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By Sean Rayment
Britain has agreed to create a unified naval force with nine European countries to deter future Russian threats from the “open sea border” to the north, the head of the Royal Navy has announced.
General Sir Gwyn Jenkins said that despite the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, where the Strait of Hormuz remains closed after the US-Israeli war in Iran, “Russia remains the gravest threat to our security”.
In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, Gen Jenkins said the UK was “at an inflection point” and that “there is no time to lose” as he set out plans to bolster defences in north-west Europe and the High North.
Jenkins, the first Royal Marine to be appointed head of the navy, said: “The need to rearm and improve this country’s readiness for war has become an absolute necessity. Just maintaining the ‘capable status quo’ is simply not good enough. We are at an inflection point.”
He said a multinational maritime force, with the UK at its helm, would be able to substitute, swap or mix equipment, parts, ammunition and personnel. It will operate common systems and platforms, shared digital networks, logistics and stockpiles. Allied fleets will be commanded from Northwood, London.
“I aim to create a maritime force that trains, exercises and prepares together. A force designed to fight immediately if required, with real capabilities, real war plans and real integration,” Jenkins told the audience.
The naval grouping will be drawn from the Joint Expeditionary Force, established in 2014 and composed of ten like-minded European nations including Norway and Denmark, and possibly Canada. Jenkins said the partnership “must now deepen and evolve … if we are to generate the collective combat power necessary to provide conventional deterrence along our open sea border with Russia”. He hosted naval chiefs from across northern Europe to discuss the plans last week.
“We know we have no time to lose, which is why by the end of this year I want us all to have signed a formal declaration laying the foundations for what will be a vital and enduring partnership for many years to come,” he said in a speech setting out how the navy would be war-ready by 2029.
Jenkins, nearly a year into the role, has led the navy through a difficult period, as the crisis in the Middle East has exposed the shortfall in ships and the limited availability of its six Type 45 destroyers.
He said the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran had confirmed sea power was vital if the UK was to maintain the free flow of trade, uphold freedom of navigation, deter adversaries and “safeguard Britain’s economy against the kind of global shocks we have been experiencing”.
Jenkins also said the crisis had demonstrated the vulnerability of traditional platforms and the need for a hybrid navy of crewed and uncrewed platforms, as well as autonomous and jet-powered drones. Uncrewed vessels would reduce the risk to sailors, he said.
He added that in a time of war there would not be unlimited resources and that he was “determined to reduce the cost per unit and cost of production to achieve the scale we need”.
“We must end the mentality that what we need is ever more expensive and larger platforms,” he said. His plan to transform the navy would ensure the UK can survive a sustained conflict with a peer adversary and win, he vowed.
“Lead, Fight, Win is not just another slogan. It is our fundamental mission and is why we are overhauling the Royal Navy through this plan,” he said.
Technology is advancing at such a rate that progress is measured in days, not years, he said, adding that “agility, adaptability and innovation have become the decisive factors in conflict”.
Certain systems will need to be ready within three months, he said, while others will need to evolve continuously.
Jenkins is particularly concerned about Russia’s reinvestment in its submarine programmes. Russian incursions into UK waters have risen by almost a third in the past two years, and British submarines spent a substantial amount of time responding to Russian subsurface activity last year. The navy fears this activity will worsen.
As part of the navy’s Atlantic Bastion plan, there will be a “defensive net”, a layered sensor network across the North Atlantic, to safeguard against hostile subsurface activity. When threats are detected, data will be fed back to the navy, with existing and new offensive capabilities then deployed to neutralise them.
Jenkins wants the first uncrewed escort ships sailing alongside Royal Navy warships within the next two years, and to launch the first jet-powered drone from a carrier by 2029. Such drones can take off vertically like rockets and take up a third of the space required by an F-35 jet, meaning up to 80 could fit on each aircraft carrier.
The navy now has 20 uncrewed boats for 47 Commando for training and operations as part of Project Beehive. They were delivered in months. Jenkins said the “real test is still ahead of us”.
The full speech is available here.
