CAS's speech was a well delivered summary of the RUSI conference. He was describing the well known tension between the military and politicians and it was not stated in a critical way but a pure statement of fact. Ben Farmer's article is pretty accurate.....remember he did not write the headline, the sub-ed did.
You probably have the best CAS you have had for several generations. He understands the proper position of the RAF as a supporting arm to the Army and RN (the RAF will never be the "supported" arm, that is not its role). He stated this very clearly in the same speech. AP will win many friends in the Westminster village which should pay handsomely in SDSR 2015, but the naysayers will have to understand that it will probably not be a one sided drive for RAF owned kit. He is much more of a Joint Capability man.
As an example AP "gets" the new carriers and the importance of them as a strategic national asset. If the jets need to spend lots of time at sea he will make sure they do. The reason is that unless this happens, and short of a new war, the RAF will be largely UK based contributing little to influence around the globe - a role that is back in the RN's hands now that Iraq and Afgh campaigns are complete.
Wake up and smell the mustard!