Western European and NATO Navies

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Ecuador's Esmeraldas is the lead ship of a modified Italian Wadi M’ragh class of six corvettes; all should be operational this year.

The Soviet Union can learn a subtle lesson from the South Atlantic war. Latin American navies can obtain so­phisticated military hardware from four markets. Two are expensive—West­ern Europe and Israel—and two are relatively inexpensive—the United States and the Soviet Union. The re­cent Argentine experience could make that nation and perhaps others in Latin America more amenable to acquiring

Soviet equipment. During the recent war. Argentines hinted at the possible acquisition of Soviet equipment. No one took them seriously; one cannot make such a drastic change in sup­pliers during a time of crisis. But Ar­gentina and others may now take a more serious look at Soviet equip­ment, particularly if the strings at­tached are more economical than po­litical. After all, Peru acquired Soviet military aircraft in the 1970s, and these played an important role in a recent border conflict with Ecuador. And these acquisitions have not seduced Peru into the communist bloc.

The influence of the South Atlantic war upon Latin American unity is un­clear. Argentina and Brazil, which have resolved a number of problems ove the past few years, may be moving closer together. In November, along with Uruguay, they carried out the ercise “Fraternal.” Admittedly. * ¹ was not the first such naval gathenn^ in recent years. However, this one may have had special significance becausc of preceding events. The South A lantic war was barely over when. September, retiring Argentine Cm^e of Naval Operations Jorge Anaya ^vlS ited Brazil for a symposium on j ^L Malvinas Conflict, which was hek ^a the Brazilian Naval War College. Jus possibly, this may be the first step to ward the elusive South Atlantic L>^L fense Organization.

Dr. Schema is the historian for the U. S. ^l’_fV Guard and author of U. S. Coast Guard ( ^{l,t 1}^ and Craft of World War //, published last y^c‘_n by the Naval Institute Press. He is working a new book—The Influence of Sea Pouf¹ Latin America. 1810-1982—to be published •' the Naval Institute Press.

Western European and NATO Navies

By Stephen S. Roberts

The year of 1982 was one of con­flicting pressures on Western Euro­pean and NATO navies. Defense bud­gets were under severe strain because of the poor economic conditions in most of the countries and because of anti-defense sentiment sparked by the nuclear issue. However, the growing Soviet naval threat (dramatized in 1981­82 by a rash of submarine incursions into the territorial waters of European countries) and an increasing aware­ness that navies still served national as well as NATO needs demonstrated clearly the need for strong naval forces. The Falklands War provided the best evidence of this last point, but the vul­nerability of lines of communication outside the NATO area proper and threats from non-Warsaw Pact coun­tries were also major concerns to Western European and NATO na­tions during the year.

Perhaps as a result of this need to respond to increased requirements with reduced resources, many Western European and NATO navies adopted new plans in 1981 and 1982 for struc­turing their fleets and for procuring ships and aircraft. We will concen­trate on these plans, as they are ex­cellent indicators of the intended func­tions of these navies and their likely conlieurations through the rest of the 1980s.

Belgium: The Belgian combatant force consists of four frigates. 12 ocean and coastal minesweepers, and 14 in­shore minesweepers—not all of the mine warfare ships are maintained in an operational status. The Belgian na­val program focuses on replacing the existing mine force with ten glass- reinforced plastic (GRP)-hulled mine- hunters of the “Tripartite” type, de­veloped jointly with France and the Netherlands. The Belgian program suffered from the collapse of the orig­inal construction consortium, but a contract was let to Beliard on 12 Feb­ruary 1981. The GRP hulls will be launched at Ostend and then towed to Antwerp for fitting out.

Canada: The one NATO member besides the United States on the west­ern end of the Atlantic lines of com­munications, Canada specializes in maintaining a navy of ocean escorts, which currently includes 20 active frigates and destroyers. (Canada also maintains three submarines, primarily to help train the escorts in antisub­

marine warfare.) Many ships are j>^a ing their service lives extended special overhaul programs, but no nal decision has been made on c struction of a new Canadian P^at^_g frigate, which is needed to prevent ^ size of the escort force from ^^eclc_M‘_Tj_n ing when the overhauled ships beg phasing out in 1987. The urgency^ this decision was underlined when - rious boiler defects were discovei in November 1981 in HMCS ^0,tf\ and at least three other older sh'E | The initial plan is to build six P^a . frigates to replace the remaining shT of the St. Laurent class. Canada ^ not ordered a new warship in ^ne 15 years.  •

Denmark: The Danish Navy ^nl‘^a tains five submarines, two fr'S^a three corvettes, 16 fast attack ^cra , and 12 mine warfare ships to con the Danish Straits and oppose ^a phibious forces coming from the ^e\ There are also five fishery protect' patrol ships and 80 small patrol 0°“^ and craft in service. Denmark s to year Defense Settlement for 19° j was finalized by the legislature in ^nia 1981. The main naval procurem^ program calls for construction of tn

^marines of either the German *ype-209” or the Swedish “A-17” ypc. A final order for these ships is ^Ue this year. The two newest Danish ^SL1hmarines of the “Type-205” class |‘te to be modernized. In advocating he new submarines, the Danish De- ^cnse High Command stated that it had ⁿ°t found an alternative means to carry °^ut the submarines’ military tasks— Primarily, forward invasion defense ^ar,d combating foreign submarines in­^vading Danish waters.

'he ships to be deleted under the ^Se'tlement include two Delfinen-class l marines, two S</>l/>ven-class fast at- hck craft, one coastal minelayer, and ^w° minesweepers. With the excep- '°n of the submarines, these deletions ^ere to be net losses to the fleet: no ^instruction is planned to replace jl^ern- The fleet in 1985 is to consist of ■ _ ships and four helicopters for com­^at Use and 32 ships and eight heli- ^c°Pters for coast guard functions. It has been decided to retain and mod­ernize four of the .Sp/pvt'/ts, using the other two ships of the class as a source of spare parts.

Surface warfare received a large share of the budget in the 1970s, with construction of the Niels Jnel-class corvettes (the last of which was com­pleted in 1982) and then ten Wille- woes-class fast attack craft. The only enhancement of surface warfare ca­pabilities in the current settlement is a provision for the purchase of four combat-configured Lynx helicopters with Sea Skua missiles and over-the- horizon targeting equipment for Har­poon. (The eight helicopters currently in the Danish Navy are configured for fishery protection.) This settlement made no provision for mine warfare. Action in this area appears to be planned for the 1985-89 period.

Finland: The Finnish Navy consists primarily of fast patrol craft, plus two corvettes, three minelayers, and six inshore minesweepers. The current procurement program is intended to augment both the numbers and ca­pabilities of the fast patrol boat force, while abandoning, for the time being, earlier plans to build additional cor­vettes and minesweepers. Prototypes of two types of fast patrol craft are now in service, the 300-ton Helsinki, which is probably seen as a supple­ment to the four “Osa-II” units in the Finnish Navy, and the 60-ton Hurja, which may be the successor to the Nii- oli class. Three additional "PB-80”- class units beyond the Helsinki, which entered service in 1982, will be funded between 1982-86 to provide a flotilla of four. Ultimately, the navy hopes to have three such flotillas. Six of the 13 Nnoli-c\ass patrol boats are to be modernized.

France: The French naval force of five SSBNs and two attack carriers is backed up by a complete range of other naval ship types. Last year was the

The

and her five sisters are all afloat

The French attack carrier Foch has returned to service after an overhaul; she and sister ship Clemenceau are scheduled to be replaced by nuclear carriers.

final one of the 1977-82 “Military Pro­gram Law" which guided all military expenditures, including procurement. Normally, this law would have been followed by a new one in 1983, but the new French Government decided to use the 1983 budget to make up some significant shortfalls in the 1977-82 program and to prepare a new five- year "Military Planning Law" for 1984- 88—which happen to be the last five years of President Francois Mitter- and's current term. This plan is to be submitted to Parliament sometime in 1983.

Naval shipbuilding appears to have been one of the more successful parts of the 1977-82 program. Table I shows the status, at the end of the program, of two key indicators: ships ordered and ships delivered. It shows that the program was modified (the deletion of a small nuclear carrier and the addi­tion of an SSBN being the main ex­amples), but it also suggests that the planned pace of construction was maintained. Noteworthy events in the last year were the return to service of the carrier Foch in December 1981 after a major enhancement of her capabil­ities and the launch of France's sixth SSBN. L'Inflexible (scheduled to en­ter active service in January 1985). last June. The first SSN, Rnbis. was com­missioned in July 1982, and the first “Tripartite” minehunter. Eridan, was scheduled to be commissioned early in 1983, after a protracted trials period.

According to the 1982 budget, the ships to be put on order in 1983 are the first of the two nuclear-powered carriers designed to replace the Cle- menceau and Foch. the third and fourth AAW destroyers of the "C-70” type, the 11 Eridan-class minehunters, and some patrol craft. Orders projected for 1984-88 are much fewer in number than in the previous period, probably be­cause of the CVN program's impact. No new destroyers, frigates, or cor­vettes are planned. The main naval events are to be the initiation of a new class of LSD in 1985. a new SSN class and a new minesweeper class in 1986, and an order for a second CVN in 1987. A seventh SSBN is to be laid down to a new design in 1989 and commis­sioned in 1994, when the oldest SSBN.

Redoutable, will reach the end of f>^e scheduled service life.         .

A new development in the Fren Navy was the establishment of a Ci^vl Mission Service Force which will P‘^l trol the country’s 200-nautical ⁿ¹¹ exclusion zone. Thus far, only ⁰⁰ small boat has entered service in ¹ ^ force. Four 408-ton patrol boats hav been ordered for delivery in 198- •

1,700-ton ocean patrol boat is to ^L acquired this year.

West Germany: The West Ge^rrn‘* Navy maintains sizeable forces in ¹ destroyer/frigate, fast attack ^cru j submarine, and mine warfare cate gories. New construction programs a coming to a conclusion in the first t^vv of these categories and are being P¹

posed for the last two.         .

The lead ship of the German of the "NATO standard frigate. & men, was commissioned in May I

Table I Completion of the French 1977-82 Naval Flan

Orders 1977-82                                                   Deliveries 1977-82

navy initially hoped to build of this type to provide one-for-one placements of the “Z’’-class destroy^ crs and the Koln-c\ass frigates. It appears, however, that financial P^r° lems, notably cost overruns in frigate and the Tornado aircraft P^r grams and the near bankruptcy of* frigates’ prime contractor, will p vent construction of any ships bey⁰¹

six now being completed. To Maintain the quality of this force, the •hree guided missile destroyers of the ^'itjens class are currently being mod­^ernized; the four Hamburg-c\ass de­stroyers may follow later in the de­^Cade; and two of the Kolns are now •° be retained for patrol duties. No ^Urther new construction of frigates is '^kely until the new NATO standard ^r'gate materializes in the 1990s.

I he West German Navy is also tak- ^ln8 delivery of a group of ten new fast ^uttack craft, the “Type-143A” class. *nese are replacing the ten Zobel-class [°^rPedo boats and will maintain the ^ast attack craft force at its current '^evel of 40. Design work will probably ,^e8in on a replacement for the 20 Iype-148” units now in service, but heir replacement is not yet urgent.

1 he next major West German naval instruction effort is likely to be the ^renewal of its submarine force. The navy _want_s to replace its current lype-205” and “Type-206” sub­marines with the “Type-208,” a class ^VVlth an air-independent propulsion Astern (probably a fuel cell). These

to replace existing minecraft. Begin­ning in 1987, ten “Type-343” mine combatants (fast minelayers and sweepers) are to replace the Schiitze- class (“Type-340” & -“341”) fast minesweepers. In 1991,20 “Type-332" minesweepers are to replace the Lin- dau-class minehunters (“Type-331”). Twelve “Type-335” (“Ermiss”) mine­sweeping systems are also planned to replace the existing “Troika” sys­tems, including their command ships (“Type-351s”). The result of these plans, if funding is available for them, will be the complete renewal of the existing mine force (except for the “Type-393” & “-394” inshore classes).

Greece: The main elements of the Greek Navy are its relatively modern submarine and fast attack craft force and its relatively aged destroyer, mine warfare, and amphibious forces. Greek officials announced, in March 1982, that a ten-year defense plan had been developed covering the years 1981-91, but no details were made public. For the navy, the most immediate problem is to pay for the two 3,750-ton Kor- tenaer-dass frigates it purchased from

West German Fletcher-class destroy­ers have been purchased, not to aug­ment the navy but to provide spare parts (or, in two cases, replace ships) for its World War 11-vintage destroyer force.

Italy: The Italian Legge Navale (na­val law), which gives the navy its first through-deck helicopter carrier and modernizes its force of destroyers, frigates, submarines, fast attack craft, and minehunters, was described in some detail in last year’s survey. At this time, several of the ships in this program, notably two guided missile destroyers of the Improved Audcice type and one LPD. had not been be­gun because of a lack of funding. In 1981, a ten-year defense plan was de­veloped which extended the period for completion of Legge Navale to 1990, thus making it possible to fund these ships. (They are currently in the de­sign process.) The new plan also pro­vides for additions to the program, no­tably a fifth and sixth Nazario Saaro- class submarine (announced in De­cember 1980) and a second LPD (re­quired to carry Italy’s newly formed

^Sut>marines, involving a major tech- L°l°gical advance, cannot be produced the time the existing force reaches Virement age; current plans call for '•urripletion of nine between 1991-94. Jherefore, the navy plans to upgrade Gof its “Type-206s” to "Type-206As” between 1988-91. The six “Type-205” i°ats will reach retirement age in the ./80s, and the navy may fill the gap ^be,Ween their retirement and the j*^vailability of the “Type-208s” by "bilding some “Type-210s,” which j^re designed for and ordered by Norway.

'Vest Germany has a number of mine Warfare craft on the drawing boards

the Netherlands and to integrate them into the fleet. Among other things, the training and the command, control and communications of the entire fleet will have to be updated. The longer-term problem is to do something about the fact that most of the navy’s large sur­face ships are of World War II vin­tage. There are two schools of thought on this subject; one calls for more frig­ates like the two Kortenaers and the other calls for building corvettes of under 2,000 tons. There arc reports that no Kortenaers will be built in Greece, contrary to earlier intentions, but it is not clear what alternative plans have been made. In the meantime, five

Rapid Intervention Mobile Force). Problem areas for which provisions have not been announced are the re­placement of the two Andrea Doriu- class cruisers and the renewal of the mine warfare force (whose nucleus will soon be four minesweepers of the Ler- ici class now under construction). Notable progress in 1982 included the

The

isting Kobhen-dass submarines.

first of the “Type-210s” is to be de livered in February 1989: the others will follow at six-month interval commencing in May 1990. In meantime, four to six Kobbens are ⁰ be modernized to keep the force up ¹⁰ strength. The objective is to have ^tcr> submarines available in the 1990s. >n eluding both new and modernize¹

completion of the first of eight Maes- trale-class guided missile frigates and the last of the first batch of Nazario Sauro-dass submarines.

The creation of the Rapid Interven­tion Mobile Force reflects an aspect of Italian policy which is an important part of the new ten-year defense plan. Previously, most of Italy's effort had been directed toward providing sup­port for NATO. The most visible evi­dence of this at sea is the degree to which the Italian Navy was structured to provide AAW and ASW support to the U. S. Sixth Fleet. The new plan places much more emphasis on threats, primarily from the south and eastern littorals of the Mediterranean, that do not fall under the purview of NATO and to which Italy would have to react on its own.

The Soviet threat, however, has not been forgotten, and indeed it was underlined on 24 February 1982 when the brand-new submarine Leonardo da Vinci detected and prosecuted in Italian territorial waters a contact be­lieved to be a Soviet "Victor"-class submarine.

Netherlands: The Netherlands Navy continues to implement its fleet plan at an impressive rate. This plan pro­vides for four antisubmarine warfare escort groups, three mine counter­measure groups, and six submarines for use in the eastern Atlantic, the En­glish Channel, and off Dutch ports. Construction of the ten Kortenaer-class ASW frigates and modernization of the six Van Speijk-class frigates will be completed in 1983, giving the Neth­erlands an escort force that is both homogeneous and modern. Construc­tion of 15 “Tripartite” minehunters and two Walrus-class submarines is also continuing. (The first of the minehunters, Alkmaar, was launched practically complete in 1982.) The two air defense variants of the Kortenaer class, ordered to replace the two ASW Kortenaers sold to Greece, will be completed in 1985-86. These, called the Jacob van Heemskerck class, will be built to the Kortenaer design but will have Standard SM-I (MR) mis­siles and a Goalkeeper close-in weapon system instead of the Kortenaers’ hel­icopter facilities and guns.

The navy continues to take delivery of Lynx helicopters and P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. In 1982, the first P-3C entered squadron service, and the last P-2 Neptune maritime pa­trol aircraft and the last Wasp heli­copter were retired from service. The last destroyer of the Friesland class, OverijsseL was sold to Peru in May 1982, and plans to lay up the subma­rine Dolfijn and dispose of the 16 Van Straelen-class inshore minesweepers in 1983 were announced in the 198- budget. Future shipbuilding plans- which have not yet been funded. 'ⁿ' elude construction of five “M ’-class frigates and two additional Walras

class submarines, and modernizations of the two Zwaardvis-c\ass subma­rines and the two Tromp-class air de­fense frigates.

Norway: The principal components of the Norwegian Navy are its 1? ^sUtlJ marines, five frigates, 40 fast attac ’ craft, and ten minesweepers. Plans are under consideration for renewing eac of these components, but the sun marine replacement program was tn first to be implemented. Norway °^r dered six IKL “Type-210” subma­rines (with an option for two more) on 30 September 1982 to replace its ex

units.

The other components of the N°^r wegian fleet are also the subject ot^re^ placement plans. The budget passe in 1982 includes funds for a new class of eight minehunters to replace Nor way’s ten old minesweepers. J “Tripartite,” Lerici, and Swedish ¹ 80” designs are all under consider tion. Replacement of the 26 fast attac craft of the Storm and Sniigg classes is expected to begin with the const' U tion of a prototype of a new miss' e carrying class in 1987 and the subsc quent production of 24 boats tor se vice use. An announcement may made in 1983 or 1984 concerning ^ replacement of the Oslo-dass frigate'^ Norway may associate its program w' NATO efforts to design a standur frigate for the 1990s.         ,

Portugal: The Portuguese Navy ^ combatant force consists ot sew frigates, ten corvettes, three subm* rines, and 14 seagoing patrol boats j Most of these ships were compl^ete, between 1967-69 and will be in ^n£T of replacement or modernization • the end of the 1980s. The Portuguus Navy suffers from a severe lack r funds, and its one current replacemc

program—to build three “NA

Standard Frigates” to replace its three Healey-class frigates depends on con­tributions, either in funds or in hard- ^ttre, from other NATO countries, ■hese have not yet agreed on their ■espective shares in the program which, therefore, has not been finalized. Ru­^mors circulated in early 1982 that the ^new Portuguese frigates might be built 'ⁿ Germany rather than the Nether­^lands as initially planned. Moderni- ^Zat|ons are reportedly planned for the ^navY’s four other frigates and its six °tdest corvettes. The four newer cor­^Vettes, which were once offered for ^Sale to Colombia, will now be retained.

Spain: Spain became the 16th mem­ber of NATO in June 1982. However, htter in the year, the new Socialist government suspended implementa- h°n of the membership agreement un­’’’ it could review the terms of that ^a8reement. The Spanish Navy is ready ^to assume its NATO role as soon as ’|*^e political questions are resolved, ’banks to a long series of exercises and other bilateral contacts with na- ^v,es of other NATO countries.

’he Spanish Navy is currently op­iating one aging V/STOL carrier, ^Seven submarines, a large force of de­stroyers, frigates, patrol craft, and a b-‘^w old minesweepers. In early 1982. be Spanish Government proposed a ^aew “Law on Budgetary Allocations ^0r Investments and Maintenance of ’be Armed Forces,” which provides ’^0r military procurement in 1983-90. .be new program falls far short of pro­viding the two carrier groups and other ’orces recommended by the navy's ^0vvn plan, which, however, was gen­erally regarded as financially unreal- !^s’ic. The combatant ships provided by the government proposal are two ^leet destroyers, seven oceangoing es- eort frigates to protect traffic at sea, °ur minehunters, eight minesweep­^ers- four LSTs, and six fast attack craft.

A report by the Spanish Navy Gen­^eral Staff points out that, under this bbtn, the navy in 1990 will have some ’^•500 tons less in service than in 1981. ^spite a policy of decommissioning ^as few old ships as possible. In 1990, ⁵0% of the navy’s tonnage will be more ’ban 25 years old, and some ships will b^e more than 45 years old. The oldest ^c°mbatants will be some FRAM de­stroyers, and the next oldest ones will be the minesweepers built in the 1950s. The combatants to be decommissioned during the period are the V/STOL car­eer Dedalo, four submarines, six to eight destroyers, three frigates, and four corvettes. Of these, a total of two destroyers, three frigates, and three submarines have already been decommissioned.

Of the new ships planned, the de­stroyers (which may be built to the U. S. Spruance-class design) are clearly intended to operate in support of the new V/STOL carrier Principe de Asturias, which was launched in May 1982. The plans concerning frig­ates may undergo further changes, since it appears that the last two Des- cubierta-d&ss light frigates, which were to have been delivered in 1983, have been ordered by Egypt. Three Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7)-class ships were officially ordered in 1977, but the first keel was not laid down at El Ferrol until August 1981: two more may be ordered, possibly to replace the two Descubieratas.

Sweden: Sweden is another West­ern European country that adopted a new naval plan during the past year. Once known for a small but effective fleet of coastal defense battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, Sweden planned, in 1982, to scrap four of the five destroyers in reserve and decom­mission its last major surface comba­tant, the destroyer Hdlland. This leaves it with a fleet consisting primarily of submarines, fast attack craft, and some obsolescent minesweepers. All these categories benefit from the new “Navy Program 1982-87,” which provides for delivery of two fast attack craft ol the Stockholm or “YA-81” class, four submarines of the Viistergotland or

Tripartite-designed Alkmaar is one of 15 new mine warfare ships that will operate with the Royal Netherlands Nav\. France also plans to build 15 of these ships, and Belgium, ten.

"A-17” class, and two minesweepers of the Landsort or “M-80" type. It also provides for starting four more Landsort-cVdSS minesweepers, and six fast attack craft of the new Goteborg or “Rbb-90” class (whose character­istics have yet to be determined), and allows for the possible construction of a fifth Viistergotland-class submarine. In addition, the 12 existing Norrkop- ing or Spica-Il fast attack craft are to be rearmed with the new Swedish Rb- 15 missile (which was successfully test fired in December 1981). A new 1,400- ton intelligence collection ship was laid down at Karlskrona on 23 April 1982, and large numbers of service craft are being built. The effect of this program on the size and composition of the fleet is shown in Table 2.

This program is a landmark for the Swedish Navy, for it marks the first time since 1958 that the navy's share of the defense budget has exceeded 15% of the total. The program was essentially completed when the “Whiskey on the Rocks" incident of late 1981 suddenly brought the navy and the threat that it faces to the attention of all Swedes. One reaction of the Swedish legislature to this

the

no

of

incident was to give the navy funds to convert four more old motor torpedo boats to patrol craft, buy three or four more antisubmarine helicopters, and fit the new Stockholm-class fast attack craft under construction with improved sonar. This class has necessarily assumed a multipurpose role because all larger surface combatants have been decommissioned. Lest the Swedes forget, there have been additional incidents involving foreign submarines in 1982, including a highly publicized failure in October 1982 to trap an intruder off a sensitive naval base. The Swedes have already done a lot to counter such intrusions, including the development of noise-makers that attach themselves to a submarine’s hull and depth charges that damage a submarine just enough to force her to surface. It is likely that the navy will now receive the public support it needs to improve its detection equipment and its tactics for prosecuting contacts.

Turkey: The Turkish Navy has sizeable numbers of submarines (15), destroyers and frigates (17), fast attack craft (23), and minesweepers (24). No formal naval building plan has been announced, but programs appear to be in hand to renew Turkish holdings in three of these four categories. Turkey has been building the German ‘‘Type- 209" submarines at the Golctik Navy Yard since 1976. and in December 1981, the Turkish Naval Forces Commander opened there what was called “Europe's biggest submarine construction works." This facility can build three submarines simultaneously, and it can also build escort destroyers. Turkey is building “SAR-33" fast attack craft for its gendarmerie and Libyan naval forces at the Taskizak Navy Yard and has resumed production there of the German “FPB- 57" fast attack craft for the navy by laying down its fifth unit. The most recent development in Turkish naval construction is the announcement of plans to order four “Meko-200” frigates from a German consortium, with the third and fourth ships to he built in Turkey. This 2,400-ton, well­armed design may provide the answer to the block obsolescence of Turkey’s 15 U. S. World War II destroyers, just as the "Type-209” submarine is gradually replacing the fleet of I I old U. S. submarines. In addition to acquiring two older, ex-U. S. destroyers (Robert A. Owens [DD-827J and Orleck [DD-886J) in 1982, Turkey acquired the U. S. Navy destroyer tender Piedmont (AD-17) during 1982.

United Kingdom: In 1981. the Royal Navy’s operational forces and procurement plans were severely trimmed by the "Defence Review," which was designed to restructure Britain’s military forces to optimize their effectiveness against the Soviet threat. Ironically, in 1982, the Royal Navy was tasked to project power well outside the NATO area, a type of operation which—according to the “Defence Review"—it was no longer designed to undertake. Thanks to capable improvisation and the political willingness to accept losses, the operation succeeded, but its implications for the future of the Royal Navy are still being sorted out.

Defence Secretary John Nott’s controversial defense program. The Way Forward, published in June 1981, was based on a number of premises that were regarded as imperatives: the need to focus on the Soviet threat, the need to maintain a nuclear deterrent, the need to improve the “tooth-to-tail" ratio of British forces, and the need to keep up with the latest technology. These considerations, particularly the last two, all but dictated the structure of the navy program. Concern over the "tooth-to-tail" ratio, which was particularly bad in the Royal Navy, led to the decision to deactivate two of the four main dockyards, which. |ⁿ turn, made it impossible to maintain as many ships in the fleet as before or

to give them mid-life modernizations-

One result was the adoption of a “shor t- lifing” policy, which called for ^|C" tirement of escorts after only 15 y^ears of very active service. Concern over technology meant that high-technology projects (primarily SSNs and new type’s of missiles, torpedoes, and electronics and their production facilities won be largely immune from the cuts, further increasing the pressure on othe programs. The result, as reported las year, was a fleet that was to contain four ballistic missile submarines, ^Ivv0 ASW carriers, 50 escorts (including eight in standby reserve). 17 nucleai attack submarines, and unspecifie numbers of diesel submarines and mu^K warfare craft. In addition to cutbacks in ships, l(),()()() naval personnel billets- mostly senior, would be lost.

Ten months after receiving this news- the Royal Navy found itself fightinf- the wrong war at the right time—the wrong war because, according to “Defence Review,” the fleet was longer optimized for this type conflict; the right time because mos of the ships that were to have beep deleted under the "Defence Review had not yet been lost to the fleet. 1 story of the Falklands War will be to elsewhere, but two points relevant to the future of the Royal Navy need to be mentioned here. First, almost the entire navy saw action in the war. ^/'^s Table 3 shows, the percentage of ship* in the more important categories ⁰ combatants engaged before 14 -I¹¹¹¹⁰ approached or reached 100% . Secon ^ the events of the war—notably th^e ^°^sS of the Sheffield, Coventry, Ante lop¹ • Ardent, Sir Cudahad, and Ath'"¹¹¹^ Conveyer in what was otherwise <■ successful campaign—have provide the British with many lessons whic are bound to affect the fleet's futurv-

The badly damaged tank landing ship Sir Tristram, shown here at Port Stanley last September, was almost the seventh major British ship lost in the fight against Argentina over the Falkland Islands.