PM to order £1.5bn defence cuts
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
PM to order £1.5bn defence cuts
So, what the implications, if any, of the early Nimrod rundown?
FT: PM to order £1.5bn defence cuts
Gordon Brown is to approve about £1.5bn of cuts to "low priority" defence projects over the next three years as part of a reform package that will shift resources to Afghanistan and ease the crippling defence budget shortfall.
Final details are still under negotiation but the measures will include cuts to the existing Harrier and Tornado fighter jet fleet, an early drawdown of Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft and thousands of staff cuts across the armed forces and Whitehall.
The sacrifices will be offset by moves to boost spending on critical frontline equipment for the Afghan campaign. The prime minister, who visited troops in Afghanistan at the weekend, will fast track an order for at least 20 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and purchase new surveillance systems to counter roadside bombs, additional fighting vehicles, and one more C-17 transport aircraft. Defence insiders insisted the additional kit would have been unaffordable without cuts elsewhere.
The Royal Air Force is expected to bear the brunt of what one industry executive described as a "gruesome" budget planning round for 2010 but the Royal Navy will also take a survey ship and mine hunter out of service early.....
The Ministry of Defence is expected to be forced to make much bigger sacrifices after the strategic defence review, including significant reductions in the order for Joint Strike Fighter jets. Although the exact numbers are yet to be decided, the cuts to the Tornado and Harrier fleet and the early withdrawal of the ageing Nimrod are bound to threaten the future of several large air bases.
The services and MoD are also pressing to whittle down the numbers of staff in low-priority areas, which will amount to job losses for thousands of civilian and uniformed personnel.
The order for the Boeing-made Chinooks, worth up to £1bn in additional MoD spending, will be spread over 10 years, but some new helicopters could be available for Afghanistan within a year or two. Funding for the helicopters will be partly taken from the cancellation of the Future Medium Helicopter programme, which was supposed to replace the UK's ageing Sea King and Puma fleets.
The purchase of the additional C17 from Boeing is partly in response to growing demand for airlift capability for Afghanistan. However, defence insiders insisted it did not signal that Britain would scale back its order of the Airbus A400M transport aircraft, which made its maiden flight last week.
FT: PM to order £1.5bn defence cuts
Gordon Brown is to approve about £1.5bn of cuts to "low priority" defence projects over the next three years as part of a reform package that will shift resources to Afghanistan and ease the crippling defence budget shortfall.
Final details are still under negotiation but the measures will include cuts to the existing Harrier and Tornado fighter jet fleet, an early drawdown of Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft and thousands of staff cuts across the armed forces and Whitehall.
The sacrifices will be offset by moves to boost spending on critical frontline equipment for the Afghan campaign. The prime minister, who visited troops in Afghanistan at the weekend, will fast track an order for at least 20 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and purchase new surveillance systems to counter roadside bombs, additional fighting vehicles, and one more C-17 transport aircraft. Defence insiders insisted the additional kit would have been unaffordable without cuts elsewhere.
The Royal Air Force is expected to bear the brunt of what one industry executive described as a "gruesome" budget planning round for 2010 but the Royal Navy will also take a survey ship and mine hunter out of service early.....
The Ministry of Defence is expected to be forced to make much bigger sacrifices after the strategic defence review, including significant reductions in the order for Joint Strike Fighter jets. Although the exact numbers are yet to be decided, the cuts to the Tornado and Harrier fleet and the early withdrawal of the ageing Nimrod are bound to threaten the future of several large air bases.
The services and MoD are also pressing to whittle down the numbers of staff in low-priority areas, which will amount to job losses for thousands of civilian and uniformed personnel.
The order for the Boeing-made Chinooks, worth up to £1bn in additional MoD spending, will be spread over 10 years, but some new helicopters could be available for Afghanistan within a year or two. Funding for the helicopters will be partly taken from the cancellation of the Future Medium Helicopter programme, which was supposed to replace the UK's ageing Sea King and Puma fleets.
The purchase of the additional C17 from Boeing is partly in response to growing demand for airlift capability for Afghanistan. However, defence insiders insisted it did not signal that Britain would scale back its order of the Airbus A400M transport aircraft, which made its maiden flight last week.
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: The Shed
Posts: 195
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the heads up ORAC, although the outcome of PR10 has been widely anticipated, the timing of the announcement is just the nicest Christmas present from this so-called Govt.
Absolutely nothing they do surprises me anymore. I particularly like one quote in the full article:
If I've learnt one thing in my career it's that when someone says "This is not about spending cuts" , that's absolutely what it's about.
And as for 'Strategic priorities', perhaps somebody more generous than I would like to lend a copy of the OED to somebody in Whitehall. I don't believe anyone in this Govt, from the top down, has the faintest idea what the word strategy means..............
It could of course be that the overall plan is to dismantle the Armed Forces, in which case they're doing a fantastic job!
Absolutely nothing they do surprises me anymore. I particularly like one quote in the full article:
"This is not about spending cuts" said one Whitehall figure "The defence budget will rise in line with inflation. It is about getting an overspent programme into shape and aligned with our strategic priorities for defence."
And as for 'Strategic priorities', perhaps somebody more generous than I would like to lend a copy of the OED to somebody in Whitehall. I don't believe anyone in this Govt, from the top down, has the faintest idea what the word strategy means..............
It could of course be that the overall plan is to dismantle the Armed Forces, in which case they're doing a fantastic job!
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: In the middle of the sea
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
..."Defence officials say savings were identified on the basis there would be no impact on the frontline and that no decisions should pre-empt the strategic defence review next year."
Although our terror level has been downgraded from "severe" to "substantial" on the Sesame Street easy learn terror chart;
"The day you crash the family car is the day the insurance runs out"
(A quote I've read, probably from pprune.org on the same issue, but one that rings true and has stuck with me since)
May aswell keep our pants firmly round our ankles, pass out free boots and directions to our opposers, and clench real hard.
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: The Shed
Posts: 195
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
ORAC asked
Possibly a lot of well-kept gardens in Moray and increased profits for the Solicitors Property Centre (other estate agents are available)
Just a wild guess.
So, what the implications, if any, of the early Nimrod rundown?
Just a wild guess.
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Waiting to return to the Loire.
Age: 54
Posts: 386
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
20 more Chinooks?
Whatever is the monocular one doing, wasting money on these totally unnecessary helicopters.
He should be birched for financial incompetence in pushing this purchase.
After all, has he not insisted in the face of strong challenge for the last n months that the military have more than sufficient numbers of whirlybirds?
He wasn't lying then, was he?
He should be birched for financial incompetence in pushing this purchase.
After all, has he not insisted in the face of strong challenge for the last n months that the military have more than sufficient numbers of whirlybirds?
He wasn't lying then, was he?
(granted it'll need a coouple of friendly nations in which it could do some stop overs)
The order for the Boeing-made Chinooks, worth up to £1bn in additional MoD spending, will be spread over 10 years, but some new helicopters could be available for Afghanistan within a year or two.
The "new" (10 years old but virginal) Chinook Mk3s?
within a year or two
Given that there are only two working days of the parliamentary year left, if anything is to be announced formally in the House, as opposed to being leaked, or "you-tubed", or stated on a Sunday morning couch session with Andrew Marr, then we won't have long to wait before all this speculation becomes a certainty!
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
presumably this £1.5Bn defence cut is to pay for this;
UK pledges climate aid for developing countries | Number10.gov.uk
Seems we still have enough money to give away - just not to our own guys and girls
UK pledges climate aid for developing countries | Number10.gov.uk
Seems we still have enough money to give away - just not to our own guys and girls
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: mobile
Posts: 241
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Brown in Afghanastan
Did I hear correctly or did he say that part of the budget applied to combat road side improvised explosives is to go towards their composition etc. What awaste of money is that, another office full of mates who can milk it for everything they can. Talk to the South Africans, they will tell you all you need to know and get rid of the dross this useless 'governmant' lumbers us with!!
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Oop North (where the beer is best)
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The same man who promised to donate £1.5 billion to a fund to combat the effects of an arguable disaster caused by arguable climate change.
France and Germany have each contributed only £1.2 billion although they are in far better shape than this poor, bankrupt country with its corrupt, self-serving politicians.
How much are the other 24 EU countries going to contribute? Very little I suspect.
Charity begins at home: I don't see homeless people playing the big man in the street: they're asking for money not giving it away. We need to be strong, not consistently weakened by people who are only trying to buy votes.
France and Germany have each contributed only £1.2 billion although they are in far better shape than this poor, bankrupt country with its corrupt, self-serving politicians.
How much are the other 24 EU countries going to contribute? Very little I suspect.
Charity begins at home: I don't see homeless people playing the big man in the street: they're asking for money not giving it away. We need to be strong, not consistently weakened by people who are only trying to buy votes.
Last edited by BackfromIraq; 14th Dec 2009 at 20:08. Reason: Grocer's apostrophe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 154
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Nice of someone to leak the early retirement of the Nimrod rumour when Kinloss is on AOC's standown, perfect timing. Doesn't cause the workers or their families any concern whatsoever.
So how was this leaked before any official statement? Was it deliberate, is it just more government spin in action as they hit the headlines with the extra £150m for counter IED's (which I have no issue with, as some state why not sooner). Be good of the PM to pay a visit to the North to explain his contempt for Defence overall.
So how was this leaked before any official statement? Was it deliberate, is it just more government spin in action as they hit the headlines with the extra £150m for counter IED's (which I have no issue with, as some state why not sooner). Be good of the PM to pay a visit to the North to explain his contempt for Defence overall.
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Nomadic
Posts: 1,343
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Will the majority of the Forres community now move to the leafy suburbs of Las Vegas? Was that one of those 'Drones' I've heard about that the PM did an interview in front of?
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Scotland
Age: 45
Posts: 67
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
For gods sake we already have more troops in Afghanistan than the next two contributors combined (albeit a tiny fraction compared to the US forces, but then it's their bloody war.)
We shouldn't be spending billions of pounds buying new equipment for more troops, we should be drawing down troop numbers to a level that we can afford. If that means other nations taking up some of the slack, then so be it!
We need our armed forces to be geared towards the UK's interests, not to be tailored to what the Americans will find the most useful.
We shouldn't be spending billions of pounds buying new equipment for more troops, we should be drawing down troop numbers to a level that we can afford. If that means other nations taking up some of the slack, then so be it!
We need our armed forces to be geared towards the UK's interests, not to be tailored to what the Americans will find the most useful.
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 150
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Not a cut as such with announcements expected shortly, but they have just announced that they are buying 22 new Chinooks. First ten to be delivered in 2012-2013. Sea King LEP abandoned.
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Several miles SSW of Watford Gap
Posts: 596
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Bismark
By QCS I assume you are referring to 63 Sqn RAF Regt who have just returned from Op HERRICK.
QCS (63 Sqn RAF Regt) deploy on Ops like every other Regt Field Sqn. Like every other RAF Regt Sqn the harmony targets appear to be a distant aspiration. The only difference is that QCS do all the Smart Blue stuff in between dets. (Cermonial duties are covered by another RAF Regt Field Sqn (also on the Op cycle) when QCS are deployed).
So good call then - let's cut a unit that regularly deploys on Ops
By QCS I assume you are referring to 63 Sqn RAF Regt who have just returned from Op HERRICK.
QCS (63 Sqn RAF Regt) deploy on Ops like every other Regt Field Sqn. Like every other RAF Regt Sqn the harmony targets appear to be a distant aspiration. The only difference is that QCS do all the Smart Blue stuff in between dets. (Cermonial duties are covered by another RAF Regt Field Sqn (also on the Op cycle) when QCS are deployed).
So good call then - let's cut a unit that regularly deploys on Ops