The coming year will see the international military coalition in Afghanistan “take the battle to the enemy”, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said.

Mr Ainsworth said he could not guarantee the families of Britain’s 10,000 troops in Afghanistan that their loved ones would be safe, though he insisted the Government was investing massively to protect them.

And he held out the prospect that 2010 will see some parts of Afghanistan handed over to home-grown security forces, in a process which Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said will eventually pave the way to bringing UK troops back home.  Read more... (268 words, 1 image, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)

The statement in parliament today by Bob Ainsworth, secretary of state for defence, focuses on enhancements to military capability in Afghanistan and the penalties elsewhere in defence: 22 new Chinooks there, one less RAF base here. While no money is to be cut from the 2010-11 defence budget, it is not being increased as necessary to maintain levels of capability. Most important, the £900m of enhancements for Afghanistan are to be funded from the defence budget, and not from the central reserve – a major change, with serious implications for the longer term.  Read more... (587 words, 1 image, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, has announced deep cuts in military personnel and equipment to fund a £900 million boost for the Afghanistan campaign. The immediate economic trade-off sounds reasonable enough if you say it quickly. £1 billion of new helicopters (eventually) for Afghanistan has to be balanced by over £1billion of cuts elsewhere in the defence budget. Few would disagree that Afghanistan cannot become a bottomless pit of defence expenditure.  Read more... (480 words, 1 image, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

The government is to buy 22 new Chinook helicopters but the defence secretary is to set out other cuts to fund them.

Bob Ainsworth is due to announce the closure of a military base – understood to be RAF Cottesmore in Rutland – and the loss of thousands of defence jobs.

The first 10 helicopters are expected to be ready in 2013 and could be used by the RAF in Afghanistan.

Ex-defence secretary Malcolm Rifkind said it was dangerous to cut core budgets to fund the Afghan conflict.  Read more... (1036 words, 1 image, estimated 4:09 mins reading time)

An RAF base could be closed and thousands of defence jobs could go, as the government works out how to cover the cost of extra equipment for troops in Afghanistan.

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth is preparing to outline the cuts he plans to make to balance the books.

Defence Minister Quentin Davies said choices about spending priorities always have to be made.

LONDON – Britain‘s Ministry of Defence says it will buy 22 new Chinook helicopters to help troops in Afghanistan.

The announcement comes before Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth is set to outline cuts in other parts of the military‘s budget to make concessions for Afghan operations. The purchase will increase the size of Britain’s fleet of the heavy-lift helicopters from 48 to 70. Ainsworth says the first 10 aircraft will arrive by 2013.

Britain’s military has been dogged by critics complaining that the nation’s troops have been deployed without adequate equipment.  Read more... (115 words, 1 image, estimated 28 secs reading time)