Summary
BBC Online reports that Argentina's Foreign Minister is to lodge a protest at the UN today against the UK's 'militarisation' of the Falklands. | Various papers report that US Marines posed with a flag emblazoned with the SS emblem while on duty in Afghanistan. | The Times reports that eight children were killed in a NATO air strike in Kapisa province. | The Daily Mirror reports that an inquest has heard that Royal Marine Sergeant Barry Weston, who went to Afghanistan to replace a fallen colleague, was killed after he ventured outside a safety zone. | The Daily Star reports on soldiers from the Parachute Regiment who have been awarded the Military Cross for their bravery in Afghanistan. | The Times reports that Britain has told India that it is willing to lower its price on the Eurofighter Typhoon in an attempt to win back a £13bn contract from France. | The Financial Times reports that Rolls-Royce has received a £60m payment from the MOD for cancelling contracts following the Strategic Defence and Security Review. | The Telegraph reports that Prime Minister David Cameron says that Argentina should be in no doubt that Britain will 'defend the Falkland Islands properly'. | The Daily Express reports that a gang of Muslim extremists who planned to target British soldiers as they returned from Afghanistan were jailed for a total of 95 years yesterday. | Various media outlets report that Taliban members say Prince Harry should use his royal position to help people rather than kill them, adding that its fighters would try to kill the prince if he returns to Afghanistan.
UK forces are not 'growing weaker by the day'
Today's Daily Telegraph includes a comment piece by Con Coughlin entitled 'Prince Harry's in the firing line - but Britain's Armed Forces grow weaker by the day'.
Arguing that Britain is 'no longer taken seriously' on the foreign stage, the article states: 'when the Obama administration announced that it was to end US combat operations in Afghanistan in the summer of 2013 - a year earlier than agreed - it did so without bothering to inform its British counterpart'.
The US has however made no such announcement and there has been no change to the strategy agreed by ISAF nations in Lisbon in 2010. The process of security transition will continue, with international forces gradually handing over responsibility to the Afghan National Security Forces through to the end of 2014. As the US Defence Secretary confirmed just last week: "We've got to stick to the Lisbon strategy. The United States has a very strong commitment to Lisbon and to the strategy that was laid out there."
Con Coughlin's article goes on to state that the British Government 'had to plead with the United States to take part in the flotilla that confronted Iran over its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf', because American commanders had overlooked the Royal Navy. This is not true.
Following discussions with our allies, the US welcomed both HMS Argyll and a French vessel to transit the Strait alongside the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Group, sending a clear signal to Iran that the arteries of global trade are being kept free, open and running. The aim of this was to underline the unwavering international commitment to maintaining rights of passage under international law. Furthermore, the Royal Navy has had a constant presence in the Gulf since 1980 and UK frigates regularly pass through the Strait of Hormuz, operating as part of the Combined Maritime Forces.
Equipment programme
Various media report that according to the Public Accounts Commitee, the UK's 15 largest defence projects are expected to cost £6bn more than first estimated and will be delayed by a combined total of 26 years.
Responding to the report, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: "Through a radical reform programme we have taken firm steps to grip the equipment programme and halt the trend of vast cost increases of the past.
"We are now close to eliminating the black hole in the MOD's finances and will soon set out an affordable, deliverable programme. This will see us invest more than £150bn in the right equipment for our Armed Forces while achieving value for money for UK taxpayers.
"Scrapping the ill-fated Nimrod MRA4 was one of many tough but necessary decisions we had to take to deal with an equipment programme that was out of control. The aircraft were more than eight years late, almost £800m over budget, and the unit cost of each aircraft had soared by 200 per cent, with no guarantee they would ever be fit to fly. The Astute programme is now on a much firmer footing with the first boat in service and the second due to leave Barrow soon."
