What kind of Royal Navy does Britain need now? The 21st century promises to be one of huge uncertainties and challenges for the senior service. Does Britain have the right naval strategy to cope with emerging threats (does it have a naval strategy at all, and should it?) and, if so, does the Navy have the right ships and enough of them to implement it? Given the time taken to introduce changes and develop new systems, policymakers, naval chiefs, and designers are confronted with 50-year decisions. But future choices are likely to be clouded by economic uncertainties produced by the current crisis, which could have implications for decades.
