In your opinion, right?Lord Jim wrote:With no new money planned, and I doubt we will see any even in the nest 10 year plan either, something has got to give. For the Navy that has to be its over the beach amphibious capability in that it will need to be cut back to where it is capable of company sized operations at the most. The fact that pressure has led to the retention of both Albions is a mistake in my mind. They are a legacy from the dream that once existed of the UK having a significant amphibious capability, second only to the US within NATO.
Not in mine.
I'm happy to accept that we never fully funded the ability to operate 3Cdo over a beach as a brigade (though it was quite close in the early noughties).
That said, I've yet to be convinced that ending amphibious operations at combined-arms BG level is anything but foolish (it is the insurance policy that makes strike viable).
Equally, i've yet to be convinced that keeping a capability of deploying 1900 ATFG - less than a third of the original ambition - is unaffordable (don't need more Light Infantry).