Good article on the state of Britain's armed forces in today's Observer. I was wondering what everyone's opinions are on defence spending.
I've got to say I have a big interest in military hardware and I'm personally in favour of spending more on defence of the realm. However, the article raises a good point about targeting the spend. Do we really need the carriers and F-35s? I think they'd be really cool but don't think we "need" them.
Given how over budget the type 45 detroyers are, and how the full capabilities of the first ship won't even be working when it launches (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06...cpac_slammage/), I fear we'd make the same errors with the carriers.
Should we give up "expenditionary" wars altogether and just concentrate on defending ourselves when required?
EDIT - Forgot to add I think we should axe the current Trident system and any proposed submarine based replacement. I don't see why we can't just have a missle based delivery system based at our bases around the world and on selected ships. Wouldn't be as quick to respond but does it really matter?
Comment