£6.2bn aircraft carriers at risk from cheap Russian and Chinese missiles
BRITAIN’S new £6.2billion aircraft carriers are vulnerable to cheap longrange Russian and Chinese missiles in a way that was once ‘unthinkable’, a damning report has revealed.
A withering study by a major think-tank found multibillion pound defence projects were at risk because of technological advances by other nations.
The report said missiles costing less than half a million pounds could ‘at least disable’ the UK’s £3.1billion carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its under-construction sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales.
It noted: ‘Key Western military assets had become vulnerable to destruction by longrange precision missiles to a degree that had hitherto been unthinkable.’
The report states UK defence capabilities costing £16billion a year are ‘increasingly vulnerable to low-cost, technology-rich weapons from hostile states’.
The report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) listed Iran as an example, saying the country had long held anti-ship missiles from Russia.
It has also claimed to have developed its own Hormuz-2 supersonic, ballistic antiship missile.
The report warns: ‘China and Russia appear to have focused many (but not all) their efforts on being able to put at risk the key Western assets that are large, few in number and expensive.’
The paper identifies the most notable vulnerability to be ‘the increased threat from Chinese and Russian long-range precision missiles, which threaten large land, maritime and air platforms’.
For the adversary ‘it has become much cheaper to destroy major systems and platforms than to develop and build them, making large-scale attacks on a single target more likely’.
Another concern was Britain’s defences in space, where the UK has a significant satellite-building capability and makes extensive military use of space for spying and communication.
Professor Trevor Taylor, professorial fellow at RUSI, said: ‘UK defence policy prioritises the capability to project force to areas of concern and to deter attacks on British assets and allies.
‘The advancing capabilities of potential adversaries in Northern Europe, the Middle East and even East Asia need to be taken into account in reviews of UK defence policy and military tasks, British and NATO approaches to deterrence strategy, and the priorities for UK capability development.’
HMS Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s biggest ever warship, left Rosyth dockyard on the Firth of Forth last month and set sail on her maiden voyage.
Once it is handed over to the navy it will boast 24 of the world’s most advanced fighter jets, the F-35B Lightning II.