Originally Posted by
Martin the Martian
The idea behind a lot of these articles is that the United Kingdom is the only nation to have pared back its forces since 1989. Show me a NATO air arm (or a former Warsaw Pact one for that matter) that is not a shadow of its former self. And everybody has consolidated their forces in a much smaller number of locations. Even the RuINssians.
Indeed Martin, but its all relative, Russia has long since reversed its move to a smaller military force. Under Putin, the last five years or more have seen increased orders for new assets, among which about 1,300 aircraft and 1,800 Drones. Since 1990 and Options for Change, most NATO countries have continued, to various degrees, trying to find substantial savings in their respective defence budgets. This is perhaps one explanation for why British Governments have long since entered into the realms of capability holidays. Pre Tony Blair I don't think I'd ever heard such a phrase. Wallace will make all the usual verbal tributes to our wonderful servicemen and women. Then Cummings will look for savings as a priority, it will be impossible for anyone to make their case for anything other than Cyber Space etc. Interestingly, I believe the Dutch have actually quite recently increased their purchase of F-35s. They had cutback their original requirement to 37, this has now been increased to 46. Norway, given its tiny population of scarcely 5 million, has on order 56.
FB