Tinpot Armed Forces

PubFather · 12-24-2006, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Armed forces 'face tinpot future'
Britain's armed forces could be reduced to a "tinpot gendarmerie" because of a lack of investment, the former head of the Royal Navy has warned.

Admiral Sir Alan West said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was behaving "like these tinpot countries" that do not put money into major equipment programmes.

He told the Sunday Telegraph Britain's global status could be at risk if plans for two aircraft carriers were dropped.

"Our forces are among the best equipped in the world," an MoD spokeswoman said.

Sir Alan, who retired this year, told the newspaper that the Royal Navy's aircraft carrier programme was the "jewel in the crown of the strategic defence review".

He said he had set aside £3.5bn for the project, but warned: "There are officials within the MoD who are casting lascivious looks at [the programme].

"There is no doubt that the rats are out there having a nibble. If Britain wants to remain a world power and to operate with a deal of freedom around the world, these two carriers are vital."

He said reshaping the forces for "anti-terror" campaigns in places like Iraq may risk the UK's long-term security.

He said it "was a recipe for disaster" for a defence force which may have so much to do in the next 50 years.

But a spokeswoman for the MoD said the defence budget for 2007-8 would be £3.7bn higher than in 2004-5 in real terms.

"We are using these extra resources to modernise our armed forces to meet the challenges of the 21st Century," she said.

'Frankly shaming'

Sir Alan also warned that in 10 years' time the threat facing the UK could be something "far more dangerous than terrorism in central Asia".

He said that by spending money on running rather than developing the armed forces "all we could be left with is an armed forces that is effectively a gendarmerie.

"And I suppose we would retire to our island and hope that no-one gets to us."

Sir Alan is the latest senior military figure to speak out about issues affecting the armed forces.

In October, army head Gen Sir Richard Dannatt said in a newspaper interview that the presence of UK troops in Iraq "exacerbates the security problems" and they should "get out some time soon".

And his predecessor Gen Sir Mike Jackson earlier this month criticised the Ministry of Defence's running of the armed forces.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/6207267.stm

So it begins - the services begin to publicly slug it out, fighting over the defense crumbs... it is CVA, TSR II etc all over again....

-{SpoonmaN}- · 12-24-2006, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PubFather

So it begins - the services begin to publicly slug it out, fighting over the defense crumbs... it is CVA, TSR II etc all over again....

There's a simple way to FORCE them to co-operate... threaten to merge them as one singular Entity with various specialist branches, as the CF, and to a lesser extent, the ADF have done. Simply put, they are all branches of the same entity at best, nothing more, if they start to try and compete with one another, then a government should start merging their assets, such as pooling all Auxiliaries into a single sub-branch, or making everyone do a common recruit training course, that'll either scare the competitive types into co-operating, or they're going to face an erosion of their independence.

glyn · 12-24-2006, 13:51 PM

"There is no doubt the rats are out there having a nibble". Probably the most accurate reference to our politicians that has been made in years.

-{SpoonmaN}- · 12-24-2006, 20:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glyn

"There is no doubt the rats are out there having a nibble". Probably the most accurate reference to our politicians that has been made in years.

Funny it holds true here as well, what a strange co-incidence.

Ray · 12-24-2006, 20:19 PM

The complaint is world over and yet all manage to chug along.

12-24-2006, 13:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
glyn *Military Professional* Join Date: 09-15-06 Location: Penzance, Cornwall UK Posts: 6,886	"There is no doubt the rats are out there having a nibble". Probably the most accurate reference to our politicians that has been made in years. __________________ Semper in excretum. Solum profunda variat.

12-24-2006, 20:19 PM	#5 (permalink)
Ray Postmaster General *Military Professional* Join Date: 08-20-03 Posts: 27,248 Country:	The complaint is world over and yet all manage to chug along. __________________ "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination." I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to. HAKUNA MATATA

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