UK makes defence pledge to US
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Sept 24, IRNA -- Britain has given a direct promise to the US that it will keep its nuclear deterrent and maintain special forces, despite facing up to 25% cuts in the upcoming strategic defence and security review, it was reported on Friday.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox made the pledge in talks with US counterpart Robert Gates this week after the Pentagon expressed concern at the scale of spending cuts planned by Britain’s coalition government, according to The Times newspaper.
Fox has been seeking to find radical savings in the country’s £39 billion annual defence budget as part of the government’s austerity drive to wipe out a record structural deficit within the next five years.
Questions were raised over the £20 billion bill to replace Britain's ageing Trident nuclear deterrent at this week's Liberal Democrat conference, where junior defence minister Nick Harvey in the coalition with the Conservatives suggested a decision may be delayed until after the election scheduled for 2015.
But speaking to Gates on Wednesday, Fox was reported to have also promised that Britain will retain the ability to mount medium-scale operations overseas, although not at the level of the 10,000-strong deployment in Afghanistan.
He was said to have further pledged that Britain would continue with the Joint Strike Fighter program with the US and to provide combat aircraft to serve on the two proposed carriers, which reportedly are under threat from defence cuts.
Fox told The Times that in the defence review, Britain will need “to concentrate on where we think we can be best contributors as an ally to the US'.
Gates reportedly said that he wanted Britain to keep Trident because he did not want the US to have 'sole responsibility' for providing a nuclear umbrella for Nato.
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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 287598
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