| A THIRD of the Royal Navy's ageing fleet will be axed under sweeping changes to be unveiled on Wednesday. Three of the Navy's oldest destroyers and two frigates will be scrapped, along with two minehunters and two nuclear subs. Defence secretary Geoff Hoon needs to slash MoD spending — and the outdated vessels earmarked for cuts have become a costly extravagance. They will be replaced with two supercarriers and the most up-to-date fighting systems. A leading defence official said last night: "We aren't fighting big sea battles any more. What we need is to be at the cutting edge and a lot of these ships no longer have any value." The cuts follow Gordon Brown's recent Government spending review. |