"The flagship is expected to be escorted by at least one British frigate. But after years of budget cuts the once-powerful Royal Navy will need its allies to provide many of the additional vessels needed to form a carrier strike group — in particular a key logistics ship.
In one of the latest signs of Britain’s struggles to remain a top-tier military power, the 34-year-old RFA Fort Victoria, which is the last so-called solid support ship left in the fleet, remains laid up for repairs, despite a recent refit.
The failure to ensure that the UK’s two, multibillion pound carriers had this logistics support was symbolic of the Royal Navy’s threadbare state, serving and former officers and military analysts said.
“There is a dissonance between the UK’s military ambitions and its capabilities,” Sir Richard Barrons, former head of Britain’s armed forces, said. “The risk is that we get drawn into a conflict and can’t sustain our presence, and this exposes a strategic weakness.”
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