Originally Posted by
elderlypart-timer
the last 30 years - to recover the Falkands, the two Gulf Wars, and in Kosovo
And two of these were wars of choice. Indeed the first two could also have been wars of choice "oh dear, how sad" and "we'll appeal to the UN".
As Jabba said, Force Projection.
Does the great British public want force projection? - No.
Can we afford a multi-facetted projection force? - No.
Does Europe have the political will and rectitude to match the USA in Force Projection? - No.
So, WTF do we want to do and will it be worth the effort?
That we depend on maritime trade is true, but so does most of the world including Saudi Arabia and China. Do they police SLOC? Can we police SLOC?
How about some frigates and corvettes to patrol our own shores, beef up the border security? Maintain existing air defence; it is just adequate. Disband all offensive forces except those bound into true international forces.
And has been said above, start culling at the top. Our local councils are starting to amalgamate; about time we went to a purple force with one HQ. We could still wear multi-hued uniforms.