(Europa) Reform der britischen Streitkräfte

[Schneemann]

Nicht nur hat London Ende September eine mögliche Erhöhung der nationalen Rüstungsausgaben auf 3% des BIP ins Spiel gebracht, was umgerechnet rund 100 Mrd. Pfund wären (ob hier die deutschen Pläne für erhöhte Rüstungsausgaben auch mit ein Grund waren - mit ca. 2,2% des BIP wäre Deutschland hinsichtlich der Ausgaben von rund 80 Mrd. Euro quasi die "Nummer 3" weltweit -, sei einmal dahingestellt), sondern es gibt zugleich auch erhebliche Schwierigkeiten mit dieser Idee (andere Themen wie bspw. massive soziale Probleme, Inflation, Energiekostenexplosion, Nordirlandstreit und Versorgungsengpässe beziehe ich da noch gar nicht mit ein): Die Umstrukturierung der britischen Streitkräfte könnte durch den gegenwärtigen Wertverfall beim Pfund einen empfindlichen Rückschlag erleiden bzw. es könnte sein, dass mit deutlichen Verzögerungen gerechnet werden muss und dass die diskutierte Erhöhung der Ausgaben nicht machbar sein wird.

Pound fall is putting UK military spending targets out of reach

Commitments to double defence spending were already ambitious before the pound slid to a historic low this week against the dollar. [...] The UK Government’s ambitious plan to double its defence budget took a blow yesterday after the financial markets reacted to the Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s 30 point ‘mini-budget’ announced on Friday 23 September and the pound fell to a new low against the dollar. [...]

Prime Minister Liz Truss, during her recent campaign for leadership of the Conservative Party, pledged a multi-billion pound increase in defence spending that would raise the military budget to 3% of GDP. Under existing conditions that translated to raising military spending from £48bn to £100bn by 2030, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was reported to have said on Sunday 25 September. [...] At its lowest the dollar value of the UK economy dropped 13% below where it had sat when Liz Truss became Prime Minister three weeks ago, without significant signs of recovery. “This budget was already ambitious in the current fiscal environment, even prior to the currency devaluation we’re seeing today,” said Madeline Wilde, defence and security analyst at GlobalData. “If the devaluation problems continue in the longer term, then there is propensity for both ongoing and planned procurement programs to suffer.” [...]

“Many ongoing procurement programmes for large platforms are governed by multi-year contracts, thus spreading the cost but making them vulnerable to fiscal changes,” said Wilde. The increase in pressures on the state’s budget may be counter-productive at a time when the Treasury is attempting to demonstrate financial soundness. “The British government is already borrowing a huge amount; to nearly double the defence budget by 2030 will have a significant impact on state spending as a whole.”

https://www.naval-technology.com/analysi...-of-reach/

Schneemann