Naval disaster

The very fact that there is even speculation that the large amphibious assault warships HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion, already deployed alternately as part of cost-cutting, could be taken out of service altogether has put into sharp focus the impact of the giant carrier project and the eyewatering cost of replacing Trident (HMS Albion has only just put to sea after a £90 million refit).

The Royal Navy is enfeebled by both in an age of terrorism, piracy and refugee flows. The government refers to 2017 as the year of the Royal Navy but the introduction of the supercarriers has exacerbated the navy’s financial and manning problems.

It has shrunk to a dangerous low with the constant delay in the Type 26 frigate programme, the decision to build eight, not 13, the move to build general-purpose Type 31e frigates, which are glorified corvettes, while only six out of 12 Daring Class destroyers were ever built. HMS Ocean, currently doing vital work in the British islands of the Carribean, will be sold in 2018. The withdrawal of all three warships and the loss of 1,000 marines makes the carrier project look like the worst procurement decision in 50 years.

The reality is that the two new super-carriers are white elephants. They are prohibitively expensive to run but out of date defensively due to new anti-ship missiles. The day HMS Queen Elizabeth was launched, the Russians joked that it was simply a large target!

More seriously, experts say the Russian Zircon missile makes the carrier obsolete, as that missile is faster than the Sea Ceptor missile system. A carrier would require a lot of escorts, but they were jettisoned to balance the books. The US will no longer build a large carrier as they are vulnerable to a swarm of small warships with anti-ship ballistic missiles, a mainstay of Chinese strategy.

The depreciation in sterling has made buying foreign military equipment more expensive but the Royal Navy remains committed to the financially crippling F35b stealth fighter which is beset by technical problems and outperformed by a 1970s F16. Even President Trump considered cancelling them.

Surely the navy should consider mothballing HMS Prince of Wales or selling her, while the remaining carrier could carry killer drones which fly further, longer, more accurately and cost far less.

As for replacing Trident, we already have the Astute Class submarines, the largest, quietest and most advanced in the world. They carry Tomahawk cruise missiles, a weapon that can actually be used. That would save the £41b earmarked for replacing Trident .

The size of the Royal Navy is imperative when our seaborne imports are expected to rise by 287 per cent in 20 years.

JOHN V LLOYD Keith Place, Inverkeithing