“Britannia doesn't rule the waves anymore”
, could we sum up when reading the
Telegraph
, which is concerned about the absence of ground strike capabilities of the British navy, engaged alongside the United States in their fight against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Like those of the US Navy and the French Navy, Royal Navy ships have participated in recent months in intercepting missiles and drones fired by Iran's proxies which threaten international maritime traffic.
Again this Tuesday, a British commercial ship was hit in the Red Sea.
But His Majesty's Navy, due to a lack of specific weapons, was unable to join recent American strikes against Houthi land installations.
For lack of anything better, London had to rely on the deployment of
Typhoon
combat planes from the Royal Air Force,
“based 400 kilometers”
from the area, specifies the British daily.
“Mk41 Gym”
And for good reason: the six imposing Type 45 destroyers, which form the backbone of the British high seas fleet and one of which - the
HMS Daring - is currently deployed in the Red Sea, only have
"Sea Viper"
as missiles
- anti-aircraft weapons which also equip French frigates, under the name
“Aster”
in France.
On the other hand, due to lack of sufficient budget, the space initially planned at the bow of these ships to accommodate American “Tomahawk” cruise missiles, dedicated to ground strikes, has remained empty since their admission to active service from 2009 Not completely empty, however... since this compartment accommodates a gymnasium equipped with treadmills, reports the
Telegraph
, a bit circumspect.
In reality, the British daily does not reveal a big secret: these sports facilities had already been revealed by the specialized press which named this sports hall the
“Mk41 Gym”
, from the name of the Mk41 vertical launchers which accommodate the Tomahawk or missiles anti-aircraft SM-2 and SM-3, again American.
“Space in any warship is limited.
Gym equipment can easily be removed if this area is necessary for operational purposes,”
a military source
told the
Telegraph .
This is not new in fact: historically, in submarines for example, the crew often exercises in the torpedo room.
Likewise, on many surface ships, sports facilities are located in munitions storage areas.
Also read: Naval and air drones, missiles... The battle in the Red Sea continues between the Houthi rebels and the coalition
The debate is therefore less about the presence of treadmills for running than about the absence of cruise missiles.
Designed at a time when high-intensity warfare still seemed a distant prospect, Type 45 destroyers, like many European warships, are specialized ships - in this case in air defense - contrary to many navies, Asian in particular and Chinese in particular, which favor the design of multi-mission ships.
In Europe, the French Navy is to date the only fleet which has, with its European multi-mission frigates (FREMM), surface ships capable of deploying
"naval cruise missiles"
(MdCn) - at the cost of defense very limited air travel.
Within the Royal Navy, the Astute
class attack submarines
have Tomahawk cruise missiles - just like the new French
Suffren
of their tricolor equivalent.
But the British submarine fleet, modest in number, must already fulfill a whole range of missions.
“Submarines cannot be everywhere.
They have other tasks to accomplish, such as the collection of intelligence, which is difficult to reconcile with the firing of missiles [for reasons of discretion, Editor's note]"
, specifies to the British daily the naval historian Phil Weir, who defends the development of
“other options”
.
This is in fact already the case across the Channel, since future Type 26 frigates will have MK41 launchers capable of firing Tomahawk missiles.
But these eight new first-rate ships will only be admitted to active service from 2026. Until then, the Royal Navy will have to wait.
“
Tomorrow never dies”
In this evolving context, the British navy does not plan to strengthen the arsenal of its Type 45s with cruise missiles.
However, sailors will soon no longer be able to enjoy their “Mk41 Gym”.
A modernization, which should begin from 2026, provides for the installation in place of the sports hall of additional anti-aircraft launchers, this time for short-range “Sea Ceptor” missiles.
With its long-range “Sea Viper” already present, British destroyers will be able to deploy a total of 72 missiles dedicated to air defense - a record for a European navy.
If the ongoing Red Sea battle off Yemen shows the need for ground strike capabilities, it shows first and foremost the need to ward off saturation drone and missile attacks, which particularly threaten ships. equipped with a small number of anti-aircraft weapons.
And this even if other avenues are gaining ground, such as the use of lasers.
The British also recently achieved a first firing of their future “
DragonFire
” system
.
Read alsoFor the first time, Japan buys 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States
While waiting for these industrial developments to produce their effects on the industrial level, the British press is worried about the limits of its navy, which are not new.
Let us think, for example, of the latest James Bond,
No Time to Die
, where we see a majestic Type 45 destroyer fire a Tomahawk cruise missile against an island where a dangerous terrorist hunted by MI6 has taken refuge.
Already in 1997, in
Tomorrow Never Dies
, a British Type 23 frigate - then brand new - fired the same weapon against a military base in the depths of Russia.
Something militarily impossible in both cases, but that doesn't matter in the cinema.
Except that today, off the coast of Yemen, reality is catching up with fiction.