HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark will be decommissioned (Image: PA)
Defence Secretary John Healey has announced former Royal Navy flagships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark will be decommissioned as part of a series of money-saving cuts.
At the House of Commons despatch box, Mr Healey told MPs: “I’ve introduced tight financial controls on the department, including a £300 million reduction in planned consultancy spending. We’re getting a grip of MoD (Ministry of Defence) budgets and investing in people and in future technologies.”
He added: “For too long our soldiers, sailors, aviators have been stuck with old, outdated equipment because ministers wouldn’t make the difficult decommissioning decisions.
“As technology advances at pace, we must move faster towards the future. So today, with full backing from our service chiefs, I can confirm that six outdated military capabilities will be taken out of services.
“These decisions are set to save the MoD £150 million over the next two years and up to £500 million over five years, savings that will be retained in full in defence.”
Mr Healey said he would retire HMS Northumberland “a frigate with structural damage that makes her simply uneconomical to repair”, 46 Watchkeeper Mark I uncrewed aircraft systems, and a 14-year-old army drone “which technology has overtaken”.
The Defence Secretary also announced the decommissioning of HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark which he described “landing ships both effectively retired by previous ministers but superficially kept on the books at a cost of £9 million a year”.
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Healey also told the Commons 14 Chinook helicopters “some over 35 years old (will be) accelerated out of service”.
The Defence Secretary also confirmed two wave-class tankers “neither of which have been to sea for years” were in the decommissioning process, along with 17 Puma helicopters “some with over 50 years’ flying (which) will not be extended”.
He said: “This is a new Government getting on with delivering for defence.
“We’ve set up support for , we’ve signed the landmark Trinity House Agreement with Germany, we’ve given forces personnel the largest pay rise for over 20 years, we’ve confirmed defence as a priority sector as part of the Government’s industrial strategy, and this week we secured the second reading of the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill to improve service life. Labour is the party of defence and we will make Britain better defended.”
The Defence Secretary added: “As I have told the House since taking office, problems were even worse than we thought.
“It was a dire inheritance – the state of the finances and the state of the forces, often hidden to Parliament, billion-pound black holes in defence plans, taxpayers’ funds being wasted, military morale down to record lows.
“That’s why we’re taking swift action now to inject investment, get a grip of MoD budgets and kickstart much-needed reforms to start fixing the foundations for the UK defence.”
He also added that there would be no redundancies would be made as a result of the “common sense decisions”.