So....
We need reductions in manpower but we don't know how many redundancies there will need to be and even what trades they will be in!
We are buying C-17s....after we have leased them...why didn't we buy them in the first place?!?
"Network Enabled Capablilty is a relatively new concept" No s
t Sherlock! I've worked with what can be termed NEC in my time and have attended some high-level meetings and no-one at a senior level has a clue what this is! What I can point out is a network is only as good as the data that goes into it. And the MR2, MRA4, T42 and T23 either are, or have the potential to be, excellent sensor platforms. NEC should be a force multiplier, not a force replacement! Targeting etc is all very well, but the temporary nature of air power is no substiture for boots (or a ship) on the ground (or water)!!
I need to read further, and to peruse the debate, but first glance indicates firmly that this is a short-sighted, cost-driven, back-of-a-fag-packet piece of nonsense that will degrade the operational efficiency of our Armed Forces and is no way to repay the months and years of hard work we have put in. The only way our creaking services have managed is by personnel putting in extra effort and "playing the game". For the sake of us all that has to stop and we must put our hands up and say "we can't do that" when we are short of personnel or equipment - although it may now be too late!