"We’ll retire old ships and get new ones" - Rush to bring in fresh Royal Navy vessels to meet Nato targets

Armed forces minister Luke Pollard said the UK is having to push its aims to meet the standards of Nato, something which governments have struggled to do for years. This comes as Labour pledges to meet the alliance’s defence spending pledge of five per cent of GDP by 2035 - with 3.5 per cent allocated to pure defence.

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, leader of the defence select committee, said several individuals giving evidence to members have criticised the UK for not meeting Nato capability targets in previous years. Speaking in a meeting today (July 8), he said: “The UK is also at the bottom of the NDPP, the Nato Defence Planning Process (NDPP) capability targets. Would you say that the government is being somewhat disingenuous when it says everything is harmonious with the Nato capability targets?”

Mr Pollard said: “No, I wouldn’t use those words at all. What I would say is that I would apply the situation we inherited a year ago. We know that our armed forces have been hollowed out and underfunded for quite some time. It does mean we have to invest more in our defence and capabilities.”

What are these targets?

Defence ministers agreed to a new set of Nato capability targets in June, which outlined where countries need to invest so the alliance can fulfil all its tasks. The Nato website said this includes specific targets for air and missile defence, long-range weapons, logistics, large land manoeuvre formations and more. They also demand larger forces which are equipped with the right tools and are backed with greater investment in the sector.

NDPP targets measure are set to make sure each Nato member is contributing its fair share of military personnel and equipment. Mr Pollard said that bringing forward spending targets makes it easier for the government to deal with capability gaps across the Royal Navy, Army and RAF.

He echoed the sentiments of former chief of defence staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who said at a previously committee meeting that there will be a transitional phase between old and new. “We have to deal with the fact that for many cases, our stockpiles are not as full as I would have liked them to be,” the minister added.

“The Strategic Defence Review sets out the move to warfighting readiness. That does require us to address some of our capabilities, and reform some of them. That does mean retiring old platforms and bringing on new ones.

“There will be a period of transition from old and new. We have seen that from our early announcements that have been made, retiring HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, two ships that were never planned to go to sea again.”