All in all a pretty bleak picture - but some out there still believe.
Spot on. We are not going to be able to afford to keep what we currently have. Reaper, Sentinel, the comms fleet and RAPTOR are all excellent capabilities we have now which are about to become un-funded and will demand further painful choices if they are to be kept.
However tempting, and however much expectations have been raised by measures designed to soften the Nimrod blow, it is utter fantasy to believe that the UK is going to be able to afford to resurrect this capability in any shape or form.