[Tezcatlipoca]

I've updated the Yoda-esque thread title, as it was really bugging me.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11570593

Originally Posted by BBC

Harrier jump jets, the Navy's flagship HMS Ark Royal and planned Nimrod spy planes are to be axed and 42,000 MoD and forces jobs cut by 2015.

Unveiling the strategic defence review, PM David Cameron said defence spending would fall by 8% over four years.

The RAF and Navy will lose 5,000 jobs each, the Army 7,000 and the Ministry of Defence 25,000 civilian staff.

Axing the Harrier and Ark Royal means no planes will be able to fly from British aircraft carriers until 2019.

(snip)

Mr Cameron also vowed to push ahead with replacing Britain's Trident nuclear missile system but said their replacement would be scaled back, with the number of warheads per boat cut from 48 to 40, as part of a £750m package of savings.

The life of the current Trident submarines would also be extended, with the final spending decision on their replacement delayed until 2016 - after the next general election.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...ions-like-iraq

Originally Posted by Guardian

Measures announced today to scale down the budget included:

• A cut of 25,000 staff in the Ministry of Defence by 2015, the disposal of "unnecessary" assets, and a getting to grips with procurement.

• Cancelling the Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft programme.

• Naval manpower to be cut by 5,000 to 30,000 by 2015 and the total number of frigates and destroyers to drop from 23 to 19 by 2020.

• The government to retire the Harrier jump jet and reduce RAF manpower by 5,000 to 33,000 by 2015.

• Tanks to be reduced by 40%.

• Half a billion pounds allocated to a national cyber security programme to counter unconventional threats of the future.

Outlining the backdrop to the cuts, Cameron said the coalition government had inherited a £38bn black hole in future defence plans – bigger than the entire annual defence budget of £33bn.