While many major military projects continue (including the interventionary Astute submarine, cost: £3.9bn for three subs), there is a pleasing roll call of military cutbacks, including the sale of HMS Invincible, the aircraft carrier involved in the Falklands war, which was sold to a Turkish scrap dealer in early February. Sale price: over £2m.
Military cuts mean that Britain is to finally halt its warship patrols of the Caribbean, operating since the Second World War, it was announced in February. (A supply ship with a Lynx helicopter will remain in the region.)
Twelve Chinook helicopters promised to British troops in Afghanistan are now “subject to negotiation”, defence procurement minister Peter Luff announced on 1 February – indicating possible delays in deployment and/or reductions to the number ordered. (These 12 helicopters were in addition to the 10 already due to deploy in 2012-13.) MoD officials are also reported to be looking to reduce the number of Tornado bombers from 134 to 60 (saving £300m a year), and to abandon 50 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft bought three years ago (purchase cost: £4.5bn).
On 13 February, the RAF sacked a quarter of its trainee pilots. (£300m has been paid in training the 100 pilots to be cut.) NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen plaintively warned on 7 February that the European members of NATO had cut their military spending by $45bn over the past two years, a figure equivalent to Germany’s entire military budget.
Topics: Cuts & austerity