The Case For a 'National Flagship'.

 

The Prime Minister has confirmed that the UK will obtain a new ‘national flagship’, to be crewed by the Royal Navy, at a cost of approximately £200m, and which is due to enter service in around four years’ time. This vessel will be the putative successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia.

The intention is that this ship will serve as a ‘flagship’ for the nation, offering accommodation, conference spaces and the ability to serve as a means of representing the UK abroad. The ship will not be a Royal Yacht but will presumably be outfitted to a standard intended to represent the Royal Family and others in conducting diplomacy abroad.

The news has had a mixed reaction, with some questioning why now, and others questioning whether this is the best use of resources at a time when the Defence budget is already stretched. Others wonder what the value is in a floating flagship at a time when the world is digitally interconnected.

Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright

The old Royal Yacht served a variety of functions. A floating palace, she was designed at a time when long haul travel by air was unusual and time consuming. The BRITANNIA entered service when troopships were still used to take families to the Far East, and when the world was not connected through a global network of airlines capable of reaching anywhere within 24hrs.

As a Royal Yacht, she offered the ability for the Royal Family and Government to travel to the furthest flung reaches of the Empire and Commonwealth, including the more difficult to reach island regions, and do so in relative comfort and ease. On arrival, she offered secure and comfortable accommodation that could be used to conduct talks, diplomatic negotiations, or discrete discussions over a glass of wine or two. Her presence formed a visible symbol of the United Kingdom, and the sight of the Band of the Royal Marines conducting the ‘Sunset’ ceremony as part of a cocktail party helped stamp an indelible impression on many people.

She had a wider role too, acting as a theoretical hospital ship in a crisis, and under the continuity of government plans, would have embarked elements of a PYTHON group in the event of WW3, finding a discrete Scottish sea loch to shelter in with the remnants of the Royal Family and Government ministers.

The Yacht was an integral backdrop to the first 40 years of the Queens reign, being present at some of the most important diplomatic events and playing her own part in history. Embarking the Royal Family, she attended fleet reviews, withdrawals from Empire, and even took part in evacuations. She was a hard worked vessel that played a vital role in what is now called ‘soft power’.

The decision to not replace BRITANNIA remains controversial to this day – some supported the decision to help reduce the perceived privilege of the monarchy, while others bemoaned the loss of the platform that helped open doors and carried out a vital ‘soft power’ role abroad.

If, as planned then the UK acquires a new flagship, the question is ‘what will she do’? There is a very compelling case to be made for a new vessel, whether it is a ‘Royal Yacht’ or a flagship, and it is important that it is made.

At its most basic the vessel offers a floating hub that can be used as a base for trade missions, diplomatic discussions and other delicate negotiations. Prepositioned into a region, she can act as a hub for VIPS, providing secure accommodation when required, as well as the appropriate communications and other support needed to help keep delegations on the road.

If for example the UK Government wanted to focus diplomatic attention on a specific region, it could use the presence of the ship as a floating embassy, sailing through a region for a sustained period, perhaps with an embarked Royal Marines band, and appropriate force protection.

The ship can move from port to port, arriving as a secure hub to enable Government Ministers to use her as a base for trade talks, and offer hospitality and support. The ship can be used as a backdrop to open doors – for example, the presence of a senior member of the Royal Family onboard, inviting senior foreign government representatives to supper may be enough to ensure their attendance, helping in turn improve relations and permit discrete lobbying for vital contracts that support UK industry.

It is best to think of this ship not as a floating palace, but a very visible manifestation of the thing that the UK excels at, which is soft power and influence. The power of the brand of the Royal Family globally is incredible, as is anything linked to them. This can be used a significant force multiplier when it comes to trying to push the case for the UK’s interests.

For example, if the ship deploys to South East Asia in support of a series of major trade shows, then she can be used as a floating embassy. At these events many companies and governments will seek to hold receptions, or other events where they can lobby for business and contracts. Usually these are held in a variety of high-end hotels or other interesting locations.

If you have a vessel present in a harbour to support a major international trade exhibition, then you can extend an invite to drinks onboard the Queens flagship. The power of this is likely to be a significantly more powerful inducement than an invite to the random business hotel downtown for senior officials and decision makers – who would not want to go for drinks on the yacht?

This may sound trite, but it does make a significant difference. Diplomacy and business are about the lobbying, influencing and delicate relationship building needed to manoeuvre other people into a position where they are prepared to do something you’d like them to do – be that sign a multibillion pound contract or agree to support an international diplomatic effort. You need to lay the groundwork before you can get people to a point where they feel comfortable working with you.

The value of a ship in this is that she presents the perfect hosting point – she can provide secure accommodation for VIP’s and conference space for discussions. The practical logistical support offered by the vessel is significant – she provides a platform to host these talks, hold seminars and all the other ‘soft power’ functions of state that would need to be done anyway, and do so in a way that is memorable.

Different nations can do things in different ways – the French for example are renowned for their elegant use of government owned chateaus with well stocked wine cellars to host visiting delegations interested in purchasing French defence products. Why not make a good impression, and help build some goodwill that may have an intangible impact on helping shift the contract award your way?

There is a strong case that as the UK focuses on a philosophy of ‘global Britain’ and seeks to stand out as a nation in a world of increasingly integrated trade blocs, that every opportunity should be taken to find ways to stand out and be recognised. The Integrated Review calls for much better use of soft power and making use of both the value of assets like the Red Arrows or our cultural heritage and history in a way that can sell the story of the nation. There is no shame in being proud of our history, or in building a ship that embodies this story to the world and helps showcase the UK as a proud confident nation with a long history and an exciting future ahead – a national flagship sits comfortably with the concept of the UK as a mercantile trading nation with saltwater running through its veins.

That said, while there is no doubt that there are hugely compelling arguments in favour of the construction of a new ‘national flagship’, there are also several significant challenges too that need to be addressed.

The first and most obvious concern is ‘where is the money coming from’? The ship will be crewed by the Royal Navy, which implies that the construction and through life costs will be funded by the MOD. Yet in the Integrated Review, no mention was made of this concept of a flagship, either in the Equipment Programme, or the wider fleet structure.

In practical terms this means that barely months after completing a major defence and security review to work out the right force structures and procurement plans, the Royal Navy now has to find an additional £200m from somewhere to build a previously unplanned ship.

Unless the Treasury is suffering from an uncharacteristic outbreak of generosity this means that the money must be found from within the existing budget. We know, according to the National Audit Office that the MOD is already potentially up to £15bn in the red with its current equipment programme woes, with most pressure falling in the next couple of years.

If the aspiration is to begin construction next year, then this places an immediate and previously unplanned £200m pressure on the procurement budget. To put the vessel on contract means finding cash from somewhere else – which if it is not new money, in turn means implementing defence cuts to pay for it. What are the projects that the Royal Navy is going to have to defer, descope or delete to pay for a new national flagship?

There is an issue too over the construction of the vessel. Which yards will be used to build this ship, and will she be built to commercial or military standards? Part of the appeal of a military crew is that the ship can discretely carry certain equipment, like secure communications equipment and other important items to help support the business of government.

However, building the ship to full military standards of survivability will raise the cost, and reduce the yards able to bid for the work. The nightmare scenario is that the price rises, or that there is no UK yard able to deliver the vessel in the timelines required – for a prestige project such as this, ensuring that the ship is not built in parts abroad and sent to the UK will be critical. This is a huge opportunity for UK shipbuilding to take and will help provide more work as part of the much larger planned investment in shipbuilding in the years to come.

The design will be interesting, because it will determine whether the Royal Navy receives a vessel that is truly bespoke, providing all manner of supply chain issues for a singleton vessel, or if it is based in part on existing military systems. One often forgotten fact about the BRITANNIA is that she was in part built derived on the Type 12 frigate design, adding some commonality in terms of parts and equipment.

If though the ship is equipped without standard military fixtures or systems, expect to see costs rise throughout the ships life as the RN continues to maintain a ‘one off’ design separate to all its other hulls.

The next challenge is that even if the Treasury provide the cash to build the ship, this still gives the RN a challenge in terms of finding the people to crew it. Although the numbers may seem small (lets assume a crew of 150), that means that 150 new and previously unplanned for billets have to be filled from somewhere.

Career management for the RN is always a challenge, moving people around different posts in the right time to ensure that people get the combination of sea time, time ashore with family and time to do professional training too to promote. There are only about 15,000 people in the surface navy, and each branch (engineering, logistics and warfare) all have different numbers of people to ensure that the right mixture of ranks and rates can be properly filled.

Finding 150 new bodies, on a ship which is unlikely to be able to have a ‘gapped’ (e.g, not filled billet) is going to be a challenge and place significant additional pressure on the RN at a time when it is introducing a wide range of new ship classes into service. The 2020s promise to be an exciting decade for the Royal Navy, but the timelines under consideration are going to see this new flagship enter service at the same rough time as the Type 26, Type 31 and MROSS surface ships, which could in turn place very severe pressure on the RN.

That’s not to say it can’t be done, but if the flagship enters service and provides the same elegant and timeless service that the ‘Yachties’ were renowned for, this will resemble a swan – serene and graceful above the surface, with career managers desperately thrashing below the waterline to balance off the competing requirements on their people.

The wider challenge is whether it will be possible in an increasingly puritan age to use the vessel in a manner that befits it properly. We live in an age where there is increasing scrutiny of the appropriateness of using public money to fund anything deemed discretionary or a luxury item – it is understandable that the taxpaying public want to ensure their money is being spent appropriately. It is understandable that people would not want to see their hard-earned money being spent on gin and canapes at a time when they see their local council closing services down due to a lack of funds.

The big challenge that will be faced is trying to show how the vessel makes a net contribution to the economy and the quality of peoples lives. The days have long gone when a ship could sail into port and host a cocktail party for the sake of it. There needs to be a clear audit trail that shows that for the sake of £200m investment of money, and annual running costs, this has generated a net gain to the taxpayer in jobs and wider benefits.

Trying to define this may be a challenge – if, for example, the ship was used to host trade delegations at a cost, perhaps embarking them for a period of time with accommodation and conference space, then it could be used to turn a profit. But part of the timeless appeal of the BRITANNIA was that she rose above the perception of profit and loss and was a seamless part of the fabric of the nation. Trying to strike a balance between an elegant national flagship and avoiding being a tawdry ‘boat for hire’ to allcomers may be a real challenge.

If the perception emerged that the UK public had bought a vessel that was being used by major companies as a charter vessel, and which the Royal Navy was having to provide people for, then this would be an uncomfortable situation to be in. Ensuring that the ship steps above commercial sensitivities, and is seen as part of the HMG estate, providing support to UK interests globally will be key here.

There is much to be said for looking at this as the purchase of a capability that can meet the soft power aspirations of the Integrated Review. Looking at the recapitalisation of the official VIP travel, we can see a situation emerging where a Royal delegation arrives in a nation aboard the new ‘GBNI’ jet, proudly flying the Union flag.

On arrival they conduct meetings and talks, before retiring to secure accommodation aboard the flagship, prior to hosting a large-scale cocktail party for local dignitaries, providing an unmatched lobbying opportunity for industry and government officials to network together. Later after the Band of the Royal Marines performs ‘Sunset’, they can host a private dinner onboard with the Head of State, conducting vital diplomatic duties and smoothing over contentious issues.

The next day the vessel sails for the open ocean, proudly flying the White Ensign as a symbol of her status as a commissioned vessel in the Royal Navy, and floating embassy for the British Government, and carrying the Royal Party to another small island nation to begin all over again. It would be a return to a very British style of diplomacy.