USS Westminster. * British Navy.
Compiled by Zhang Haotian.
Since the crisis of human resources cannot be alleviated, the British Navy may be forced to decommission two frigates ahead of schedule, so that the new ships do not have enough sailors. Against the backdrop of the continued growth of British naval operations overseas, the shortage of manpower became even more prominent.
The British newspaper "Daily Telegraph" quoted anonymous military sources in early January as saying that the British Navy is considering abandoning the "Argyle" and "Westminster" ahead of schedule, both of which are active Type 23 frigates that were commissioned in the 90s of the 20th century. "We had to pull people from specific areas and put them in new directions. "According to the source, the crews of the two frigates will be sent to the updated Type 26 frigates, and the two battleships face the end of ** or demolition.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the size of the British Navy has continued to shrink. A total of Type 23 frigates were built 16 units, 5 have been decommissioned so far, of which 3 have been resold to Chile. According to previous plans, all Type 23 frigates will leave the operational sequence by 2035 and be replaced by Type 26 and Type 31 frigates.
The number of new ships has also been curtailed. In the case of Type 26 frigates, the construction program has been reduced from the initial 13 to the current eight. If the "Argyll" and "Westminster" are decommissioned early, the remaining 9 Type 23 frigates will need a total of at least 1665 people to operate; Taking into account the increased level of automation, the total number of frigates required for the future British Navy frigate forces (8 Type 26 and 5 Type 31) is comparable to it.
According to the UK Ministry of Defence, as of October 2023, the total strength of the British Navy (including the Marine Corps) is 37,960. Between March 2022 and March 2023, the number of recruits in the British Navy decreased by 22 year-on-year1%。Some analysts believe that one of the reasons for the shortage of personnel in the British Navy is that the two aircraft carriers currently in service occupy too many resources, and their combat readiness level is insufficient to ensure continuous deployment, and in addition to the army's internal mismanagement and serious waste, it is difficult for other ships other than aircraft carriers to be competent for such continuous tasks as protecting maritime transportation in the Middle East.
*: China Youth Daily client.