Defence Committee urges higher spending to plug RN capability gaps
RFA Argus in the Caribbean. (Photo: MoD/Crown Copyright)
A UK Parliament Defence Committee report, called “We’re going to need a bigger Navy”, compared the RN surface fleet to ‘porcupines’ with well-defended vessels that lack lethality.
The UK Parliament Defence Committee has highlighted several future capability gaps in the RN’s plans and raised questions about the fleet’s lethality in its latest report, published on 14 December.
In the summary to the “We’re going to need a bigger Navy” report, MPs urged higher defence spending to address ‘numerous issues identified with the Navy’s current and future capabilities’, adding: ‘Funding is urgently needed to plug the delays and gaps the Navy faces in key capabilities in the next decade.’
Gaps include the paused plans to procure an interim replacement for the Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile (ASM) after 2023, which could see the
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