United Kingdom

Turkey to hold off on missile-defense choice

By Ümit Enginsoy, Hurriyet Daily News

Britain announces cuts of 17 major Army units

By Andrew Chuter, Defense News

From Andrew Chuter, Defense News:  Seventeen major units are to be culled by the British Army as part of a transformation plan that will see regular force personnel numbers reduced to 82,000 from the current level of 102,000, the defense secretary announced July 5.

Stop Playing Games over Europe Mr. Cameron

By Julian Lindley-French

In an article yesterday in London’s Sunday Telegraph, British Prime Minister David Cameron hinted at a possible in/out referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. “Let us start to spell out in more detail the parts of our European engagement we want and those we want to end”, Cameron urged.

Dutch Foreign Minister on Syria-Turkey Crisis: Military action is ‘out of the question’

By Andrew Rettman, the EUobserver

From Andrew Rettman, the EUobserver:  The Nato charter gives it permission to act without the UN, but there is little appetite for military action.

Turkey wants NATO to discuss response to downing of Turkish plane by Syria

By the AP

From the AP:  Turkey is calling on NATO to discuss a response to Syria’s downing of a Turkish jet in what Turkish leaders insist was international airspace.

Why should Germany take on everyone’s debts?

By Josef Joffe, the Guardian

From Josef Joffe, the Guardian:  The whole world is in the deepest economic mess since the Depression.

Britain Relying More on UAVs

By Nick Hopkins, the Guardian

From Nick Hopkins, the Guardian:  The British military is increasingly relying on unmanned drones to wage war against the Taliban, and has fired more than 280 laser-guided Hellfire missiles and bombs at suspected insurgents, new figures reveal.

France and Germany sign new defense agreement

By Sabine Siebold, Reuters

From Sabine Siebold, Reuters:  Germany and France agreed on Thursday to deepen military cooperation in areas ranging from satellites and missile defense to arms procurement, aiming to extract maximum value from shrinking defense budgets. The agreement, signed by the two governments in Paris on Thursday, highlights Europe’s drive to reduce costly duplication in defense and […]