AN INDEPENDENT Scotland should equip its navy with Danish frigates built under licence on the Clyde, according to a new report.

The politically impartial Scottish Global Forum think tank said a Scots navy would require four frigates, of about 6500 tons, for routine defence and to contribute to NATO task forces.

In a detailed report on the possible make-up of an independent Scotland's armed forces, Dundee University academic Dr John MacDonald and retired Scottish Transport Regiment commander Lt Col Andrew Parrott advised: "Vessels of the Danish Absalon and Iver Huitfeldt Classes, built under licence on the Clyde, might be most suitable for this role."

The vessels, approximately the same size as the Type 26 frigates planned for the Royal Navy, would be the biggest in the Scottish navy, supported by smaller ocean-going patrol ships.

The experts said the SNP's proposed £2.5billion defence budget should equip Scotland with a similar military capability to Denmark.

In their Defending An Independent Scotland report, they concluded: "Scotland is more than capable of sustaining an ample military budget at no detriment to its broader economic performance."

SNP defence spokesman Angus Robertson MP said: "We are a maritime nation without maritime patrol aircraft and not a single major conventional naval vessel based in Scotland. Our coastal defences are shamefully inadequate and, as the report says, the key priority is to 'defend the perimeter' which is not even on Westminster's agenda."

Meanwhile, First Minister Alex Salmond has been warned not to "fudge" the Scottish Government's White Paper on independence, but to come up with a detailed and fully costed plan for an independent defence force.

UK Defence Minister Andrew Murrison told MPs on the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee that First Minister Alex Salmond cannot 'fudge' his government's independence White Paper how a defence force would be funded.

He said: "What I don't think is reasonable is for the SNP to go before the people of Scotland and say, in this crucial area of defence and security, you'll have to wait and see."

He stressed how independence was "not some sort of halfway house whatever the SNP might pretend".

Addressing the publication of the paper on November 26, Mr Murrison added: "Independence means sovereign control of your armed forces and you need to be clear with the Scottish people what the threats are and what you are doing to prepare a response to those threats.

"That means being specific about what your armed forces are going to look like, their capability, and how you will pay for them."

Mr Robertson said it had been "another bad day for Project Fear" as Mr Murrison had confirmed the Clyde was the best place to build British warships and could continue to do so after a Yes vote.