Revealed: The £105m savings from scrapping Ark Royal

The controversial decision to scrap the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal will save a total of £105million by 2015.

Official figures showed withdrawing the vessel from service would save £10 million in 2011/12 rising to £35 million in 2014/15. Plans to withdraw the Ark Royal's sister ship HMS Illustrious from service in 2014 would save a further £35 million by 2015.

Final journey: The decommissioned aircraft carrier makes its final journey out of Loch Long into the Clyde in November 17, 2010 in Helensburgh, Scotland

The figures were released in a parliamentary written answer by defence minister Andrew Robathan in reply to Tory Andrew Rosindell (Romford). Mr Robathan said: 'Savings from the withdrawal from service of HMS Ark Royal in December 2010 are estimated at £10 million in financial year 2011/12, £25 million in 2012/13, £35 million in 2013/14 and £35 million in 2014/15.

'Savings from the withdrawal from service of HMS Illustrious in 2014, which is our present planning assumption, are estimated at £5 million in 2013/14 and £30 million in 2014/15.'

The Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) decision to withdraw the Ark Royal and its fleet of Harriers from service has left the Royal Navy without the ability to launch jets at sea.

HMS Illustrious will operate as a helicopter carrier until HMS Ocean returns to service after a refit in 2014.

Leading military figures last month warned David Cameron that the decisions had undermined the armed forces' ability to mount crucial operations.

Signatories to a private letter to the Prime Minister, reported by the Daily Telegraph, included Field Marshal Lord Bramall, a former chief of the defence staff; Major General Julian Thompson, the Falklands commander; and Admiral Sir Jeremy Black who commanded the carrier Invincible in the Falklands.

They called for a 'rapid re-evaluation' of the SDSR, which they described as 'unduly trusting in an uncertain, fast-moving and dangerous world'.

Source: Daily Mail. 7 March 2011

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