The U.K. Ministry of Defence is scrambling to find GBP1 billion ($1.62 billion) in cost savings prior to the end of the current fiscal year on March 31. Adding to the challenge, the cost-cutting options presented represent politically difficult choices that may see Britain transition from Tier 1 military status to Tier 2.
The options include cutting 20,000 troops from the Army from 2015 onward (this would shrink the British Army to its smallest size since the 1820s due to a downsizing at the end of the Napoleonic Wars) and withdrawing more ships from an overextended, under-strength Royal Navy.
