Armed forces face 'deep changes' to meet demands
The Armed Forces face "deep and wide-ranging changes" to meet the demands of irregular warfare in campaigns like Afghanistan, a minister said today.
Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell said the forthcoming defence review would see a need to "rebalance" resources within the military.
"We have to be prepared to consider deep and wide-ranging changes to our armed forces," he said in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute in London.
"We will need to rebalance our investment in technology, equipment and people to meet the challenge of irregular warfare over the next decade while still retaining our ability to respond to emerging state-led threats and other military challenges."
Mr Rammell again reiterated that British troops were fighting in Afghanistan to deny al Qaida a new safe haven in the troubled border lands with Pakistan.
"For Britain to be secure Afghanistan needs to be secure, Pakistan needs to be secure," he said.
"We are fighting the insurgents now in Afghanistan because the return of the hard core irreconcilable Taliban would give al Qaida greater freedom to operate - freedom to plan, to direct and to provide support for more terrorist attacks."
