British Strategists Wrestle With SDSR

Jan 26, 2011 By Robert Wall AviationWeek.com

U.K. military planners are cobbling together a new road map to bridge capability gaps that emerged from last year’s Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) even as they brace for further cuts to plug funding shortfalls. “The whole force is about £1 billion [$1.59 billion] down in cash terms for the next few years” with a gap as large as £2 billion per year possible, says Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). “If the objective [of the SDSR] was to balance the books, they are not balanced,” he tells a RUSI conference reflecting on the review unveiled in October. The issue is coming to a head with Planning Round 11 in its final stages and due for completion around April. Finishing PR 11 “is already a nightmare” due to the financial situation, Clarke says.