Aircraft carriers left in choppy water by lack of new support ships

The Royal Navy’s ability to operate its two new aircraft carriers may be severely restricted due to a lack of support vessels to keep them supplied, the Whitehall spending watchdog has warned.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said the Navy has just one supply ship able to keep the Carrier Strike force stocked with food and ammunition while on operations.

The NAO also warned the force’s new Crowsnest airborne radar system was running 18 months late, further diminishing its capabilities during its first two years.

It said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had yet to commit the funding required for enough Lightning II fighter jets to sustain the carriers over their expected 50-year operating life.

Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee which follows the work of the NAO, said the Navy was in danger of being left with a “hollowed-out” capability unless the issues were addressed. The MoD has said it expects to meet its target of declaring an “initial operating capability” for Carrier Strike with a fully-trained Lightning II squadron of up to 12 jets by December 2020, albeit with only a “basic” radar capability.

However, the NAO said it faced a “tight timetable” if it was to achieve its next milestone of developing a “full operating capability” – with two Lighting II squadrons operating from one of the carriers – by 2023.

It said the MoD had long been aware the lack of support ships would restrict the force’s “operational freedom” but had yet to come up with a solution.

A competition to build three new vessels was scrapped due to concerns about value for money.

It was now uncertain whether the first of the ships would be ready in time for 2028 when the one existing ship is due to be taken out of service.

At the same time the MoD had failed to develop an airlift capacity to support the force and was relying on ageing Merlin Mk 4 helicopters – which were supposed to go out of service at the end of 2021 – to ferry people and equipment to the ships.