More from UK Green Paper Defence Review

While most of our US readers are focused on discussing the latest QDR, England is also undergoing in a similar review, with a similar public discussion.

Britain's armed forces will have to cooperate more closely in future with international allies such as France to provide the full range of defence capabilities, Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, said today.

Publishing a government green paper laying the ground for a full-scale strategic defence review after the general election, Ainsworth warned that the forces face some "tough choices" in the years ahead.

The paper did not refer to specific programmes – apart from confirming the decision to go ahead with the £20bn update of Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent.

But Ainsworth said the "likelihood" was that the Royal Navy would still get its two planned new aircraft carriers, although he refused to be drawn on American-built Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) intended to fly from them.

In a statement to the Commons, Ainsworth said: "My judgment is that conflict and instability in this new age will be an ever-present risk. In the face of these threats, no nation can hope to protect all aspects of national security acting alone.

"We cannot simply defend from the goal line – and our defence posture must reflect this."

Included in the improvements international cooperation is a dedicated love letter to France.

The U.K. is calling for greater military cooperation with France, saying that increased defense collaboration with the European Union may be essential for the nation’s armed forces to operate on a reduced budget, the Financial Times reported.

In a so-called green paper to be published today, setting out terms on which Britain will conduct its forthcoming Strategic Defence Review, Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth will put an unexpectedly strong emphasis on the need for the U.K. to work with the EU if it is to maintain its global defense role, the FT said.

“The return of France to Nato’s integrated military structures offers an opportunity for even greater co-operation with a key partner across a range of defence activity,” the document says, according to the FT.

In a move I'm sure much of the US would love to emulate, much of the flag-level ranks in the UK will be under scrutiny for elimination in the new defence review.

Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, will today tell MPs that the MoD has “work in hand” to look at “whether the number of senior civilian and military personnel is justified” in a time of falling budgets and rising costs. Government insiders say cuts are justified because the number of senior officers has risen over the last decade, even as Britain’s front line military forces have diminished.

According to the Ministry of Defence, there are 47 officers of three star rank – lieutenants general, vice admirals and air marshal. Their combined salary bill is £6.8 million a year.

According to a study published in 2008, the Royal Navy has more admirals than active warships. The number of more junior “star rank” officers has risen even as Labour has squeezed the defence budget. Since 1997, the number of Army Brigadiers has risen from 170 to 190. The number of Royal Navy commodores rose from 82 to 84. But the number of RAF air commodores has fallen from 95 to 90.

With the Government deficit reaching £178 billion this year, the MoD is facing major budget cuts in the years ahead. Anticipating that debate, the heads of the Army and the Royal Navy have publicly set out their own contrasting visions for the shape of the Armed Forces in future.

By: Brant