boats of the Trafalgar class upgraded, giving them similar combat capabilities to the Astute class.
In the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the UK Government reaffirmed its intention to procure 7 Astute'- class submarines.[2]
The aircraft carrier's major instrument of power projection is the carrier air group. The larger the air group, the more tasks it can perform. The Invincible class, because of its small size, has only a limited capacity, and is only capable of operating STOVL aircraft, the Harrier GR7/GR9. In 2006 the Sea Harrier was withdrawn from service. This saw the front line Sea Harrier squadron of the Fleet Air Arm converting to the Harrier GR9, as part of the evolution of the Joint Force Harrier concept. The Harrier's eventual replacement in both the RAF and the FAA is the F-35 Lightning II Joint Combat Aircraft. The F-35 will be a significant improvement over the Harrier, in terms of speed, range and weapon load. The UK had plans to order 138 F-35Bs for the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. The financial crisis led to the decision taken in the Strategic Defence and Security Review to immediately withdraw the Harrier GR9 force in late 2010 along with HMS Ark Royal, to reduce the total number of F-35s planned for purchase by the UK, and to purchase the F-35C CATOBAR version rather than the STOVL F-35B. This will tie in with the decision to build HMS Queen Elizabeth in a CATOBAR configuration. However, it will also mean that the Fleet Air Arm will not operate fixed wing aircraft at sea for up to ten years. The anti-surface/anti-submarine mission remains the purview of rotary aircraft; in small ships this is the updated Mk8 version of the Lynx. The Future Lynx program has seen 28 of the new helicopters, baptized the AW159 Wildcat Lynx, ordered for the Royal Navy.[3] However, in the carriers and in later frigates, the larger Merlin helicopter is used - this has replaced the Sea King in the ASW mission. There are 44 Merlin helicopters in service, and an upgrade plan to increase their flexibility of use is planned. The Sea King HC4 remains in the commando assault mission from HMS Ocean. In late 2009 it was announced that the Fleet Air Arm would lose its remaining Sea King helicopters, their place being taken by Merlins transferred from the RAF.
Merlin is also being touted as a replacement for Sea King ASaC7 in the Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control (formerly Airborne Early Warning) mission, carrying the same Cerberus radar suite. However, the limitations of using a helicopter in this role are well documented - endurance is limited, service ceiling is low and vibrations from the rotors may cause distortion. Therefore, two other concepts have been put forward: a MASC version of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and the acquisition of the American E-2 Hawkeye embarked AEW aircraft.
The V-22 was seen an attractive option for the original STOVL configuration of CVF. It combined the VTOL aspects of a helicopter with the endurance of a fixed wing aircraft. The E-2 is already in service with the French and US Navies. It has advantages over the V-22 again in terms of endurance and ceiling; because its cabin is pressurised, it can operate at greater altitude than the Merlin, extending the range of its radar.
The Strategic Defence and Security Review states that the Royal Navy will operate two types of helicopter in the future - the AW101 Merlin and the AW159 Wildcat.[2]