Navy ships need multiple roles to be future proof, says ex-minister
FUTURE Navy ships should have multiple functions, like mobile phones, so that they can play different roles in disasters and wars, the chairman of the defence select committee has said.
Tobias Ellwood, a former defence minister, said that the next generation of Type 31 frigates, which were announced by Boris Johnson last year as part of his pledge to expand the Royal Navy’s fleet, should be approached in the same way as moving into a “new house with empty rooms”.
Mr Ellwood has written to Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, setting out the three main ways the Type 31s can be adapted to “future proof ” them in order to “match the widening spectrum of maritime duties expected of it”.
Under his proposals the hull would come with basic maritime and security features, but is essentially an “empty shell”, similar to a “mobile phone before you download the various apps”.
Each hull of the Type 31 would be fitted with a series of docking points for a number of shipping containers to plug into, both on and beneath the deck. He told The Sunday Telegraph: “Then you treat it like a new house and decide what to put into all these empty rooms.”
By fitting the ship with a number of containers, items can be moved on and off rather than being permanently fitted with equipment for the appropriate deployment, so that the vessel can be suitable to responding to humanitarian disasters as well as going to war.
“For example containers could be fitted with electronic warfare units, air defence systems, and munitions storage for missiles and ammunition,” Mr Ellwood said.
“However, when you then want to use the ship to respond to a humanitarian disaster you can remove all of these containers and put on new containers that consist of barracks, classrooms, and operating theatres.”
Fundamental to this would be to build frigates with a ramp at the rear, something that is not common practice. This would enable “easy access to load interior when docked in the port”.
Mr Ellwood, who served in the Royal Green Jackets and reached the rank of captain, also said the deck of a ship, which is currently only ever big enough to house one helicopter, should be expanded in order to fit two.
“These three elements would pave the way for versatile, multi-mission vessels,” he said.
It comes after Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the International Aid Secretary, was said to be looking at proposals to buy a new Navy hospital ship.
Mr Ellwood said this risked being left idle when not in use, and said the UK should be “more ambitious”.
“Just as mobile phones are tailored to individual needs using apps, so too should the Type 31 with the end product able to operate in a number of deployments.”