- Reaction score
- 3
- Points
- 230
First the Royal Navy was left with aircraft carriers but no aircraft. Then it was made public that British waters were no longer protected by an emergency standby ship because resources were so stretched.
Now it seems sailors may not even go to sea – at least while they are training.
The Royal Navy has announced what it is calling “the most radical change to its training” in four decades. Sailors will prepare for warfare from ''virtual ships’’.
The new £108 million Maritime Composite Training System was unveiled yesterday at two bases in Devon and Hampshire.
The “operations rooms” feature banks of LCD screens replicating equipment used at sea.
The Ministry of Defence said the system would be used by about 1,000 trainees every year and would allow existing personnel to maintain their warfare skills.
The two sites are nearly 200 miles apart, at HMNB Devonport in Plymouth and HMS Collingwood in Fareham, near Southampton.
At the bases, crews will prepare for service on the latest Type 45 destroyers, as well as Type 23 frigates, Type 42 destroyers, assault ships and carriers.
The Government cut the Navy’s surface fleet to 19 frigates and destroyers in last year’s defence review.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8937203/Navy-training-minus-a-ship.html