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Figures are problematical - and can be spun in a number of ways. For eg, the absolute total of £32 bn, puts Britain as the nation with the second highest defense spending in the world. Britain spends more as a % on defense than Germany, Italy, Spain or Japan....
I personally consider the 2.5% to be perfectly adequate in peace-time - sadly, we are not in peace time, and 3-4% is more realistic given our commitments at the current time.
The other real issue is value for money. Why is it that UK equipment is generally far more expensive and much less capable that its US equivalent? Even when you factor in US economies of scale and R&D budgets, the disparity reeks of exceptionally poor project management by the MoD.
Another problem is a fixation by certainly the RAF (and possibly the RN and Army too) on expensive "toys", to paraphrase a former CiGS. We need high end, uber-sophisticated gear. We need to balance it with some low-end, cheap and cheerful stuff for low intensity/COIN operations. Typhoon is not a COIN a/craft... not at £62 mil a pop!
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Nemo Me Impune Lacessit - Scottish Motto
"They that approve a private opinion, call it opinion; but they that dislike it, heresy; and yet heresy signifies no more than private opinion” Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan
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