Britain's armed forces face cutbacks amidst cash crisis: report

Phil, Steve best close your eyes if you have not seen this already.

1/3 of EFA numbers will be cut! ARRGGHH what they doing????

Link: Britain’s armed forces face cutbacks amidst cash crisis: report

Britain’s armed forces face cutbacks amidst cash crisis: report

28/10/2003 at 01:49:56

Date line: LONDON
Britain’s armed forces, facing an unprecedented financial crisis, could be forced to make drastic cuts that would imperil future military operations, a British newspaper said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Defence was negotiating with Britain’s finance ministry, known as the Treasury, what it called “adjustments” to this year’s 31-billion-pound (52.5-billion-dollar, 44.8-billion-euro) budget, The Guardian said.

“The MOD (Ministry of Defence) thought it had more money than it did,” said a government source quoted in the newspaper.

Pressure on the defence ministry will further increase as the bills come in for long-term projects such as the Royal Air Force’s Eurofighter and two additional aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, The Guardian said.

The RAF is almost certain to have to cancel a third of the 232 Eurofighters it has said it needs, the newspaper said.