Below comes from todays Evening Standard - can't we sink them for diveing? Much better use of public money.......
Navy to use ships for target practice
The Royal Navy is to use two of its old frigates, said to be worth £400 million, for target practice.
One expert has described as "scandalous" the scrapping of HMS Boxer and HMS Brave "half way through their useful life". But the MoD has defended its decision, saying the ships were built in the mid-1980s to hunt down submarines.
Since the end of the Cold War the frigates are no longer useful, and were to have been bought by Chile, which pulled out after the 1998 arrest in Lodnon of General Pinocher, the Sun says.
The editor of Warship World magazine, Mike Critchley, has tells the newspaper: "The Navy has suffered at the hands of the politicians, who (are) disposing of ships long before their replacements are built."
HMS Boxer, launched in 1983, and HMS Brave, launched in 1985, are now in Portsmouth waiting to be used for target practice in Operation Hulkex, an MoD spokeswoman says. They are likely to be used over the next 12 months.
The spokeswoman said: "They are out of date and surplus to requirements.
"The Royal Navy considers this kind of target practice to be a vital part of weapons assessment and it is useful to see weapons being used against real targets."
The ships will be stripped of any useful equipment before they are sunk.
All fuel and ammunitions will also be removed so the old frigates are "environmentally friendly" before they are blown apart in the Atlantic Ocean, she said.
The spokeswoman said the MoD could not confirm a report that the frigates are worth £400m.
Navy to use ships for target practice
The Royal Navy is to use two of its old frigates, said to be worth £400 million, for target practice.
One expert has described as "scandalous" the scrapping of HMS Boxer and HMS Brave "half way through their useful life". But the MoD has defended its decision, saying the ships were built in the mid-1980s to hunt down submarines.
Since the end of the Cold War the frigates are no longer useful, and were to have been bought by Chile, which pulled out after the 1998 arrest in Lodnon of General Pinocher, the Sun says.
The editor of Warship World magazine, Mike Critchley, has tells the newspaper: "The Navy has suffered at the hands of the politicians, who (are) disposing of ships long before their replacements are built."
HMS Boxer, launched in 1983, and HMS Brave, launched in 1985, are now in Portsmouth waiting to be used for target practice in Operation Hulkex, an MoD spokeswoman says. They are likely to be used over the next 12 months.
The spokeswoman said: "They are out of date and surplus to requirements.
"The Royal Navy considers this kind of target practice to be a vital part of weapons assessment and it is useful to see weapons being used against real targets."
The ships will be stripped of any useful equipment before they are sunk.
All fuel and ammunitions will also be removed so the old frigates are "environmentally friendly" before they are blown apart in the Atlantic Ocean, she said.
The spokeswoman said the MoD could not confirm a report that the frigates are worth £400m.