UK MOD Budget Cuts Announced

Well they have now been announced with a few surprises

BBC website story

Among key measures planned are:

• RAF to shed 7,500 jobs and the Navy 1,500 jobs by 2008. A further 10,000 civilian posts across the armed forces will be cut.
  
  
• Four infantry battalions - three from England and one from Scotland - to be cut as part of the "restructuring".
  
  
• Three type-42 destroyers and three type-23 frigates taken out of service from the Royal Navy by March 2006. The oldest destroyers - HMS Cardiff, Newcastle and Glasgow will be pensioned off by the end of next year. Three anti-submarine frigates - HMS Norfolk, Marlborough and Grafton (only entering service in 1996) will be pensioned off by 2006. Three mine countermeasure vessels, HMS Inverness, Bridport and Sandown, will be paid off by April 2005. Three Northern Ireland patrol vessels, HMS Brecon, Dulverton and Cottesmore, will be paid off by April 2007.
  
  
• One RAF Tornado F-3 air defence squadron would be cut and the withdrawal of two Jaguar squadrons would be brought forward to 2006, with the final Jaguar squadron to be disbanded in 2007.
  
  
• RAF Coltishall in Norfolk will close by the end of 2008.
  

The massive manpower reduction for the RAF will probably mean the axeing of the RAF Regiment - who provide ground defence, anti-air and specailist instructor capabilities for the RAF - this role will have to be passed on to an already overstratched army.

Whilst the culling of the Jaguar squadrons was expected the loss of the Tornado Squadron was a surprise.

The whilst the loss of 6 major frontline warships was expected it is a surprise that is it is the newer Type 23 frigates that are being axed and not the older Type 22 frigates (of which there are 4) prehaps as the these ships are nearing the end of their life cycle they will be removed from the fleet as well without replacement meaning that in 'real terms' as the Chancellor would put it the navy in fact loses 10 major frontline warships, at theleast they did not lose any submarine and are still hopefully going to get the proposed 2 future aircraft carriers (though I expect they will be in the region of 40,000 tons and not the 60,000 tons as originally planned).

I am still skepitcal that the army are not going to lose manpower during the proposed restructing and axeing of 4 battalions, we will see as the army is very overstretched at the moment.

Hopefully we will get further details shortly.




[edit on 21-7-2004 by Popeye]

Wasn't this already posted along time ago. Oh well at least you got some of the interesting details on this. Nice fact find.

An existing post already addresses this topic. Please contiune the discussion there.
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