BRITAIN: Fewer heavy armoured forces, aircraft and warships will mark a "radical rebalancing" of Britain's military to meet the growing threats from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
The Defence Secretary, Mr Geoff Hoon, likewise signalled fewer tanks and more light tanks and high-tech weapons as he introduced a government White Paper outlining a radical overhaul of the way in which the UK's defences are organised.
"This is a changing world, and we must adapt if our armed forces are to stay ahead of potential adversaries," Mr Hoon told MPs in a Commons statement.
"We must exploit new and emerging technologies and must be prepared to take tough decisions to ensure that our armed forces are able to carry out the difficult tasks we ask of them."
However, Mr Hoon was unable to answer tough questions about the manpower implications of his drive for "a more appropriately balanced structure" of light, medium and heavy forces as the Conservative spokesman, Mr Nicholas Soames, voiced "grave reservations" about the Labour government's defence budgeting.
At the same time Mr Hoon faced embarrassing confirmation that frontline troops were left without vital kit during the Iraq war because of supply failures.
The National Audit Office (NAO) reported a major achievement to deploy some 46,000 British troops in half the time taken in the first Gulf War and praised the overall scale and speed of the operation.
However, opposition politicians reacted furiously to the Whitehall watchdog's finding that many personnel were left without protective clothing against feared nuclear, chemical or biological attack, while other desert clothing did not reach or fit many troops.
Some Challenger tanks were only fully armoured for desert warfare 48 hours before they went into battle, while some tanks and armoured vehicles never received the protective nuclear, biological and chemical filters with which they were meant to be equipped.