From Todays Telegraph.
Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, the First Sea Lord, said he was “very uncomfortable” about the decision to scrap planned Nimrod aircraft.
His remarks were the first public criticism of Coalition defence cuts from a serving defence chief.
The Strategic Defence and Security Review last month confirmed that the £3.6 billion order for new Nimrod MRa4 maritime patrol aircraft.
Nimrods, which fly from RAF Kinloss in Scotland, are equipped with long-range surveillance equipment for eavesdropping on communications and detecting movement.
The aircraft can provide vital support for Vanguard submarines carrying Trident nuclear missiles, by detecting Russian hunter-killer subs trying to follow them.
Without the Nimrods, Britain is likely to ask the US and France to provide such anti-submarine warfare capabilities in future
“I am very uncomfortable at losing Nimrod. I am happy to say that publicly,” Adml Stanhope told a defence industry conference in London.