I don't know a lot about the English Navy but do they use the same missiles for carrier defenses as the United States Navy? I thought England was cutting back on there Armed Forces and there building two aircraft carriers? More power to there Navy if they get through right.


Navy's aircraft carriers face delay


By Sylvia Pfeifer, Defence Industries Correspondent
Published: February 21 2008 02:00 | Last updated: February 21 2008 02:00
The construction of the Royal Navy's two aircraft carriers could be delayed by up to 12 months as the Ministry of Defence faces an estimated budget shortfall of £2bn over the next three years.
One of the recommendations presented to senior defence officials and service chiefs yesterday was that the MoD agree a manufacturing contract with the industry alliance building the ships within weeks but delay construction.
If the government goes ahead with the plan, it would set alarm bells ringing in Britain's shipyards. The yards have been hiring in anticipation of the £4bn project and could have to lay off key workers.
Sources close to the talks believe that by agreeing the contract the MoD would be able to limit any political fallout from subsequent delays.
Signing the contract now would also allow the shipbuilding joint venture between BAE Systems and VT Group to go ahead. The two companies have been poised to agree the project for several weeks but have been waiting for the green light from government.
BAE said: "Negotiations regarding the proposed joint venture with VT are at an advanced stage . . . The signature of the joint venture agreements is also dependent upon the signature of contracts for the aircraft carriers and we are working closely with the MoD to ensure that these are placed as soon as possible."
Additional reporting by Alex Barker


link
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/38549932-e...nclick_check=1

well that just sucks. i know you have been looking forward to those carriers.

Team Infidel
i know you have been looking forward to those carriers.

I'm confused what do you mean?

Originally Posted by rock45

I'm confused what do you mean?

He means the Royal Navy has been looking forward to getting new carriers to replace the old ones

Does anyone know if the French one is affected? The carriers are being built by UK BAE and French Thalys. The first 2 are British and 3rd is French (mostly likely to be named Richelieu, as like the RN and USN the FN like to recycle the names of famous ships).

I thought the british navy was reducing the size of its fleet over the next few years.

Found this article on a different forum but it's about the UK Navy
Naval base at Plymouth to close within five years


BRITAIN’S oldest naval base at Plymouth will close within five years with the Royal Navy’s submarines moving to Faslane in Scotland, senior defence sources said this weekend.
The base at Devonport from which Drake set sail to destroy the Spanish Armada and Cook embarked to discover Australia will have five of its frigates axed in defence cuts expected within weeks. Its expertise in refuelling and refitting nuclear submarines has become irrelevant because the new Astute submarines will have nuclear cores that last for the life of the vessel.
With only two of the navy’s existing nuclear submarines still requiring mid-life servicing, both naval and industry sources said last week that the dockyard had no long-term future.
The dockyards will therefore be allowed to wither on the vine in favour of Portsmouth and Rosyth, in the Firth of Forth - despite assurances from Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Des Browne, the defence secretary, that the dockyard had a future.
A review of the navy’s three bases (Plymouth, Portsmouth and Rosyth) had been expected to result in the closure of Plymouth or Portsmouth. Browne told MPs in July that the review had ended with a decision to keep all three dockyards open along with the submarine base at Faslane, on the Scottish west coast, but this weekend sources challenged this assertion.




Full story
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle3423421.ece