The 1998 Strategic Defence Review is presented as one of Britain's better recent reviews. The force table is recalled from memory: two modern aircraft carriers, a replacement for HMS Ocean alongside Albion and Bulwark, at least nine Type 45 destroyers, and roughly two levels of frigate strength. The recollection explicitly leaves uncertain whether the amphibious replacement appeared in the main review or an annex, and some numbers are estimates rather than exact quotations. The moment is evidence of the review's broad balanced-fleet ambition rather than a definitive force table. It also supplies a later comparison for the breadth of missions Keith Speed was defending in 1980.
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The 1998 Strategic Defence Review's fleet ambitions
The 1998 review is recalled as a comparatively balanced plan for carriers, amphibious ships, Type 45 destroyers, and two levels of frigate capability.