Britains Future Navy

Product Description

What kind of Royal Navy does Britain need now? The 21st century promises to be one of huge uncertainties & challenges for the senior service. Does Britain have the right naval strategy to cope with emerging threats (does it have a naval strategy at all & should it?) & if so does the Navy have the right ships & enough of them to implement it? Given the time taken to introduce changes & develop new systems policymakers naval chiefs & designers are confronted with 50-year decisions. But future choices are likely to be clouded by economic uncertainties produced by the current crisis which could have implications for decades. Nick Childs looks at the changing strategic environment (including ever greater maritime trade & the growth of other navies such as China India South Korea revolutions in North Africa & the Middle East). He asks what Britains role in the world could or should be
- is she still interventionist? (Libya says yes). If so should our forces be designed purely to work with US UN or Western European forces? What are the options for a naval strategy? The author then considers what kind of navy would be needed to support such options. What kind of ships are needed & how many? What of aircraft carriers & the nuclear option? What are the technological developments affecting current & future warship design projects? Is the new Type 45 destroyer what is needed & worth the cost? Given the depths to which the RN has shrunk in terms of numbers public profile & strength relative to its peers this probably is a critical period in terms of determining the RNs future.