2026年5月16日 美国东部时间下午4:17 / 福克斯新闻网
专家表示，英国皇家海军现役舰艇已在30年间从63艘缩减至仅25艘作战舰艇
作者：迈克尔·桑德斯 福克斯新闻
福克斯新闻专栏作家布雷特·韦利科维奇曾是陆军特种部队情报分析师，他就针对伊朗的持续军事行动发表了评估。
NEW 您现在可以收听福克斯新闻的文章了！
伦敦：英国周二宣布，将部署军事资产“作为未来防御任务的一部分，以保障霍尔木兹海峡的航行自由”。
尽管此举可被视为修复与美国关系的积极一步，但首相基尔·斯塔默拒绝加入美国对伊朗的“史诗之怒行动”，仍激怒了华盛顿方面——尤其是唐纳德·特朗普总统。
特朗普称斯塔默“绝非丘吉尔”。在最近接受天空新闻采访时，这位总统进一步抱怨英国不愿协同作战：“我们向他们求助时，他们不在。我们需要他们时，他们不在……他们现在还是不在。”
TRUMP SLAMS STARMER AS ‘NOT WINSTON CHURCHILL’ FOR REFUSAL TO BACK IRAN STRIKES
（特朗普抨击斯塔默拒绝支持伊朗打击行动，称其“并非温斯顿·丘吉尔”）
2022年5月12日，在北马其顿内戈蒂诺的克里沃拉科军事训练中心，英国士兵参加“快速反应22”军事演习。此次演习有来自北马其顿、阿尔巴尼亚、黑山、希腊、意大利、法国、英国和美国的约4600名士兵参与，展示了北约部队全球部署和全面协作的能力。（罗伯特·阿塔纳索夫斯基/法新社 via 盖蒂图片社）
特朗普今年3月还抨击了英国海军的战备状态，在白宫会议上嘲讽这支舰队。
“英国说，‘我们会派出’——这是三周前的事——‘我们会派出我们的航空母舰’，顺便说一句，那可不是什么优秀的航空母舰，”特朗普据天空新闻报道称，“和我们拥有的相比，它们就是玩具。”
近期两份由顶尖军事专家和议会委员会发布的报告，或许在一定程度上解释了英国为何未以进攻性姿态参战。
在题为《伊朗战争给英国上了一堂关于硬实力的深刻一课》的报告中，英国皇家联合军种国防研究所（RUSI）军事科学主任马修·萨维尔写道：“中东新战争的爆发，引发了人们对英国在国际事务中相关性的质疑。除了合法性和政治层面的辩论，还有一些关于军事力量以及英国武装部队战备现状的残酷事实。”
资料图：2019年10月29日，在英格兰索尔兹伯里的索尔兹伯里平原训练区，英国陆军展示其在全球行动中使用的最新及未来技术，士兵们正在行动。（芬巴尔·韦伯斯特/盖蒂图片社）
尽管这份报告是在战争仍在进行时撰写的，萨维尔指出：“要求向该地区部署更多英国部队并直接参与打击的呼声日益高涨，但政府需要回答一些棘手的问题，包括优先事项以及其可能试图达成的效果。后果是，尽管意图和政策推动了英国的参与，但实际现实将限制英国的行动能力。”
萨维尔补充道：“在防御方面，英国并未无所作为……（英国资产）似乎还包括一些反无人机部队，他们在保卫约旦和伊拉克的行动中击落了伊朗无人机。”
UK DEPLOYING WARSHIP, HELICOPTERS TO CYPRUS AFTER DRONE STRIKE
（无人机袭击后，英国将向塞浦路斯部署军舰和直升机）
2025年10月13日，在埃及沙姆沙伊赫签署加沙停火协议第一阶段后，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普发表讲话，意大利总理焦尔吉娅·梅洛尼和英国首相基尔·斯塔默在旁鼓掌。（伊夫林·霍克斯坦/路透社）
萨维尔写道：“英国面临的挑战是，过去几年里，由于军事压力以及将其他方面列为优先事项的有意识决策，英国武装部队在该地区的承诺和可见存在感一直在收缩，最近一次是在2025年《战略防务评估》提出的‘北约优先’方针下。”
尽管斯塔默政府已承诺到2027年将国防开支提高到GDP的2.5%，但专家警告称，这项投资可能为时已晚，无法在短期内恢复英国的全球力量投射能力。
亨利·杰克逊协会国家安全中心主任约翰·亨明斯告诉福克斯新闻：“过去15年来，英国的军事能力一直系统性地资金不足，卡梅伦首相领导下的2009年和2010年支出审查及削减计划拉开了序幕。当时的《战略防务与安全评估》曾指出，世界正走向一个更加危险的状态，但2008年金融危机的财政重创迫使政府实施了一系列本应是短期的削减。然而，卡梅伦政府将英国武装部队拖入了一场持续至今的螺旋式急剧衰落。”他说道。
TRUMP PRAISED FOR GETTING NATO ALLIES TO BOLSTER DEFENSE SPENDING: ‘REALLY STAGGERING’
（特朗普因促使北约盟友增加国防开支而受到赞扬：“这真的令人震惊”）
2024年10月28日，英国45型驱逐舰“龙号”停泊在英格兰朴茨茅斯皇家海军造船厂。英国于2026年5月12日宣布，将部署自主扫雷设备、反无人机系统，以及台风战机和“龙号”驱逐舰，作为保障霍尔木兹海峡航行自由的未来防御任务的一部分。（马特·卡迪/盖蒂图片社）
亨明斯补充道：“看看英国皇家海军，这是英国首屈一指的军种，也是其大国影响力的来源；63艘现役舰艇中仅有25艘是真正的作战舰艇。这支舰队规模无法承担英国的海外责任，且仅在30年间就削减了50%。1996年，英国拥有22艘护卫舰、17艘潜艇、15艘驱逐舰和3艘航空母舰。如今的第一海务大臣必须用7艘护卫舰、10艘潜艇、6艘驱逐舰和2艘航空母舰来履行同样的职责。此外，英国在国内防空和导弹防御以及先进指挥与控制系统等新能力上投入不足。”
美国海军舰艇发射战斧陆攻导弹以支援“史诗之怒行动”。（美国中央司令部公共事务）
上月，英国上议院国际关系与国防委员会发布了第二份报告，题为《适应新现实：重新平衡英美伙伴关系》，提出了几项关键建议，其中警告称英国过度依赖美国。“尽管英国从与美国的密切防务合作中获益，但这催生了一种依赖文化，导致英国能力下降，并在华盛顿失去了可信度。政府应提供一条明确且有成本核算的路径，以实现将国防开支提高到GDP的5%的承诺。”
尽管国防部未就部队现状回应多次置评请求，但福克斯新闻数字频道此前报道称，英国政府表示正在扭转军队的减员趋势，称截至2026年1月1日，武装部队总人数为182050人，其中包括136960名正规军，较上年有所增加。
点击此处下载福克斯新闻应用程序
英国政府还承诺进行冷战以来规模最大的持续国防开支增长，军事开支到2027年将达到GDP的2.6%，本财年额外拨款50亿英镑（约合66亿美元），本届议会期间国防投资总额达2700亿英镑（近3600亿美元）。英国还表示，目标是在下届议会结束前将国防开支提高到GDP的3%。
分析人士表示，尽管特朗普政府中的一些人将英国的缺席视为对特殊关系的背叛，但其他人可能会认为，这给这个试图在预算不断缩减的情况下维持全球影响力的中等强国上了一堂严酷的现实课。
迈克尔·桑德斯是驻英国记者。
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390595136112
UK defense shortfalls highlighted as Britain avoids Iran offensive role amid Trump criticism
May 16, 2026 4:17pm EDT / Fox News
Royal Navy has shrunk from 63 commissioned vessels to just 25 fighting ships in 30 years, experts say
By Michael Saunders Fox News
Fox News Contributor Brett Velicovich, a former Army special ops intel analyst, provides an assessment of the ongoing military operation against Iran.
NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!
LONDON: The United Kingdom announced Tuesday it will be deploying military assets “as part of a future defensive mission to secure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
While the move can be seen as a positive step in repairing relations with the U.S., Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s reluctance to join the U.S. in “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran has still ruffled feathers in Washington — most notably those of President Donald Trump.
Trump has dismissed Starmer as “no Churchill.” In a recent interview with Sky News, the president further complained about the lack of British alignment: “When we asked them for help, they were not there. When we needed them, they were not there… And they still aren’t there.”
TRUMP SLAMS STARMER AS ‘NOT WINSTON CHURCHILL’ FOR REFUSAL TO BACK IRAN STRIKES
British soldiers take part in the Swift Response 22 military exercise at the Krivolak Military Training Center in Negotino, North Macedonia, on May 12, 2022. The exercise involved approximately 4,600 soldiers from North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Greece, Italy, France, the UK and the US to demonstrate NATO forces’ ability to deploy globally and cooperate fully.(Robert Atanasovski/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump also took aim at the British Navy’s readiness in March, ridiculing the fleet during a White House meeting.
“We had the U.K. say that, ‘We’ll send’— this is three weeks ago — ‘we’ll send our aircraft carriers,’ which aren’t the best aircraft carriers, by the way,” Trump said, according to Sky News. “They’re toys compared to what we have.”
Two recent reports by a leading military expert and a parliamentary committee may, in part, explain why the U.K. didn’t join the war in an offensive measure.
In a report titled, “Iran War Delivers a Tough Lesson in Hard Power to the U.K.,” Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), wrote, “The outbreak of a new war in the Middle East has led to questions about the U.K.’s relevance in international affairs. Alongside debates about legality and politics, there are some hard truths about military power and the reality of the readiness of the U.K.’s armed forces.”
FILE: Soldiers in action as the British Army demonstrate the latest and future technology used on operations across the globe on Salisbury plain training area on October 29, 2019 in Salisbury, England.(Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)
While the report was written with the war still raging on, Savill stated, “Pressure is growing for the deployment of more U.K. forces to the region and direct involvement in strikes, but the government will need to answer difficult questions about prioritization and the effect that it might be trying to achieve. The consequence is that as much as intent and policy drive U.K. involvement, the practical realities will constrain what the U.K. can do.”
Savill added, “On the defensive side, the U.K. has not been idle… [U.K. assets] which also appear to have included some counter-drone units – have been involved in downing Iranian drones while defending Jordan and Iraq.”
UK DEPLOYING WARSHIP, HELICOPTERS TO CYPRUS AFTER DRONE STRIKE
President Donald Trump delivers remarks as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer applaud following the signing of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Oct. 13, 2025.(Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
Savill wrote that “The challenge for the U.K. is that in the past few years, the commitments and visible presence of U.K. Armed Forces in the region have been shrinking, as a result of the pressure on the military, and a conscious decision to prioritize elsewhere, most recently in the ‘NATO First’ approach of the Strategic Defense Review of 2025.”
While the Starmer government has committed to increasing defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, experts warn that this investment may be too late to restore the U.K.’s ability to project power globally in the near term.
John Hemmings, director of the National Security Center at Henry Jackson, told Fox News, “The U.K.’s military capabilities have been systematically underfunded over the past 15 years, with the Spending Review and cuts starting in 2009 and 2010 under Prime Minister David Cameron. The Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) at the time stated that the world was headed in a much more dangerous state, but the fiscal devastation of the 2008 Financial Crisis pushed the Government into a series of cuts that were intended to be short-term. Instead, the Cameron Government sent the U.K.’s armed services into a spiral of terminal decline that has lasted until this day,” he said.
TRUMP PRAISED FOR GETTING NATO ALLIES TO BOLSTER DEFENSE SPENDING: ‘REALLY STAGGERING’
The Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon is moored in the Royal Navy Dockyard in Portsmouth, England, on Oct. 28, 2024. Britain announced on May 12, 2026 that it will deploy autonomous mine hunting equipment, counter drone systems,along with Typhoon jets and HMS Dragon as part of a future defensive mission to secure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
Hemmings added, “Consider the Royal Navy, the U.K.’s premier service and source of great power reach; only 25 out of 63 commissioned vessels are actual fighting ships. This force size is impossible to service Britain’s overseas responsibilities and has seen cuts of 50% in only 30 years. In 1996, there were 22 frigates, 17 submarines, 15 destroyers, and 3 aircraft carriers. Today’s First Sea Lord must attempt to carry out the same duties with seven frigates, 10 submarines, six destroyers, two aircraft carriers. In addition, the U.K. underfunded new capabilities like domestic air and missile defenses and advanced command and control systems.”
A U.S. Navy ship launches Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles in support of Operation Epic Fury.(U.S. Central Command Public Affairs)
A second report released last month, by the House of Lords International Relations and Defense Committee titled: ‘Adjusting to new realities: rebalancing the U.K.-U.S. partnership,’ presents several key recommendations where it warned of the over-dependence on the U.S. “Although the U.K. has benefited from closely collaborating with the U.S. on defense, this has fostered a dependency culture leading to a decline in U.K. capabilities and loss of U.K. credibility in Washington. The Government should provide a clear and costed pathway to achieving the commitment to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.”
While the Ministry of Defense did not respond to several requests for comment over the state of forces, Fox News Digital recently reported that the U.K. government said it is reversing an attrition rate in the military, stating that total armed forces strength stood at 182,050 personnel as of Jan. 1, 2026, including 136,960 regular troops, an increase from the previous year.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The government has also pledged what it calls the largest sustained rise in defense spending since the Cold War, with military spending set to reach 2.6% of GDP by 2027, backed by an additional £5 billion (approximately $6.6 billion) this financial year and £270 billion (nearly $360 billion) in defense investment over the course of the current parliament. Britain has also said it aims to raise defense spending to 3% of GDP by the end of the next parliament.
Analysts say while some in the Trump administration see the U.K.’s absence as a betrayal of the special relationship, others may say it is a tough lesson in the limitations of a mid-sized power that has tried to maintain a global footprint on a shrinking budget.
Michael Saunders is a U.K.-based journalist.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390595136112