Recommendation 23

The carriers cannot be used on their own and need a range of support vessels to provide supplies and protection. The Department told us that in a conflict situation, for example, it would need anti-submarine warfare frigates, anti-aircraft destroyers, and hunter-killer submarines. Deploying Carrier Strike will therefore require a significant proportion of the Royal Navy’s fleet. However, the Department faces financial pressures and funding shortfalls over the next 10 years which could restrict investment in capabilities and upgrades. For example, it needs to upgrade the propulsion systems of all six Type 45 destroyers by the mid-2020s and is replacing the outdated Type 23 anti-submarine frigates with specialist Type 26 frigates from 2027. The Department told us that it has made a case to HM Treasury for increasing the size of the surface fleet, but no outcome was yet forthcoming. Furthermore, the ships need to be crewed to operate. The Department said it was not aware of any problems regarding the surface fleet but admitted that crewing submarines was more of a struggle.52