Watchkeepers, Pumas (and oldest Chinooks) cut as part of UK Ministry of Defence ‘Strategic Decommissioning’ programme
November 28, 2024
Britain’s new Labour government announced its intention to undertake a comprehensive Strategic Defence Review soon after being elected in July 2024, though this is not expected to report its findings until 2025. Ordinarily, major cutbacks and spending commitments would have been expected to await the findings of the review, but the discovery of a so-called ¬£22 billion “black hole” in the nation’s finances led to an urgent need to find savings.
John Healey, the incoming Secretary of State for Defence, said that: “the problems were even worse than we thought. The inheritance was dire: the state of the finances and the forces was often hidden from Parliament, with billion-pound black holes in defence plans, taxpayers’ funds being wasted, and military morale down to record lows. That is why we are taking swift action to inject investment, get a grip on Ministry of Defence budgets and kick-start much-needed reforms to start fixing the foundations for UK defence.”
Though the Strategic Defence Review will assess the threats that the UK faces and the capabilities it will need in the future, more immediate action was required in the short term. In consultation with (and with the full backing of) the service chiefs John Healey immediately introduced tight financial controls on the Department, including a £300 million reduction in planned consultancy spending and has now decided to take “six outdated military capabilities” out of service by March 2025.
“For too long, our soldiers, sailors and aviators have been stuck with old, outdated equipment because Ministers would not make the difficult decommissioning decisions. As technology advances at pace, we must move faster towards the future,” Healey observed.
The retirement of a number of Navy ships attracted most attention in the non-specialist media – these comprised HMS Northumberland, a frigate with such severe structural damage that she was uneconomical to repair; the landing ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, effectively retired by previous Ministers but still notionally ‘on the books’, at a cost of £9 million a year, and two Wave-class tankers, neither of which has been to sea for years.
Other newly instituted cuts affect platforms that are still in active operational service.
The Royal Artillery will lose its entire fleet of 46 Watchkeeper Mk.1 ISR UAVs, apparently without replacement.
Joint Aviation Command will lose 14 of its oldest Chinook helicopters, though these will be replaced by 14 new CH-47(ER) Chinooks due to enter service in 2027. Arguably the most significant early retirement is that of the RAF’s entire surviving fleet of 17 Puma HC.Mk 2 helicopters, replacement plans for which remain unclear.
These decisions are set to save the MOD £150 million over the next two years and up to £500 million over five years. Mr Healey says that these savings will be retained in full within defence.
Aerospace Global News will look at the Watchkeeper and Puma withdrawals in more detail.
