Ex-admiral slates 'silly' merger plan for armed forces
A FORMER admiral has branded an idea to merge the three armed services as 'silly' after a detailed report suggested the Royal Navy would be the least affected by defence cuts.
The government's Strategic Defence and Security Review won't be revealed until the last week of October. But budget cuts of between 10 and 20 per cent are expected.
It has emerged that one option being looked at would see the services between them lose 16,000 personnel, hundreds of tanks, scores of fighter jets and half a dozen ships.
The navy would take a relatively mild cut of 2,000 personnel from its current 37,000 service men and women, including 100 captains or rear admirals.
And the option would leave Portsmouth Naval Base relatively unscathed with plans to cut three amphibious assault ships and two submarines which are not based in the city.
Reacting to the report, Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said he'd rather see the end of the three services as separate identities if it meant the saving of a single battalion.
But former Rear Admiral Chris Parry said: 'It's a silly idea. No one in the services would go for it. The Canadians tried it and it was disastrous from a morale point of view and they couldn't do their jobs properly.'
The leaked report could also bring further good news to Portsmouth Naval Base as it would guarantee the delivery of two aircraft carriers to be based in the city, with one likely to be an utility carrier used for amphibious assault.
And that of the three naval bases - Portsmouth, Devonport and Faslane in Scotland -the most vulnerable to closure would be Devonport.
Rear-Adm Parry said: 'It's premature to say that this is the government's plan. There is a lot of detail in this report but it's likely to be one of three or four options.
'I think it's unlikely Devonport would be closed altogether although she may lose some ships. I think the Bay Class landing ship docks are the most vulnerable.
'As for the carriers I've always argued they should be multi-purpose rather than strike carriers.
'And if there is a bulge among the officers' ranks it's at commodore level.'
An MoD spokesman said the review will be concluded in the autumn and speculation at this stage is 'entirely unfounded'.
Potential RAF cuts
n 7,000 out of 42,000 personnel
n All 120 Tornado fighter bombers
n Combat aircraft cut from 250 to fewer than 200
n Joint Strike Fighter force cut from 150 to fewer than 50
Potential Army cuts
n 2,000 non front-line troops, plus 5,000 troops most likely from Germany in 2015
n 40 per cent of tanks, tracked artillery and Warrior armoured vehicles
n Territorial Army cut from 32,00 to 15,000
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Friday 25 May 2012
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