As it continues to work through its Strategic Defence Review (SDR), the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is withdrawing a number of ships, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from service ahead of schedule to put its budget and future capabilities on a sounder footing.
Addressing the House of Commons on 20 November 2024, UK Defence Secretary John Healey stated, “Today, with full backing from our service chiefs, I can confirm that six outdated military capabilities will be taken out of service. These decisions are set to save MoD GBP 150 million [EUR 180 million] over the next two years and up to GBP 500 million over five years – savings that will be retained in full in Defence.”
The platforms being decommissioned are as follows:
- the Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland, which will be retired from the Royal Navy fleet in March 2025. The ship has served well beyond the original Type 23 out-of-service date, Healey noted, but structural damage discovered during the ship’s refit makes it uneconomical to repair;
- the landing platform dock (LPD) amphibious assault ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, which Healey said were “both effectively retired by previous ministers but superficially kept on the books at a cost of GBP 9 million a year;
- the two Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Wave-class tankers RFA Wave Knight and RFA Wave Ruler, which Healey noted had not been to sea for years;
- 14 older CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, some of which are over 35 years old. Healey said these would be “accelerated out of service”;
- 17 Puma HC2 medium-lift helicopters, the service life of which “will not be extended”, said Healey. This covers all of the Pumas remaining in the Royal Air Force’s inventory, which were already due to be withdrawn in March 2025. The future of the New Medium Helicopter programme that would have replaced them, in which Leonardo Helicopters’ AW149 is the sole remaining contender, remains unknown.
- The British Army’s fleet of 46 Watchkeeper WK450 Mk 1 reconnaissance UAVs, which Healey noted that “technology has overtaken”. The UK’s Watchkeepers took so long to come into service (the contract for them was signed in August 2005) that by the time the British Army reached its full operational capability with them on 30 November 2018 the UAVs were effectively obsolete.
Healey told the House of Commons that these measures were necessary because, despite the UK defence establishment receiving a boost next year of nearly GBP 3 billion, the Labour government had been confronted with a “dire inheritance” in defence, in terms of the state of the defence budget and the armed forces themselves.
“Billion-pound black holes in defence plans. Taxpayers’ funds being wasted. Military morale down to record lows,” Healey told the House. “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.”
Healey said the early withdrawals from service were “common-sense decisions which previous governments failed to take”, adding that the decisions “are all backed by the [service] chiefs and taken in consultation with the SDR reviewers. Allies have been informed and we have constant dialogue with NATO.”
While the early retirements will lead to near-term capability gaps, there are replacement capabilities on the horizon. The Royal Navy’s remaining Type 23 frigates, for example, will be replaced over the coming years by new Type 26 and Type 31 frigates, while in March this year the MoD ordered 14 of the latest H-47 Chinook Extended Range (ER) helicopters, which are slated to be delivered from 2027.
Despite the retirement of the LPDs HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, Healey emphasised that the House should “be in no doubt [that] the future for our Royal Marines, and their elite force, will be reinforced in the SDR”.
