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Paragraph (16)
In discussion of the proposal in paragraph 48(a) of the main report to
introduce a new class of cruiser into the fleet, the view was expressed that,
instead of building ships as large as 10,000 tons at a cost of £30 million
each, with command facilities, an air defence capability and strike
reconnaissance helicopters in the same hull, it might be preferable to build
larger numbers of smaller specialised ships, thus reducing the loss in
capability that would be suffered if a single ship were lost. also expressed about the validity of the estimates of cost for the ship and
its weapons and for the naval shipbuilding and weapons programe generally. It was suggested that, before any announcement was made of decisions which
would commit us to the general shape of the future fleet, further
consideration was required.
Doubts were
On the other hand, it was stated that the naval shipbuilding programme,
of which the proposed cruiser was an essential elemont, had been carefully
designed as the combination which was the most cost-effective within
available resources for carrying out the tasks which the fleet would have to undertake. Although there could be no certainty about the estimate of cost,
much of the expenditure required on the development of the necessary weapons
systems had already been incurred and estimated costs would be contained
within the defence budget proposed in the defence expenditure studies which also included a contingency allowance; if despite this costs were to rise
the numbers of ships would have to be reduced. As regards the tonnage of the proposed cruiser, it would not be possible to accommodate SEA KING helicopters in a ship materially smaller than 10,000 tons and, since we
could not afford to provide ships of this size for this purpose alone, we
had to accept the risk of putting command facilities, air defence and an
offensive and reconnaissance capability into the same hull. It was not necessary, however, at this stage for the Committee to approve a detailed
specification and weapon systems for the proposed cruiser; no commitment on
the hull would be required until about 1972 and detailed examination had
still to take place in the Ministry of Defence; it was essential, however,
that the general shape of the proposed fleet, including a cruiser of about
10,000 tons, should be approved and announced in the forthcoming Defence
White Paper.
In discussion of proposals for the future size and shape of the Army
outlined in paragraph 45 of the main report, the view was expressed that the
proposed reduction of about a third in the number of infantry battalions in
the Army was disproportionately large. This reduction was due however to
the change in the nature of the military tasks entailed by the large
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