Precision missiles pose ‘threat’ to new carrier

Expensive military assets like Britain’s new aircraft carriers are increasingly vulnerable to new, cheaply-produced precision missiles developed by Russia and China, a military think tank has warned.

A report by the Royal United Services Institute said the advancing capabilities of potential adversaries should be a matter of “genuine concern” for the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

Developing technology to protect its warships and other large assets had not been a priority for the MOD, the report said and it called for a greater emphasis on “protective capabilities” in future.

It said that Russia and China had acquired the surveillance and precision strike capabilities to put at “serious risk” Western surface ships, large military aircraft and arguably any land system, “even the most heavily armoured”.

“Theuk’spotentialadversaries have also focused on developing relatively inexpensive weapons that can disable or destroy expensive assets,” it said. “Missiles costing (much) less than half a million pounds a unit could at least disable a British aircraft carrier that costs more than £3 billion. Indeed, a salvo of ten such missiles would cost less than five million dollars.”