Fürs Archiv: Britische Streitkräfte legen veraltetes Gerät still

Die britischen Streitkräfte, die wie etliche westliche Streitkräfte mit finanziellen Problemen zu kämpfen haben, legen veraltetes Gerät still. Damit würden erhebliche Einsparungen erreicht, zudem seien etliche Schiffe oder Hubschrauber längst nicht mehr einsatzfähig, begründete Verteidigungsminister John Healey diesen Schritt.

Die Maßnahmen, die Healey am (heutigen) Mittwoch vor dem Unterhaus in London ankündigte:

Before the election, we knew there were serious problems with defence – one previous [political content removed] Defence Secretary told this House last year that our Armed Forces had been “hollowed out and underfunded” over the last 14 years.

However, as I have told the House since taking office, the problems were even worse than we thought….

It was a dire inheritance – the state of the finances and the state of the Forces.

Often hidden to Parliament.

Billion-pound blackholes in defence plans.

Taxpayers’ funds being wasted.

Military morale down to record lows.

That’s why we’re taking swift action now: to inject investment, get a grip of MOD budgets, and kickstart much-needed reforms to start fixing the foundations for the UK Defence.  (…)

For too long, our soldiers, sailors, aviators have been stuck with old, outdated equipment… because Ministers wouldn’t make the difficult decommissioning decisions.

As technology advances at pace, we must move faster towards the future.

So today, with full backing from our Service Chiefs, I can confirm that six outdated military capabilities will be taken out of service.

These decisions are set to save MOD £150 million over the next two years and up to £500 million over five years – savings that will be retained in full in Defence.

Alongside this Statement, I have laid a WMS to outline the detail of my decommissioning decisions. These include:

HMS Northumberland – a frigate with structural damage that makes her simply uneconomical to repair.

46 Watchkeeper Mk1s – a 14-year-old Army drone which technology has overtaken.

HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark – landing ships both effectively retired by previous Ministers but superficially kept on the books at a cost of £9 million a year.

14 Chinooks – some over 35 years old – accelerated out of service.

Two Wave Class tankers – neither of which have been to sea for years.

And 17 Puma helicopters – some with over 50 years’ flying – will not be extended.

I recognise that these will mean lot to many who’ve sailed and flown in them during their deployments around the world.

They have provided a valuable capability over the years. But their work is done. We must look now to the future.

All current personnel will be redeployed or retrained – no one will be made redundant.

(Die ganze Rede des Ministers zum Nachlesen hier)

(Archivbild September 2022: HMS Northumberland, die Fregatte, die angesichts zu hoher Reparaturkosten außer Dienst gestellt werden soll – CPO Phot Owen Cooban/Royal Navy/UK MOD/Crown copyright 2022/Open Government License)