By Lan Tian

蓝天

Recently, the UK media reported that the UK is poised to send an aircraft carrier to the Red Sea to counter drone and missile attacks from the Houthi group. This move has attracted widespread attention at a time when tensions in the Red Sea are growing.

近日，英国媒体报道称，英国计划向红海派遣航母，以对抗也门胡塞武装的无人机和导弹袭击。在红海局势日益紧张之时，英国此举引起了广泛关注。

UK actively participates in Red Sea escort

积极参与“红海护航”

Since the outbreak of a new round of Palestine-Israel conflict on October 7, 2023, Yemen's Houthis have targeted "Israel-linked ships" in the Red Sea to show support for Palestine. To this end, the US led the formation of a Red Sea escort alliance called Operation Prosperity Guardian in December 2023. The UK actively responded by sending its destroyer, the HMS Diamond, to join the escort fleet from the very beginning.

自2023年10月7日新一轮巴以冲突爆发后，为显示对巴勒斯坦的支持，也门胡塞武装在红海水域针对“与以色列有关船只”进行袭击。为此，美国于2023年12月牵头组建名为“繁荣卫士”红海护航联盟。英国积极响应，从一开始就派出英国海军“钻石”号驱逐舰加入护航队伍。

The reason why the UK participated in the Red Sea escort was far more political than military, and the purpose of deliberately showing its strength played a large part in it. However, due to its own weak strength, the UK is in the awkward position of lacking troops and forces and has achieved minimal "results". Most of the strikes against the Houthis have been undertaken by the US Navy.

英国之所以参加红海护航，政治因素远大于军事因素，刻意显示实力的目的在其中占有很大的比重。但由于本身实力不济，英国实际上处于出兵、出力都不多的尴尬境地，取得的“战果”也微乎其微，对胡塞武装的打击行动也大部分由美国海军承担。英国之所以参加红海护航，政治因素远大于军事因素，刻意显示实力的目的在其中占有很大的比重。

UK finds it difficult to hide weak strength

难掩实力不济的颓势

Despite the UK Royal Navy's active involvement in the Red Sea escort missions, the fact of its continuous decline is hard to conceal. According to data from the UK Ministry of Defense, the British Royal Navy currently only has 18 surface combat vessels in active service, which is far fewer than the 296 ships of the US Navy and even less than the 40 ships of the French Navy. Due to frequent breakdowns and maintenance issues with its vessels, the actual number of available vessels may be even lower.

尽管英国海军在红海护航中表现积极，却难掩不断衰退的事实。据英国国防部数据，英国海军现役水面作战舰艇仅有18艘，这远远低于美国海军的296艘，甚至也低于法国海军的40艘。由于英国海军舰艇经常出现故障和维修问题，导致实际可用的舰艇数量可能更少。

The fundamental reason for this situation is "lack of funds," which is directly related to cuts in defense budgets. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the UK's annual defense budget decreased from USD 54.5 billion to USD 48.1 billion between 2010 and 2020, a decrease of 11.7 percent. Its share of GDP also dipped from 2.5 percent in 2010 to 1.8 percent in 2020.

之所以出现这种情况，“缺钱”是根本原因，即与其国防预算的缩减有直接关系。据国际和平研究所数据，英国年度国防预算在2010年至2020年间，从545亿美元降至481亿美元，下降了11.7%。其占国内生产总值的比例，也从2010年的2.5%降至2020年的1.8%。

Due to insufficient investment, the Royal Navy suffers from a severe manpower shortage and it has become a crisis. According to the UK Ministry of Defense, the number of new recruits for the Navy and Marines decreased by 22.1 percent in 2024 compared to that of 2023. Earlier this year, due to manpower shortages, the Royal Navy even announced the premature retirement of two frigates, highlighting the severity of the manpower shortage.

由于投入不足，导致海军严重“缺人”，人员短缺是英国海军正在面对的严重危机。据英国国防部数据显示，2024年英国海军和海军陆战队的新兵人数比上一年减少了22.1%。今年年初，由于人力短缺，英国海军甚至宣布不得不提前退役两艘护卫舰，缺人严重的情况可见一斑。

Royal Navy makes its presence everywhere

四处刷存在感的英国海军

Despite facing such a severe decline, the Royal Navy has been striving to make its presence everywhere in recent years for political reasons. As early as 2021, the Royal Navy deployed the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier strike group to the Western Pacific for a so-called "global deployment operation." In December 2023, during a visit to Japan, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps indicated that a Royal Navy aircraft carrier strike group would visit Japan again in 2025. If it materializes, it will be the second deployment of a UK naval aircraft carrier to the Asia-Pacific region.

尽管面临如此严重的衰退境地，出于政治原因，英国海军近几年却到处刷存在感。早在2021年，英国海军就曾派出“伊丽莎白女王”号航母打击群，前往西太平洋执行所谓的“全球航行行动”。2023年12月，前往日本访问的英国国防大臣沙普斯表示，英国海军航母打击群将于2025年再次访问日本。如果成行，将是该国海军航母第二次前来亚太部署。

As the UK is a country outside the region, its move is intended to promote its own Asia-Pacific policy. On the one hand, as part of the implementation of the "Global Britain" strategy, it must demonstrate its influence beyond Europe in the Asia-Pacific region. On the other hand, as an important measure to strengthen the UK-US alliance, the UK must respond to the so-called Pacific Deterrence Initiative proposed by the US and follow the US's increased military presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

作为域外国家，英国此举意在推行自己的亚太政策。一方面，作为落实“全球英国”战略组成部分，英国要在亚太地区显示其超出欧洲范围的影响力；另一方面，作为强化英美同盟的重要举措，英国要响应美国提出的所谓“太平洋威慑倡议”，紧跟美国加大在亚太地区的军事存在。

At the same time, the UK has begun to increase its investment in equipment construction and force building, intending to mitigate its overall decline as much as possible through "patchwork" capacity building. However, facing the awkward situation of lacking funds and personnel, whether the UK can sustain its ambitions and ensure the implementation of its global strategy remains to be further observed.

同时，英国开始加大在装备建设和力量建设上的投入，意图通过“打补丁”式的能力建设，尽可能弥补整体上的颓势。但是面临“缺钱”又“缺人”的尴尬境地，英国是否能够支撑起自己的“雄心壮志”，保障全球战略的实施，还有待进一步观察。

Editor's note: Originally published on zqb.cyol.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.