Finningley Boy - I agree, that's why I called them daft but the general short-sightedness of politicians and their advisers would make it possible. Their horizon is the next election if we are lucky. Defence is an insurance against what is normally highly unlikely risk but the mind set is when did you last use it or why aren't you using it now. I take my hat off to those who have, in recent years, made a ridiculous level of air ops v resources work. From a naval perspective I can't understand why ships are sold off or scrapped on decommissioning, we used to have the Standby Squadron - unlikely to be needed but we did in '82 (yes, I know it was 38 years ago). With airfields the current vogue is sell them off and build on them - the concept of care and maintenance for possible future expansion is beyond their comprehension. Some were saved for the Army by the pull-out from Germany but that's over. I worry about the vulnerability of all the eggs in one basket. The problem is the important things are often intangible assets and can't be given a realistic financial value. This obviously reveals me to be one of those Sir Humphrey dismisses. British governments slashing defence expenditure and being caught out by believing war can't happen again has been going on since 1814 and probably long before. Since 1995 to the best of my knowledge the RAF, RN and AAC have all lost the use of more airfields than they now have, many of which couldn't be brought back into service. Its acceptable to sell of the national assets rather than increasing revenue because taxation has become taboo. No party is willing to confront the fact that middle income earners in the UK are grossly under taxed in comparison to similar countries.
To say Defence doesn't adapt to changing needs is not true . Typhoon started off under as a replacement for Harrier and Jaguar but turned into an Air Superiority Fighter which has been adapted to a Jaguar & Tornado replacement. The SHAR replacement FCBA became FJCA when Harrier 7/9 replacement was added so we ended up with F-35B not A & C. However, I am not convinced multirole is cheaper than single role in the long run. It is a law of projects that late changes to requirements are exponentially more costly than early changes.
One wild thought, is the division of Officers/WOs/NCOs/Other ranks still fit for purpose in the 21st century? Surely the officer body is no longer confined to the aristocracy and gentry with their need to reflect a sense of superiority. I believe the police all start as beat constables? AAC pilots are not exclusively officers. Retires having lit the blue touch paper.
Last edited by SLXOwft; 9th Jul 2020 at 09:06.
Reason: poor spelling