Posted by
Jonathan Cooke on Thursday, October 11, 2007 11:38:07 AM
Britain, Doing an Imitation of a Monty Python Skit, Hastens Their Decline as a World Power
“You fight with the strength of many men, Sir knight.”
Britain once ruled nearly a quarter of the globe. The British Navy used to be, between the early 18th to the middle of the 20th centuries, the most powerful navy in the world. An empire was built with that navy as its backbone, giving the empire its ability to project its political will over vast distances. If you are reading this in English, you have been touched by the British Empire.
“I command you, as King of the Britons to stand aside.”
In the few years since World War II, England has cut back its armed forces time and time again. Whittling it away from the world’s most foremost, to barely even in the top ten for its navy, and its Army now ranks 22nd in the world in number of troops.
“'Tis but a scratch.”
“A scratch? Your arm's off.”
In a 30 year period British armed forces have declined from 338,400 personnel in 1975 to 195,900 in 2005. That’s a staggering 42% decline. That’s cutting the Royal Navy down from 76,200 personnel down to 39,400, a massive 48% cut. The British Army was cut down from 167,100 to a mere 108,800, a 35% cut. The Royal Air Force dropped from 95,000 to a paltry 56,900, a 40% cut. They're not even finished, more cuts are on the horizon.
“No, it isn't.”
“Well, what's that then?”
British defense spending is now a pitiful 2.2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the lowest level since the 1930’s. In comparison, the United States which actually has a somewhat low percentage of GDP spent on its armed forces due to its massive 13 trillion dollar economy spends at least a healthier 3.7% of its GDP on defense, which for 2007 was budgeted at 439 billion dollars with additional funding of 120 billion as a supplement for the Middle East and discretionary spending that for 2008 puts it at around 640 billion USD (around 314 billion British pounds, or around 450 billion Euros).
“I've had worse.”
That 2.2% of British GDP on defense actually places it behind France, which is not exactly famous for being able to defend itself the last two times the Germans came round to visit. The old adage of the French planting trees along their country roads so that the Germans can march in the shade may not be far from the truth. Britain might consider planting shade trees as well, so their future conquerors can experience the same hospitality.
“You haven't got any arms left.”
While the Brits are actually building two new “Elizabeth” class aircraft carriers, as some might point out, they’re not really what we would consider to be carriers at all. With a gross displacement of only 65,000 tons they are more in the category of what the U.S. Navy would call Amphibious Assault Ships, not much larger than the USN Wasp class, which displaces 40,000 tons. A far cry from the 12 USN carriers of which a Nimitz class is over 100,000 tons and carries almost double the aircraft, 90 as opposed to a distinctly lower 48 aircraft. With only two carriers total at any given time Britain can be expected to deploy only one single carrier (with only 48 aircraft) anywhere in the world. Not too far without refueling either, since instead of dual nuclear reactors these baby-carriers are being built to run on gas turbines which means they will needs refueling every 10k nautical miles instead of every 10 years or so. (The U.S. Navy opperates around 80 nuclear powered vessels, not just the carriers). Hardly a force projection that will make anyone’s knees shake. That’s if they both actually are built, they’re not even expected until 2014, and the second in 2016.
“I'm invincible!”
Britain has been a great ally of the United States. We have fought together side by side through two World Wars, and through the Cold War. I don’t think anyone on either side of the Atlantic wants to see what the British call the “Special Relationship” between our nations end due to an inability of either side to be able to stand next to the other in combat. This makes it especially disheartening to see a nation with as rich a history as Britain, and an historically close ally, remove itself of an ability to project force throughout the world and no longer be even capable of standing next to us in the decades and centuries to come.
“I'll bite your legs off!“
I truly hope Brits reading this aren’t offended, and perhaps become inspired to demand of their leaders an expansion of their armed forces, instead of continued reductions. The United States and Britain have a history in the 20th and 21st centuries of fighting side by side. It will be a sad day if Britain reaches a point where it is no longer capable of arriving at the fight, or no longer capable of throwing a punch. If the situation is allowed to devolve to that level, they will be sorely missed.
Jonathan RF Cooke
October 11, 2007
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Sources:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-countries-with-largest-navies-map.htmlhttp://www.navy.mil/navydata/navy_legacy_hr.asp?id=146http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed060407c.cfmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Armed_Forces#Current_strengthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nimitz_(CVN-68)