One of the more persistent positions to found on the internet runs along the lines of fudge-and-hope, whereby we find ourselves yet again in a pickle with an underfunded strategic mandate and there is an instinctive reaction which that says just a few more minor cuts will make things good whilst we wait out the lean years. Politicians are of course happy to encourage this view, as they are always willing to promise “jam tomorrow”.

This relies on the misconception that, even now, Britain remains so capable that we can trim a little here, and little there, and still maintain an Armed Force capable of Great Power status. This misconception is reinforced by the UK’s ambition to position itself as a US-lite, whereby we maintain a sophisticated and diverse military structure that is easily capable of plugging itself into US operations, albeit on a smaller scale. Specifically; we wished to provide a force that equalled 15% of the US commitment numerically, with the same quality in order to achieve the second-in-command position, and thus retain some strategic input into operations.
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