Cheap missiles threaten Navy's billion pound warships, think tank warns

HMS Queen Elizabeth on sea trials - © Crown copyright This image may be used for current news purposes only. It may not be used, reproduced or transmitted for any other purpose.
HMS Queen Elizabeth on sea trials - © Crown copyright This image may be used for current news purposes only. It may not be used, reproduced or transmitted for any other purpose.

Britain’s costly warships and aircraft are at risk from potential enemies because of rapid advances in their missile and surveillance technology, a respected think tank has warned.

Technological leaps by rivals such as Russia and China have eroded the military dominance once taken for granted by the West, the paper from the Royal United Services Institute says.

The report singles out Chinese and Russian long range missiles “which threaten large land, maritime and air platforms” and could knock out satellite-based communications and positioning systems that Western militaries have become reliant on.

In this image provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service and released on Friday, June 23, 2017, long-range Kalibr cruise missiles are launched by a Russian Navy ship in the eastern Mediterranean - Credit:  Russian Defense Ministry Press Service
Russia and China have both invested heavily in precision missile technology Credit: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service

The report warns that “missiles costing (much) less than half a million pounds a unit could at least disable a British aircraft carrier that costs more than £3 billion. Indeed, a salvo of ten such missiles would cost less than $5 million.”

The report goes on: “China and Russia appear to have focused many (but not all) their efforts on being able to put at risk the key Western assets that are large, few in number and expensive.”

The Royal Navy has said its new carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, will be well defended from missile attack by its destroyer and frigate escort.

But the report says that “the advancing capabilities of potential adversaries of the UK should be a genuine concern”.

The report echoes Pentagon calls for a new technological revolution to again give Western militaries an edge against rivals.

However it points out that Britain has dramatically scaled back spending on finding defence technology of the future.

The research budget has fallen by 27 per cent since 2003 and the development budget has fallen by more than half.

The report said: “The weight of evidence in the public domain supports the view that Russia and China have developed the surveillance and precision strike capabilities to put at serious risk Western surface ships, large military aircraft and arguably any land system, even the most heavily armoured.”

The West can no longer rely on its space-based communications either. China has spent years developing anti-satellite missiles.

“There are some fears that China would launch a mass attack on US satellites as the initial step in a major war,” the report warns.