KOFAC supports the introduction of a new fully funded and affordable 'Strategic Defence Review'.
We are lobbying all political parties on what should be included in a Review. It must address threats we face now and those that could emerge in the future. It must involve a committment to investment in the Royal Navy. It must also update the 1998 Strategic Defence Review in the context of the National Security Strategy, the Defence Planning Assumptions announced by the Secretary of State for Defence on 11 February 2009 (Hansard Col.59WS) and his announcement on Defence Procurement of 11 December 2008 (Hansard Col.66WS).
The Secretary of State for Defence on 20 April 2009 said:-
"In allocating funds, we must give priority to current operations. However, we cannot take that too far, because we must continue to insure against the threats that we may face in the years to come. We live in a complicated and unpredictable world. It is that unpredictability which makes it so important that in fighting today's war we do not irreparably damage our ability to prepare for tomorrow's whatever it may be. We have to face up to the situation and provide our troops with the equipment that they need now. Yet, we must try too to look at the spectrum of potential threats, to ensure that we are best placed in an uncertain world."
On 7 July 2009, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Rt Hon Bob Ainsworth MP stated "We must ensure that the armed forces are fit for the challenges of tomorrow". (Hansard Col.40WS).
KOFAC believes that means investing today in our sovereign submarine industrial base for tomorrow because Britain, like the USA faces increased tactical and strategic threats worldwide.
A new attack submarine fleet of 8 Astute class boats and 4 Successor deterrent carrying submarines will help ensure Britain's national security now and in the future. We need this size of Royal Navy submarine fleet to perform a wide range of strategic roles in support of the UK's National Security Strategy including :-
- Sea denial
- Sea control
- Anti-submarine warfare
- Protecting expeditionary forces
- Support of special operations
- Intelligence gathering
We also need this size of Royal Navy submarine fleet because the submarine service is operating at a high tempo; is stretched to meet its current commitments already and has to largely rely on an ageing fleet of Swiftsure and Trafalgar class submarines.
Notwithstanding the re-balancing of the Astute submarine build programme from a 22 to a 26 month drumbeat, announced in 2009, there should be a commitment now to building 8 Astutes and a commitment now to build the Successor submarine fleet. Delaying decisions until the completion of the New Strategic Defence Review will result in substantial extra costs.
KOFAC also believes that the sovereignty of the UK submarine industrial base must be retained as part of a policy to build upon the resources currently available - 'The Royal Navy currently has 85 warships in service' (Hansard Col.123W,1 June 2009,). KOFAC believes there should be no further reduction in this number.
Admiral Sir Jonathan Band in "The Guardian"
A Fleet for the Future
Britain's national security depends on our efforts at sea – on well-equipped, versatile naval forces
Last month's update to the government's national security strategy – Security for the Next Generation – affirms the commitment to agile, deployable armed forces as vital contributors to the nation's security, at home or overseas. The government recognises that the UK's interests are governed by geostrategic truths: we are an island nation with global trading interests, we have many UK overseas territories and nationals living abroad, and we very much depend on our ability to influence events through multilateral engagement. Those truths inform and define the UK's interests. The role of strategy, which has to be sufficiently adaptable to accommodate the uncertainties of a changing world, is to determine where the priorities for protecting and promoting our national interests lie.
Current operations have to be the priority. The armed forces are doing a remarkable job conducting joint operations in Afghanistan, while continuing to meet a range of standing commitments that contribute so much to the defence and security of our country by dealing with threats at arm's length.
Our focus on enduring campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan should not blind us to the longer-term implications of the UK's geostrategic reality. Our ability to deploy globally and use the seas in support of operations is key to the success of the armed forces in war and time of tension; whether it means dropping Royal Marines into Iraq from carriers in the Gulf, as we did in 2003, or using warships to evacuate UK nationals from Lebanon in 2006. The sea can be a barrier or a highway, depending on who controls it, so the Royal Navy can shape future events as well as determine them.
But, even more fundamentally, the global sea lanes are the arteries along which the economy of this island nation flows. We are increasingly and heavily reliant on imported raw materials, goods, food and especially energy. We live in a "just enough, just in time economy" – if the sea lanes are denied to us, the supermarket shelves fall empty and the lights go out.
The strategy for the UK has to be a balanced one, to offer the government the greatest possible range of options.
There is an important maritime dimension to this and it is a dimension to which all of our armed forces, alongside other instruments of national power, can contribute strongly.
First, global interdependence and our reliance on the sea mean that the potential for conflict between other states to directly affect the UK has grown. At the same time, the scramble for resources and valuable raw materials is increasingly being played out at sea: the "cod wars" of the 1970s have given way to disputed maritime boundary claims as states vie to establish their access to the sea and the mineral and food wealth beneath it. In the Pacific and Indian oceans, states are expanding maritime forces and establishing strategically positioned naval bases to promote and protect their growing influence and wealth.
For those prepared to think longer-term, the UK's national interests will continue to rely in large part, as they always have, on a Royal Navy that is sufficiently capable of underwriting the country's security and prosperity.
That means a fleet, not of extravagant size, but big enough to have a meaningful presence, and with a balance of capabilities that give it global reach and the ability to guarantee the delivery ashore and protection of land forces.
A globally capable fleet brings many benefits to the UK.
Key among them are, first, the ability to act strategically with low political overheads, to deliver influence, support or military force without having to commit land forces.
Second is the ability to build alliances and trust as a hedge against an uncertain future through multinational operations at sea with the maritime forces of many other countries. As a nation, you can surge military forces in response to a developing crisis, but you can't surge familiarity, trust and co-operation.
In the final analysis, a capable fleet is as much about deterring aggression and influencing friends as it is about delivering combat power at sea or from the sea.
While we will always need to fight and win if necessary, when it comes to the future we shouldn't overlook the value to this country of the wars we won't have to fight as a result of using the Royal Navy strategically as an instrument of national power
The Role of the Armed Forces in the 21st Century
The Prime Minister in his speech "The Role of the Armed Forces in the 21st Century" on 12 January 2007 on board the Barrow built HMS Albion made the following main points:-
- Britain has to be at the forefront of the fight against terrorism.
- The 1998 Strategic Defence Review called for expeditionary armed forces that are deployable, agile and adaptable.
- Operational commitments are high.
- Today's navy needs to be versatile.
- There is a massive shipbuilding programme ahead costing £14 billion over the next 10-15 years.
- We have made a huge effort to equip the navy to support expeditionary forces, help in disaster relief, in counter-terrorism and protecting UK citizens.
- The new frontiers of our security are global.
