British Aircraft Carrier 'Omnishambles' Wastes £100 Million
Britain will be left without a fully operational aircraft carrier for another two years because a delay to a key early-warning system, an official audit has found
May 10, 2013
The National Audit Office said that the decision to delay spending on a new radar system named Crowsnest will mean that any new aircraft carrier will not be fully operational until 2022, two years later than promised.
The delay will extend the time that Britain lacks a fully capable aircraft carrier, a “capability gap” created by the Coalition’s controversial defence cuts, the NAO said.
The Royal Navy is currently without an aircraft carrier after the scrapping of HMS Ark Royal in 2010.
Two replacements are being built, but the first, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is not due to sail until the end of 2017, and aircraft will not fly from the vessel until the end of 2020.
Britain’s decade-long carrier gap has left ministers facing criticism about defence cuts, and the NAO has now revealed that the gap will be longer than thought.
“Full Carrier Strike capability will be delayed until 2022 by Crowsnest,” the NAO said in a report published today.
Crowsnest is a helicopter-based early warning radar system which can detect threats over the horizon. The MoD told the auditors that “the operational use of Crowsnest is, along with the carriers and aircraft, a key element of Carrier Strike capability.”
However, to balance the defence budget, ministers decided last year to delay investment in Crowsnest.
Crowsnest will now begin trials in 2020 but will only be fully operationally effective from late 2022.
Lacking the early warning system, the NAO said, means that when HMS Queen Elizabeth enters full service in 2020, the vessel will face “additional risks” when deployed.
“Unless the department is able to bring forward funding or finds a credible alternative which does not compromise capability,12 when the Carrier Strike first becomes operationally available in late 2020, some operational tasks could only be undertaken with additional risks.”
Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, said that the MoD does not agree that delayed introduction of Crowsnest will undermine the delivery of Carrier-Strike capability.
He said: “Crowsnest will enter service in 2020, at the same time as HMS Queen Elizabeth and the helicopter-based radar system will be fully operational by 2022. Until then, its maritime surveillance capabilities will be augmented by other platforms and systems, including the state of the art radar on the Type 45 Destroyers, working together in a layered defence.”
The NAO also studied Mr Hammond’s decision last year to change the model of aircraft that will be ordered for the new carriers, from a catapult-launched fighter to a vertical-landing jump jet.
The decision to switch aircraft cost £74 million in immediate costs. However, over the next ten years, it will save the MoD £1.2 billion.
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: “It is good that the MOD acted promptly, once it became clear that pursuing the option to buy the carrier variant aircraft would cost a lot more money and add another three years to the whole programme.
“But to achieve value for money in this project, the department will have to manage significant technical and affordability risks and be consistent in sticking to the present plan.”
