As Russia Ramps Up Military Production And Conscription - UK Navy Has So Few Sailors It Has To Decommission Ships

5th January 2024

New frigates unable to be manned unless two existing warships are taken out of service.

The Royal Navy has so few sailors that it has to decommission two warships to staff its new class of frigates, The Telegraph can reveal.

HMS Westminster, which was recently refurbished at huge expense to the taxpayer, and HMS Argyll will be decommissioned this year.

The crews will be sent to work across the new fleet of Type 26 frigates as they come into service.

It comes as the Armed Forces experience a significant recruitment crisis, with the Navy having suffered a collapse in the flow of new recruits into the service.

Read the full story in the Telegraph HERE

Russia's military and war-related spending is set to rise sharply in 2024 under new federal budget plans for 2024-26 signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on 27 November. The plans suggest that the Russian government is committed to pursuing the war to a successful conclusion but are based on questionable economic assumptions, according to a detailed analysis by Professor Julian Cooper of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The report estimates that at 12 765 billion roubles (around US$140 billion), Russia's planned military spending in 2024 would be 29 per cent higher in real terms than in 2023, representing 7.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 35 per cent of all government expenditure.
More HERE