The defence industry source also claimed it is in the best interests of the economy and the nation's future security to continue investing in major defence projects.
'We guarantee high paid, highly skilled jobs and the equipment our boys and girls on the frontline use is very good for export,' he said.
'If we start cancelling these programmes we will lose jobs, skills and economic benefit. Britain will become a poorer place because our balance of trade will be diminished.
'The UK is trying to rebalance the economy, so by diminishing the defence budget they will be impeding Britain's recovery.'
He appears to have a point. The UK aerospace industry is worth about £20bn a year to the economy and employs more than 100,000 workers across the country, so any large programme cancellations could prove extremely detrimental to the nation's beleaguered manufacturing base.
Already, Britain's last volume tank-maker, BAE Systems (down 31/2p at 360.8p), has been forced to cut hundreds of jobs and shut down sites because of the delay in the awarding of a contract to build a new generation of armoured vehicle, dubbed Future Rapid Effect System.
General Richards' suggestion that big programmes be shuffled down the pecking order follows hot on the heels of December's National Audit Office report on major defence projects, which concluded the current military programme is 'unaffordable'.
It noted that although the MoD has managed to cut the deficit between the defence budget and planned expenditure by £15bn, there remains a shortfall of between £6bn and £36bn.
Good to know these arguments don't just happen in the US.
By: Brant
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