And here's what they are spending it on. I've been banging on a bit about the US and network centric warfare on a few threads. It looks like we are going to follow them. If the UAVs are off the shelf, one hopes they are going to be Predator 2s.
The appalling thing is the idea of the monitor on a politician's desk, literally, calling the shots. It was bad enough with SACEUR doing it.......
The Times:
.............A large proportion of the new money — about £1.5 billion — is going to be spent on developing what the Ministry of Defence calls “network centric capability” — a new system under which British commanders in the field anywhere in the world or in the United Kingdom can be guaranteed an instant decision on what action to take if higher authority is required.
It is what the Americans call a “kill cycle”: Osama bin Laden is spotted by a Predator unmanned spy plane, armed with Hellfire missiles, making his way across the mountains in Afghanistan, and a decision is needed from the Pentagon, or US Central Command, or even the President of the United States, for executive authority to target the al-Qaeda terrorist leader.
Even the Americans, with their more sophisticated technology, have yet to perfect the system, because there was an occasion last year when bin Laden was spotted by a Predator, which is operated by the CIA, but the decision to fire came too late.
Now the MoD is intent on developing a similar kill cycle in which Tony Blair would have a television monitor at No 10 providing him with instant pictures, relayed by satellite, of targets or battlefield scenes, enabling him to give authority for military action.
Defence officials said the intention was to have the special network in place so that decisions could be made without any delay either from commanders at the ministry’s Permanent Joint Headquarters or by ministers at the MoD or, when necessary, from Downing Street. After Mr Brown had announced the budget deal for the MoD, the officials said the plan was to spend £1 billion on the equipment needed for this instant command process. This would include new unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) to replace the British Army’s current Phoenix system, a smaller and less capable UAV than the American Predator, as well as other sensor devices to warn of impending attacks, and intelligence-gathering equipment.
Another £500 million would also be spent on recruiting and training more intelligence analysts and other support personnel to keep the emergency network running. Details of the plans to buy new equipment will be announced in a White Paper due to be published later this week...........