Three services in one? What color would the uniforms be?
February 4th, 2010 | Royal Navy | Posted by Phil Ewing
The Royal Navy aircraft carrier Illustrious trained in 2007 with the U.S. carriers Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman. British dependence on U.S. seapower could increase as the U.K.'s defense woes endure // MC2 Jay Pugh / Navy
In addition to Anglophilia and a frank admiration for the tremendous heritage of Nelson, Jellicoe, et al., Scoop Deck likes to write about the Royal Navy because a case could be made that it represents a possible future for the U.S. Navy. Cut, shrunk, starved, downsized and sometimes humiliated over the past 30 years, today’s lot for the ships that fly the White Ensign is what happens, some argue, when people who stop caring about or even understanding seapower see no problems with letting it atrophy. Advocates worry about populations coming down with “sea blindness.”
Things for the U.S. Navy aren’t nearly as dire yet, and the latest step under consideration in Great Britain is inconceivable for the U.S. military: British commanders are considering merging their three services — the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force — into some kind of new mutant super-service, according to this must-read story in The Telegraph. As an added bonus, the piece quotes a man with a hilarious name: Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, chief of the Defence Staff:
[Said Stirrup]: reorganising the services could be part of a radical reordering of the country’s defences. The air force is thought to be the service most likely to lose out in any restructuring. Sir Jock spoke as ministers published a green paper conceding that Britain cannot afford all of its current defence commitments, and will in future become more reliant on allies like the US and France to conduct military operations.
On that score, there’s another story in the U.K. today about how the Royal Navy will ask France to contribute escorts for its two new aircraft carriers, because the British likely won’t be able to afford them.
Which brings up the other reason why it’s worth paying attention to whatever happens with the U.K. military services — if British ships get into a jam out there somewhere, American sailors could be called in to get them out of it.
Comments
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The Scoop Deck – Falklands War 2 on the horizon? Nah. Well… nah. Says:
February 19th, 2010 at 10:25 am[...] There have even been discussions in London of collapsing all the British armed forces into one mutant super-service. You could make the argument that the U.K. was no more prepared to fight its first Falklands War [...]
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troiscarres Says:
March 11th, 2011 at 2:25 amThe mutual mission between French and British could be the core for an european army.
The strategy scales have change now we must play our seapower continental and maritim duties on a larger scale with less money.