UK’s Defense Budget Cut by $7.4 Billion and Reviewed

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, leaves to attend the weekly Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons, from 10 Downing Street, in central London on October 20, 2010. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron announced Tuesday a cut in the defense budget of 8 percent to help reduce the country’s budget deficit, and said the strategic defense review was more than just cost saving.

Cameron introduced the details of the strategic defense review to Parliament on Tuesday. Saving 4.7 billion pounds (US$7.4 billion) on a budget of 37 billion pounds (US$59 billion) in four years entails “significant changes” in personnel and material, he said, according to the BBC.

Cameron said the U.K. will keep playing its role in the world, with the fourth-largest military budget in the world, BBC news reported. There will also be no difference in the country’s commitment to NATO’s Afghanistan mission.
The cuts mean 42,000 positions will disappear, 25,000 of which have civilian functions in the Ministr

y of Defense, in order to be “more thoughtful, more strategic, and more coordinated in the way we advance our interests and protect our national security,” Cameron said, reported the BBC.

Cameron gave a number of details that were not merely cuts. The number of tanks will be cut by 40 percent, number of frigates by 4, Harrier aircraft will no longer be used, and some large investment projects will be changed.

There will be, however, investment in 12 more Chinooks and additional investments in communications equipment and unmanned planes, the BBC reported. Additionally, there will be no cuts in the investment in intelligence gathering and cyber security, according to the Examiner.