London Evening Standard:
Army troop levels to be slashed by a quarter
The size of the British Army is set to be slashed by almost 25 per cent under proposals being discussed today in what would be the most radical defence shake-up in more than 150 years.
The Army's fighting strength will be cut from 98,000 to just 75,000, half the figure when it fought Desert Storm in 1991, the Standard has learned.
The cuts — part of a massive defence spending review and the coalition's latest austerity measures — will also see trained professional military personnel in all three services cut to about 150,000 by 2014, down from 177,000.
Also under scrutiny for the possible axe are big-ticket items of new equipment, such as the projects for new aircraft carriers, a new class of frigate, the Joint Strike Fighter and a new family of fighting vehicles.
The move, amid a mounting British death toll and polls which claim most voters want an end to the nine-year-old war, would result in the biggest Army shake-up since the Crimean War.
It is known David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne are looking for an immediate 10 per cent cut in defence spending and resources. The Treasury has suggested current defence expenditure must be cut by a third of its present level within three years......
Spending on keeping the UK military force of just under 10,500 in Afghanistan has been guaranteed until this time next year. It is now understood No 10 wants Britain to quit combat operations there by the end of 2013 at the latest......
The Ministry of Defence officials have worked for the past year on 42 studies of major areas of expenditure. These are to be reduced to 12 policy choices, which will be measured against the amount of money available over the next five to 10 years. The final settlement for defence will be announced in September.
Last week officials were told their proposed cuts in the 42 studies were not deep enough and they should prepare more radical ones.....