More pain for Defence Forces, and more 'spin from Buff Hoon
Forces face 'hidden' cuts in shake-up
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 12/12/2003)
A major revamp of the Armed Forces was announced yesterday with the publication of a defence White Paper signalling a cull of warships, tanks and aircraft.
Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, said the changes would better prepare Britain for combating terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
This would require smaller, more swiftly deployable forces able to fight on a number of fronts at the same time. Modern technology would reduce the amount of equipment needed, he told MPs.
But Conservatives described the move as "a smokescreen" to hide surreptitious cuts.
Nicholas Soames, the shadow defence secretary, accused the Government of "taking very serious risks with equipment and men".
The Liberal Democrats also expressed concern. "The real reason for this White Paper seems to be cover for cuts because the MoD is facing a cash crisis," said Paul Keetch, the defence spokesman.
Mr Hoon, however, insisted there was "no crisis".
But The Telegraph has learned that two major programmes, the Nimrod MRA4 surveillance aircraft and the Ground-based Air Defence radar system (GBAD), are to be cut to make immediate cash savings.
The contract for the £1.2 billion first phase of GBAD, which would upgrade a number of air defence systems, should have been signed some time ago. While a few small elements of the programme are expected to go ahead, the bulk of it will not.
Cancelling the contract for the new Nimrod, on which £428 million has been spent, would be more difficult, leaving the Navy with no long-range anti-submarine capability and the RAF without a strategic bomber.
But the aircraft has already encountered difficulties and it is the only other major programme where short-term savings could be made. Axing it would save £500 million this year and £2 billion overall.
Mr Soames found Mr Hoon's denial of a crisis "hard to believe. It is certainly very contrary to what we have been told. The White Paper is clearly a smokescreen".
The paper was short on detail with the main focus on restructuring the Army to bring in a new rapid reaction light infantry brigade. Heavy armour would be reduced in favour of a mixture of light, medium and heavy forces.
The number of warships, tanks and aircraft were no longer as important as their capabilities, Mr Hoon said.
"Multi-role capability will also allow us to deploy fewer aircraft than previously thought necessary."
The RAF's F3 Tornado fighters and Harrier and Jaguar ground attack aircraft were already due to be replaced by the Eurofighter but Mr Hoon's statement indicated that the number of combat squadrons could be slashed.
MoD officials admitted that although Britain was committed to the 55 aircraft in the first batch of Eurofighters, it was talking to the other countries in the consortium to renegotiate the 88 due in the second phase.
New weapons systems would "inevitably reduce our requirement for heavy armoured fighting vehicles and heavy artillery", Mr Hoon said.
One tank regiment would immediately lose its 60 Challenger 2s with others to follow.
The Navy would lose some of its warships, he admitted. "Some of the older ships can contribute less well to the pattern of operations that we envisage, and some adjustments will be necessary."
Mr Hoon also came under fire for telling the Commons defence select committee that there had been no shortage of equipment in Iraq.
A National Audit Office report was highly critical of the amount of equipment, from desert boots to chemical filters, that did not reach troops.
"Geoff Hoon gave the Commons assurances that British troops were protected from such weapons, and adequately supplied," Mr Soames said. "This report shows that manifestly they were not."
