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ianstone
08-20-2010, 02:25 PM
http://anm.intelli-direct.com/e/t3.dll?226&251415670&http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ethisislondon%2Eco%2Euk%2Fstanda rd%2Fpolitics%2F%20&ita%3DHelicopters%2Bface%2B20%25%2Bcuts%2Bto%2Bmak e%2B%C2%A34bn%2Bdefence%2Bsavings%20&iREGQry%20&iSale%20&1&1280&1024&32&1&13&en-gb%20&-60&http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ethisislondon%2Eco%2Euk%2Fstanda rd%2Farticle-23866868-helicopters-face-20-percent-cuts-to-make-pound-4bn-defence-savings%2Edo%20&0


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http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/Chinnock-helicopter415.jpg In action: a Chinook brings ammuntion to troops in Helmand, Afghanistan


Helicopters face 20% cuts to make £4bn defence savings










The country's helicopter fleet is facing 20 per cent cuts as the Ministry of Defence carries out Treasury demands for savings, the Standard has learned.
A secret internal MoD memo has revealed that Defence Secretary Liam Fox (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-13350-liam-fox.do) is demanding savings of £3.96 billion across rotary wing aircraft in the Army, Royal Navy (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-1352-royal-navy-of-the-united-kingdom.do) and RAF.
Among a string of options drafted by officials is the scrapping of the entire new £1.7 billion Lynx Wildcat fleet, the phasing out of Sea Kings and the “deletion” of the Puma fleet.
The confidential paper submitted to the Strategic Defence and Security Review shows that other helicopters facing reductions in numbers are Chinooks and Merlins.
The helicopter cuts emerged as the Defence Secretary today underlined how much pressure the MoD was under to meet the Government's drive to reduce the national deficit.
The plans for deep cuts – part of wider 10-20 per cent cuts to the MoD budget – have infuriated military chiefs who battled hard to get their budgets up for operations in Afghanistan (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-475-afghanistan.do).
David Cameron (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-152-david-cameron.do) and Dr Fox also repeatedly criticised Gordon Brown (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-1356-gordon-brown.do) and Labour (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/related-94080-labour-party-uk.do) for failing to provide the armed forces with the helicopters they needed. Tory pressure was widely credited with the delivery of new Merlin helicopters for the Afghan war.
The strategic defence review is set to be completed by next month, ahead of the October spending review.
In a speech, Dr Fox signalled big cuts in civilian personnel in his department. There are 85,000 civil servants in the MoD, compared with a standing army of around 100,000 soldiers.
Blaming Labour for the “car crash” deficit, he said that he wanted a radical cultural shift to a leaner and less centralised organisation, with more power given to military chiefs.
However, the civilian cuts are being seen by some military sources as an attempt to sweeten the pill of drastic reductions in equipment.
The Standard understands that the first conversation Mr Cameron had with defence chiefs soon after taking power was about helicopter numbers. The Prime Minister said it was his number one defence priority and asked how many more were needed. The chiefs replied that they finally had enough.
Dr Fox refused to elaborate today on the detail of the cuts, but he made clear that he was against “salami slicing” the same amount from each service.
Options include cancelling 62 Wildcat helicopters or reducing the Apache fleet from 67 to 61 while taking on 21 Wildcat aircraft.

Other than the 10 SAS choppers,on order, shortly they will be surplus to requirements