RN gets hit hard by the cuts?

[MGR1]

Originally Posted by ikalugin

But isn't a 6 T45 force barely adequate for the Carrier escort duties, implying that there is a shortage of ships do to the landing force escort duties and no ships availiable for other things, only T23s.

If we assume that T23s are also used for carrier/task force escorts (6 of those), then only 7 are availiable for other duties, which is completely inadequate in my opinion.

The current British government is entirely concerned with domestic concerns and maniacally reducing state spending down to roughly one third of GDP and reducing the UK's financial deficit.

Defence is an easy target as it's a fairly low priority for Joe Public.

As for the carriers, assuming the UK keeps both I'd expect one to be active with the other in reserve status. That's what's been happening with the landing ships HMS Albion and Bulwark.

Mike.

[Mr Quatro]

What is the avg wage per month in Russia ... I'm guessing $730 USD

What is the monthly avg wage in the UK ... I'm thinking $1,500 USD

peoples social needs are becoming more the norm now than the defense of ones country.

The more voice the people have will mean less for the military

[ikalugin]

RN is still getting over stretched IMHO with only 7 SSNs, no spare destroyers and only a few spare frigates. Why not at least keep the 4 3rd generation SSNs, surely after the refit they could do some of the less taxing duties?

I mean even though only 6 3rd generation non strategic nuclear boats are available to Russian Navy as of the 1st of this month, we still have 6 in mid life repair/refit/upgrade and 6 in routine maintenance (plus SSKs, Severodvinsk and 2 available Victor-IVs) and plan to keep 10 or more of those 3rd gen subs past till at least 2020.

[MGR1]

It all comes down to money and who controls the purse strings.

The most powerful person in British politics isn't the Prime Minister, it's the Chancellor of the Exchequer (currently George Osborne MP). The Treasury is also the most powerful government department as it allocates the money that the other departments spend.

It all depends on what the Chancellor and the Treasury consider to be financially viable, not the House of Commons, the public or even the Ministry of Defence.

Mike.