49: The Royal Navy - Its Decline and Struggle to Survive Pt1

In the first instalment of a two part discussion host Iain Ballantyne talks to returning guest Lee Pilgrim about the State of the Royal Navy and its decline over the past 20-30 years.

Topics they tackle in this initial helping include: the shortage of Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers; Britain’s enduring dependency on the sea; seablindness that sees governments good at lawfare but poor at wielding military, and especially naval, power; the habit of reacting to events that need a naval/military response, rather than forward planning to handle them; whether or not the hybrid navy concept will be the RN’s saviour. Does it run the risk of focusing on autonomous systems that are years away from being full-fledged capabilities while the current fleet perishes?

They discuss how the UK needs to focus on the now, not the tomorrow when it comes to defence. Also commented on is the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP). It is seemingly another example of a government dodging hard decisions in boosting defence and kicking the can down the road.

Iain and Lee also discuss the disease of defence short-termism and the UK taking capability holidays and expecting allies to fill in gaps torn in sovereign defence - something those allies may not always be willing to do.

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The June 2026 edition of Warships IFR is now out and among its features are: the Black Sea mine menace; Australia’s naval boost; the Royal Navy countering Russian intrusions into seas off the UK; the Iran War and its global consequences; the second part of a series on the ill-fated Dardanelles-Gallipoli campaign on WW1.

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•Lee Pilgrim has worked in defence and intelligence - for government and industry - for over 30 years, in the UK and overseas, so has some useful insights into a broad spectrum of topics.
His social media posts on X are well worth a read, so follow him on there @MtarfaL He has also written numerous articles for Warships IFR and contributed to its ‘Guide to the Royal Navy 2026’.

•Iain Ballantyne is the founding and current Editor of ‘Warships IFR’ magazine (first published in 1998) along with its ‘Guide to the Royal Navy’ (since 2003) and ‘Guide to the US Navy’ (since 2018). Iain is also author of the books ‘Hunter Killers’ (Orion) and ‘The Deadly Trade’ (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), both about submarine warfare, plus ‘Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron’ and ‘Bismarck: 24 Hours to Doom’ (both published by Canelo). In 2017 Iain was awarded a Fellowship by the British Maritime Foundation, which promotes awareness of the United Kingdom’s dependence on the sea and seafarers.
Visit his web site Bismarckbattle.com and follow him on
X @IBallantyn Instagram.com/iballantyn Bluesky iainballantyne.bsky.social