Navy could lose two ships in the next round of defence cuts

THE Royal Navy could be stripped of its ability to attack enemy-held beaches under cost-cutting plans.

The Senior Service could see its two amphibious assault ships, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, taken out of service in a new round of cuts to the Armed Forces, the BBC’S Newsnight claimed last night.

It said such a move, which the Ministry of Defence described as “pure speculation”, would save money and free up crew for the two new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

It comes days after Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, used a speech at the Conservative Party Conference to call for an increase in defence funding as his ministry announced a £1billion support package for the Royal Navy fleet.

Newsnight reported that the plan, coupled with the loss of 1,000 Royal Marines, had alarmed senior commando officers. The loss of Albion, a former flagship of the Royal Navy, and Bulwark would leave the Navy without a dedicated amphibious assault ship.

Beach landings in areas where the enemy controls the harbours have been used in many modern conflicts.

In his speech on Tuesday, Sir Michael said the Armed Forces must “modernise” the way it worked. He said that as threats “intensify”, his department was “now looking right across government to make sure we are doing enough, spending enough, to properly protect our country against all of those threats – cyber, hybrid warfare, rogue states, terrorist attacks.”

An MOD spokesman said: “No decisions have yet been made and at this stage, any discussion of the options is pure speculation.”