Tough words from future agressors. Yep we are world players

[Disco_Destroyer]

Go-ahead for new aircraft carriers
http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=5653732

The Armed Forces have received the green light for the Royal Navy's long-awaited two new aircraft carriers.

Defence Secretary Des Browne told the Commons that orders were being placed for the two 65,000 tonne vessels - the largest warships to be built in the UK.

"The carriers represent a step change in our capability, enabling us to deliver increased strategic effect and influence around the world at a time and place of our choosing," he said.

The ships, to be named HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are due to enter service in 2014 and 2016 - two years later than originally - expected at an estimated cost of £3.9 billion.

The head of the navy, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, said that the announcements confirmed Britain's status as a "major player" on the world stage. "This is a significant decision to invest in the future, to be able to deliver air power around the world," he said.

"I am entirely content that the country will get the navy it deserves, a powerful navy for the future, which is entirely right because we are a large player on the world scene."

The programme is expected to create or safeguard 10,000 jobs around the UK, with more than 1,000 people employed on the actual construction at shipyards at Govan, Barrow, Rosyth and Portsmouth.

The announcement formed part of a financial settlement for the Ministry of Defence which will see spending on the forces increase by £7.7 billion over the next three years. Officials said it represented an average annual real terms increase of 1.5% over the period and would take the MoD's budget to £36.9 billion in 2010-11.

Details of the financial package were announced ahead of the Government's full comprehensive spending review in the autumn. Mr Browne told the Commons that the UK would continue to co-operate with France on the design of the carriers. He confirmed that the announcement would clear the way for BAE Systems and the VT Group to merge their shipbuilding assets in a joint venture worth a reported £1 billion.
BAE chief executive Mike Turner said: "This is a significant milestone for the UK maritime industrial sector and will help retain critical areas of expertise in the UK."

[Long Tooth]

nearly £4,000,000,000 for 2 boats? puts into perspective the £47,000,000 pledged to help the 500,000 people suffering from the floods eh?

£4,000,000,000 for 2 boats for the Navy, and
-----47,000,000 for 500,000 people suffering the floods.

Hike those taxes el gordo (brown)

the 4 billion is an estimated firgure, expect the real cost to be almost double.

the MOD's budget to be only 37 billion in 2010?, only £37,000,000,000? it puts the 'immigrants' benefit fraud publicity/propaganda to shame, why all the hype about a few million in benefit frauds? smoke screening at its most heinious and insidious.

[Disco_Destroyer]

Well said, not to mention that it is Empire pure and simple!

[Disco_Destroyer]

Official confirms U.S. readying Saudi arms deal
http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=5754416

Reuters
By Andrew Gray

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is preparing a package of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states that could be worth some $20 billion over the next 10 years, a senior U.S. defence official said on Saturday.

The official largely confirmed reports of the deal in The New York Times and Washington Post ahead of a joint trip to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and defence Secretary Robert Gates.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity as the deal has not yet been officially announced or completed, said the administration hoped to present the package to the U.S. Congress for approval in the fall.

Washington is striving to assure Gulf allies, worried by the growing strength of Iran and war in Iraq, that the United States is committed to the region and will stand by them, with arms sales part of that process, U.S. officials say.

The United States has sought to allay Israeli concerns about the forthcoming package. The senior U.S. defence official said Washington was working on a military assistance deal for Israel expected to top $30 billion during the next decade, a significant increase on current levels.

The Saudi package would upgrade the country's missile defences and air force and increase its naval capabilities, the official said. It "may make sense" also to provide Saudi Arabia with satellite-guided munitions, the official said.

"None of these things are final proposals by any means," the official said, stressing discussions with the countries involved and members of Congress were still needed.

The package would cover other U.S. allies in the Gulf, the official said. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are expected to benefit, the Times and Post said.

The deal was part of long-term U.S. efforts to assist allies rather than a new push to arm them, the official said.

"This isn't an arming of the Middle East," the official said. "This is part of a continual, deliberate program."

The United States also is preparing a package of military assistance worth some $13 billion in the next decade for Egypt, another U.S. ally in the Middle East, a senior State Department official said.

A second senior U.S. defence official, briefing reporters on Friday ahead of next week's trip by Gates and Rice, said no announcement of the Saudi deal was expected during the visit.

Rice and Gates are expected to use the trip to press U.S. Gulf Arab allies to do more stabilize Iraq.

U.S. officials have expressed frustration with Sunni Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia that harbour doubts about Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, seeing it as unable to pacify the country and too close politically to Shi'ite-dominated Iran.

They have urged Saudi Arabia to support Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government and to do more to stop Saudi militants from entering Iraq. They also have expressed concern about Saudi funding for Sunni groups in Iraq.

(Additional reporting by Sue Pleming)

[Cruise4]

And after we, the British people, are indebted to pay for these boats, we'll be more than happy to hand them over to the European Union to use against us, of course. I love the way they spend ours and our childrens lives into never ending servitude.