Higher costs of the navy are structural, more about the measures taken for 2021
Last modified: 17-11-2020
The fact that the navy has to cut its plans for 2021 has to do with structurally higher costs. With budgets unchanged, the shortages will also return after 2021, a spokesman reports to Marineschepen.nl. In this article more about the measures for 2021.
Mine hunter Zr.Ms. Urk is against the side and is on its way to an unknown destination: early retirement? (Photo: Jaime Karremann / Marineschepen.nl)Yesterday the navy announced by means of a video clip that measures must be taken to be able to present a balanced budget. Marineschepen.nl wrote an article about it on Sunday evening that was read frequently on Monday. And that is understandable, because this was also news to many employees.
"If there had not been a corona, we would have invited all commanders and chief of the equipages for presentations and an exchange of ideas," says the navy spokesman in a telephone conversation with Marineschepen.nl. "Then you quickly reach 150 people and that is not possible now."
The navy wanted to communicate quickly and transparently about the measures, and decided to do so through the publicly accessible staff magazine Alle Hens .
Structurally higher costs
Although in the responses to Sunday's message, the word cuts were often mentioned, these are not cuts imposed by The Hague (or the EU). The Royal Netherlands Navy Command (CZSK) will receive the same budget next year as in 2020, but the CZSK can do less with that. The cause of the impending shortages is higher costs. There was no single setback or a temporary cost item, it is a combination. For example, the employment conditions that have improved, but the costs of which are higher than expected. In addition, old ships are expensive to maintain, Dutch naval ships are getting older and more expensive. Another cause, more generally, is that many things have become more expensive, especially military items.
The worrying thing is that the problems cannot be solved with one economical year. More money will have to be added structurally or the navy will also have to do less in the future.
Adjusting
Adjustments to stay within the budget has always been the case, but in the past the navy had more room to shift within its own budget. That space no longer seems to exist. For example, what was done in the past to solve imminent shortages was to use the money left over from vacancies for spare parts. That is no longer possible.
Knife has to cut on three sides
When selecting the measures that should at least solve the problems before 2021, an attempt was made not to look only at the money. "We have looked across the board. You want the knife to cut both ways: it must generate money, we want to deploy people elsewhere and we want the CDS [Commander of the Armed Forces, JK] to still perform the mission . "
As announced yesterday, a mine hunter is being taken out of service. It concerns HNLMS. Urk. The crew of this ship will not be sent home. Personal agreements have been made with them, the navy reports, about follow-up positions. Some are redistributed to other Mine Service Units (they fill vacancies), others remain on the Urk until the unit is taken out of service and the necessary detail has been deposited, yet others are already sorting ahead of the future by being placed on the Geosea that is used. prepared for the arrival of the new mine countermeasures. The Navy was also short of personnel on the Geosea. This was already the intention, but then later.
And what will happen to the Urk? That is still uncertain. This may be taken into reserve, but the almost 34-year-old ship could also be decommissioned.
Defense receives more money
There will be no cutbacks on Defense. In total, Defense will receive more than one billion euros extra in 2021, and the Defense budget will then be approximately 11 billion euros. A lot of money, however, goes to the Defense Materiel Fund, the army, Defense Support Command (DOSCO) and the nuclear department also receive their money to spend, which is more than 800 million for the navy. The Air Force gets a little less than the Navy. The budget also showed on Budget Day that the navy, or rather the Commando Naval Forces (CZSK), would receive more if the funds were transferred to the Defense Materiel Fund, but that is not what is now experienced in Den Helder. The budgets that are used for calculations hardly differ from 2020.
Old fleet with fewer parts
Another measure is to buy fewer spare parts. Years ago this caused major problems. Nevertheless, the navy feels compelled to cut back on this point again. It must be said that more parts have been purchased in recent years.
The stop on civilian personnel is less serious than it seems, the navy is already above the 100% fill level.
HNLMS Zeeland on the North Sea. (Photo: Jaime Karremann / Marineschepen.nl)Patrol ships less on the North Sea
Postponing maintenance of HNLMS. Zeeland means that fewer tasks can be completed by the patrol ships. The West remains the priority for these OPVs, the navy will be able to continue to perform those tasks. But the OPVs were also active on the North Sea, which the navy will be able to do less with an OPV against the shore.
Here, too, the knife cuts on several sides. Because postponement of maintenance saves money, it also saves capacity at the Materiel Preservation Service (DMI). And at DMI there are still Portuguese M-frigates for an update, so more attention can be paid to those ships so that they can also be on the road again.
Marines do not do jungle training to United States
Yesterday it was announced about the Marine Corps that exercises would be canceled. Specifically, it concerns the jungle training and a life firing exercise in Curacao. According to the spokesperson, this is a matter of priorities, because the mountain training and winter training in Norway will continue. As well as a great exercise in the United States. "There we can use a large training area, with planes and fire support, something that we otherwise cannot provide," said the spokesman.
Not dramatic
What applies to the Marine Corps, also applies to other parts of the navy: some things will not happen, many others will. The navy wants to emphasize through the spokesman, "that the measures should not be done too dramatically either. The navy is not standing still in 2021. If you look at the OJP [Operational Annual Plan, JK], that is not a blank page. Marines are going to the US, the Evertsen is going to the East with a British squadron, there is a lot of commitment in NATO squadrons. "
https://marineschepen.nl/nieuws/Waarom-marine-plannen-2021-moet-wijzigen-161120.htmlAssim haja vontade em reequipar um pouco a nossa Marinha, a oportunidade está bem perto é só aproveitá-la e conseguimos de uma assentada adquirir três a quatro unidades de superfície e a Armada voltar a ter capacidade de desminagem, valência essa que em termos de Navios, desapareceu há quase trinta anos, com as quatro unidades da classe S. Roque.
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classe_S%C3%A3o_RoqueAbraços
