We need a Defence Review
That says it all really. HMG currently wants us to do more than they are prepared to pay for. Sec Def after Sec Def has shirked the hard decisions required to balance the books, with the result that we are just sinking deeper and deeper into the mire. Planning round follows planning round with no time to draw breath. Because too little was cut last year (and the year before, and the year before that) Defence's financial position just gets worse and worse. The only way to clear the log jam is to have Defence Review.
Will it happen? Not before the next election.