LONDON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- A significant number of weapons and troops face being cut in a strategic defense and security review Britain will unveil this fall.
Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper says it has seen proposals by the British Defense Ministry detailing cuts of up to 16,000 personnel, hundreds of tanks, dozens of fighter jets and five ships.
Britain's last defense review was done in 1998, years before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The new one comes the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition is looking to cut defense spending by 10-20 percent as part of a wider effort to rein in the national budget.
The British air force will be hardest hit, the newspaper writes, losing 7,000 troops and 295 aircraft, leaving the British with fewer fighter aircraft than at any point since 1914. As much as 120 Tornado fighter-bombers could be scrapped as their overhaul would be too expensive. The measure would save as much as $11.7 billion, the newspaper writes. Moreover, the number of Eurofighter Typhoons could be cut by 53 to 107 planes.
The British army could lose 5,000 troops and as much as 40 percent of its fleet of 9,700 armored vehicles, including Challenger 2 tanks, Warrior infantry fighting vehicles and AS90 self-propelled howitzers. Eventually, the army will be reduced to 100,000 troops.
The British navy would face cuts of two nuclear submarines, three amphibious ships and more than 2,100 officers, sailors and marines, the newspaper said.
Another costly program -- Britain's nuclear deterrent, a submarine-launched missile system called Trident -- is still hotly debated. The renewal of Trident was agreed to in 2007 and is due by 2024. Yet in light of constrained budgets, the $32 billion program is even more controversial.
While the Conservatives in their campaign supported the full renewal of Trident, the Liberal Democrats said they want a cheaper way to defend Britain. Critics of the system argue it is a remnant of the Cold War, adding that decision to renew it was rushed through Parliament to help BAE Systems, the British company that builds the submarines.
A Defense Ministry spokesman who responded to the proposals detailed by the newspaper said Defense Secretary Liam Fox had "made it clear that tough decisions will need to be made but the complex process of a Strategic Defense and Security Review will be concluded in the autumn and speculation at this stage about its outcome is entirely unfounded."
