Incredibly how it's possible that such a powerfull navy declined in the "sorry" state it is in now :cry: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... navy05.xml http://forums.macnn.com/95/political-wa ... oyal-navy/ http://navy-matters.beedall.com/index.html What will happen with the Royal Navy when the war's end (Iraq/Afghanistan)? Will it be brought back to strength or? Sorry to hear this for the RN but this gives possibilities for the Dutch i guess :roll: So maybe it's: The Netherlands rules the waves
the Navy has seen its days, they arnt as important as they were 30-40 years ago... I don't know if the British would want to spend money on their navy. Ragaen spent alot of money on Americas Battle Ships during his Administration and all they did was just limber around....Not being disrespectful to anyone that is interested in the Navy or was in it. I just hope my country doesn't do the same to her armed forces because im looking for a career in the military. Meanwhile the French navy, which will be far superior to the Royal Navy after the cuts, will announce before the April presidential elections that a new carrier will be built.
I guess the thing is that the RN is no longer the force that it was in days gone by any more than the Italians in WW2 were representative of the Romans... Empires come and go, and we, the British need to accept that our Empire and our importance as impressive as it was, has gone. We can take comfort in the fact that ours was the last militarily (Rather than economically) important empire. Probably had too much to drink right now, but there we go, as a Brit writing about the British that is my view...
Our Empire was built because we had a strong navy. Sadly, these days we don't have either the funds or the need for a strong navy, so there you go. btw - the last time the Dutch had a better navy than us was the 18th Century...
It has always been better...just not bigger (But i think in the 18th century the Dutch Navy had already declined too much...shifting power to the Brittish Navy at seas...our golden age was the 17th century)! Fortunatly the wars against the brits have been long gone
If the British empire can hold on to 2066 then they are a 1.000 year empire since the empire was founded when William the Invader conquered it in 1066. (Adolf would be so pissed if the British beated him for a 1.000 year empire) Anyway, a very tragic shame that the RN is losing it's ships. I'm even amazed that they ignore faults in wapon systems for saving money. That has got to go wrong. What kind of operations did the RN did last years? (apart from war). I readed that they are also active in the Caribians against piracy. Wat else?
Plenty of anti-drug-running activities, if the press it to be believed. And they played an active role in Gulf War 1 & 2 - mostly minesweeping
While the age of the battleship may be past, keep in mind that 80% of our planets' surface is still covered in water. The aircraft carrier is not an obsolescent concept, but it takes major dollars, pound, yen, kroner for nations to keep them at sea. Best bang-for-the buck sea-going platform has to be the nuclear submarine which provides both offensive and defensive capabilities. I don't see navies going away in the fore'sea'able future. Tim
Problem is we don't seem to downgrade our expectations in line with our military. One of lifes little oddities is that Britain remains a very milititant country which is still pretty happy to send its soldiers into action. I don't live in England any more; but I get the impression that the current war is unpopular not because of the loss of British lives, but because many people in the UK think Bush is an idiot. Very useful role in the cramped confines of the Persian Gulf, after all any ship can be a minesweeper. Once
Uh, Tim, I have to disagree about the subs. Subs cannot provide air cover, nor can they support ground operations in any but the most limited ways. Carriers are by far the most useful and powerful of today's warships, IMHO.
Well, I don't know exactly how large the RN is now, but, in accordance with all I've read about it, The Royal Navy is the second more powerfull navy of the world. Its decline was becouse the British economy was in decline for a long time, now (Since 10 years ago), The British economy is growing up, and became strong again, then, they are reinforcing the military machinery.
Sorry to dissappoint you but we're not. If anything the British military is going to see cuts in the coming years, not least of which is the ongoing cost of Telic/the occupation in Iraq, some equipment is going to be replaced but overall resources are likely to be less considering makeing up for equipment lost. Even the Red Arrows are under threat. The only way the military is being reinforced realistically is an increasing reliance on TA volunteers and call ups for regular service.
The Red Arrows is permanently under threat. Any time the treasury asks for cuts the Red Arrows is one of the things the MOD offers, knowing its politically unlikely that the government will give it the chop.
post ww2 the brits were pretty much relieved of their distant white mans burdens ...far off wogs and fuzzy wuzzys being left to thei own devices ,the royal navy had become an anachronism ...also the uk knows as does the rest of western europe that they can pretty much count on the cross atlantic cousins to defend their status quo ,why pay for a big navy when you can pick up the phone and dial 1 800 usatlanticfleet...its easy , its free , and ..you dont even have to be nice to them ..anzaks and canadians have got many thousands of miles of coastline , buy a navy ? dont be daft,,,call the seppos ,they will be happy with a plate of leftovers and a dry spot to sleep in the barn...
continue its decline i expect the RN along with the rest of the british military to continue its decline fo rthe near future at least. why- social programs will continue to deflect money away from military programs. a growing unwillingness to commit to military action, a futher involvement with the EU which will reduce the precieved need, and a willingness to allow the USN to fufill the old RN's role as the guardian of free and open oceans. the USN has already replaced the RN in this role in practice but pretenses had to be maintained. now there is a willingness to admit that its the USN that guards the freedom of the seas. the RM may become nothing more that a coastal defense force with limited open water ASW duties in time. i hope not but unless something happens to change the slide into socialism and its attentant anti military bias i do not see it happening. canada is showing the way here. they have already almost withdrawn their navy from the blue waters.
Re: continue its decline Unfortunately, the USN is at its weakest in a long time, thanks to Clinton's idiotic defense policies and Bush's preoccupation with Iraq. I voted both times for Mr. Bush, but his naval policies continue to disappoint me. :-?
