The West is mobilizing to defeat Islamic State, deter an increasingly aggressive Russia and manage China’s meteoric rise as a world power. With morale plummeting, and its few remaining ships frequently malfunctioning at sea, the Royal Navy’s suffering might be terminal.
Though London officials now vow to reverse the decline, it might be too late. It can barely patrol the United Kingdom’s own waters, much less project British influence abroad. Government budgeteers have repeatedly, and excessively, cut the numbers of its ships, planes and manpower.
Today, however, the Royal Navy is a shadow of its former self. So any weakening of the Royal Navy also erodes Washington’s naval power. The two have fought together against most every foe. Traditionally, Britain’s Royal Navy has been the U.S. That’s a serious problem for allies like the United States.
The Royal Navy's largest ever warship HMS "Queen Elizabeth" is floated out of its dock for the first time in Rosyth, Scotland, July 2014.
0 kommentar(er)
