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I see/hear the sight/sound of straws being clutched at inside the MoD as regards the budget, and the "extra £16.5bn of new money" announced by the Prime Minister last year. Basically, everyone in the four Services are assuming that they will get first dibs to save bacons. 1/9
Assorted Army sources seem to believe that there will be extra cash for a new class of 155mm SP artillery, to fund unbudgeted AFVs, and a range of other C3I equipment. 2/9
The RN's attitude can best be viewed in what I would regard as less-than-wise comments by the First Sea Lord https://www.ft.com/content/ce4a66fb-0066-49b9-a2fb-76b66ae82cf7 3/9
"In light of the government’s allocation of £16.5bn extra for defence over four years, the first sea lord sounds relatively relaxed about a spending black hole, suggesting it will be part filled by new money... 4/9
"“I'm less concerned because we've got an opportunity of additional funds, an integrated review [of defence and foreign policy], clarity from government [about future spending],” he said." 5/9
This looks just so complacent about how badly the budget has been managed (BTW, the biggest Equipment Plan budget shortfall is in...errr...the RN). But the view seems to be, "don't worry: we'll get bailed out." 6/9
The RAF still seem to think that the extra £16.5bn means that a whole new, large batch of F-35s can be bought, as well as V-22s, you name it. All of this on top of the new space capabilities that have been touted. 7/9
But the reality is that even if there is £16.5bn of "new money" - seriously open to doubt - a lot, up to £12bn, has already ben obligated. Which means that the existing Service Black Holes are still there, even before new equipment/capability procurement is considered. 8/9
Sadly, what one sees is a trend that has grown in the MoD/Services over the past 2 decades: sorting out the existing Black Holes gets sidelined by an insane move to pile risk on risk by using any new money to undertake entryism by buying new kit, even if it is unaffordable. 9/9
