A SHORTAGE of specialist military experts could threaten the effective deployment of two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers, it is claimed.
The National Audit Office (NAO) claims a four per cent personnel gap has led to a lack of intelligence officers, engineers and warfighting specialists, which could jeopardise the multi-billion pound Carrier Strike programme.
The scheme includes the purchase of the two largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. Capable of operating up to 40 aircraft, the vessels are designed to offer increased operational flexibility and the construction process has involved teams around the UK, including Rosyth dockyard in Fife.
The first of the ships, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, is currently nearing completion and scheduled to make its inaugural sailing this summer. However, the run has been delayed by three months and the NAO says further “technical issues” including staff problems could mean more setbacks.
Although a recruitment programme is underway, an NAO report published today found there will be “limited resilience” if current staff quit.
It found: “The department still has a lot to do as it brings together equipment, trained crews, infrastructure and support. Problems in any of these areas could mean that use of the carriers is delayed or reduced.
“The next three years are critical as the programme moves into a high-risk period of trials, testing and training.
“The technology is innovative and operational unknowns, which will only become clear during testing, may affect plans and increase costs.
“To recover earlier delays, the department has already compressed the timetable and is running some testing in parallel with other tasks.
“The closely timed sequence of tasks offers no further room for slippage and there remain significant risks to value for money.”
The NAO said the MoD faces a possible two per cent cost overrun on the £6.2 billion budget for building the ships, while the £5.8bn earmarked for the US-built Lightning II fighters could be affected by fluctuations in the value of sterling.
In the longer term, the deployment of the carriers could have far-reaching implications for how the Navy operates with a “significant proportion” of the fleet required to support and protect them.
The formation of a carrier task group is likely to account for almost 30 per cent of the Navy’s fleet by tonnage and 20 per cent of the personnel needed to crew the fleet.
The NAO said: “The Navy will need to change fundamentally how it operates and make judgements on priorities.”
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